Jim Brown praises harmony between Black, white athletes in fight against racism

For over 50 years, Jim Brown has witnessed — and fought against — decades of injustice against African Americans in the United States. And, at age 84, the Hall of Fame running back has maintained a watchful eye on the recent efforts to combat systemic racism and social inequality.

On Friday, the NFL legend and civil rights activist sat down with NFL Network’s Steve Wyche on NFL Total Access to share his perspective on what’s been happening in America.

“I think it’s fantastic. I think it was needed. The events that occurred were very shocking and it brought a lot of people together,” said Brown of the movement. “And when you think of African Americans and you think of Caucasians, to see them work together, to see the young people work together, it does my heart good.”

Brown is the product of an era where such teamwork was seen as a nearly-impossible goal. Many of the issues he and his contemporaries, titans like Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell, sought to correct during their heyday are still prevalent today. As easy as it is to write off the black-and-white highlight reel that accompanies nearly every mention of his name as “ancient history”, Brown played his last game on January 2, 1966, which was only 54 years ago.

The effects of centuries of oppression are still felt in modern society but, to Brown, who experienced the atrocities of Jim Crow laws growing up and throughout his playing days, today’s generation has a greater chance to shed the weight of the past and build stronger leaders than ever before.

“We sometimes forget that a couple hundred years ago we were involved in slavery and that’s very difficult to pull out from under. But what’s happened now is that you have a new generation, that generation will be able to surpass those memories of slavery and bring about a new awareness,” he told Wyche. “When you see a Caucasian and an African American together or working for the right thing that really tells you that we’re in a different era and that there are things that we can possibly do to bring about positive change.”

But what exactly is helping to bring about this change, especially as it relates to the wide array of fearless athletes who have been vocal about wanting justice? Brown told Wyche, “These youngsters know that they count, they’re educated and they’re determined and they know that this country needs them to be able to step up and take a leadership role.”