Dallas, Texas The Dallas Cowboys team owner and general manager had a lengthy conversation about it last week after a photo of Jerry Jones at a 1957 desegregation march surfaced. LeBron James brought up the subject again on Wednesday night when he questioned how much attention had been given to Jones’ picture and Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving’s recent sponsorship of an anti-Semitic movie.
Dak Prescott, the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, was asked whether he wanted to comment further on Thursday.”Talking about race in general?” Prescott made it clear. Yes, the reporter replied. Clearly, Prescott said, “We can be more sympathetic and nice to one another, regardless of color. Consider the development we’ve experienced from the eras we come from to the present.
Because I am an optimist, that is how I think. Being entirely biracial (Black and White), I can easily argue either side of the race debate. Prescott acknowledged the complexity of how we judge others and paused, which was uncharacteristic of his eloquence and poise. He admitted, “Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve fully processed it.”
The historic photograph of Jones was shot on September 9, 1957, the first day six Black pupils were scheduled to enroll at his North Little Rock High School. It was published as part of an in-depth Washington Post piece.
It had been five days after the infamous “Little Rock Nine” incident, in which President Dwight D. Eisenhower dispatched federal forces to transfer nine Black pupils to Little Rock Central High in Arkansas without incident. Jones was about four miles from his high school. On September 9, North Little Rock students attempted to bar Black pupils from entering.
Jones, who was just one month away from turning 15, attended. According to the Post, he claims that curiosity, not a commitment to the cause, drew him to the hostile and racist incident that ultimately postponed segregation at the school by ten years. Jones stated Thanksgiving night, “That was, well, 65 years ago and curious youngster, I didn’t know at the time the historic thing that was going on.
“I’m so pleased that has long since passed. I am. That would serve as a reminder to continue making every effort to stop similar incidents. Jones declined to say whether he regretted going to the protest, focusing instead on what Jerry, then a teenager, was most worried about: whether he’d get in trouble with his football coach, who had previously advised players to stay away.
But when he attempted to convey his viewpoint and take into account others around him, he answered two rounds of more than half a dozen inquiries. In the same way, Prescott noted how much has changed in the past 65 years. “I mean, you should have a look at the man’s résumé since then, no? I grant grace, as I have mentioned.
I believe that conversation and question are for you guys as well, for how you feel and how responsible you have been in covering and talking about racial disparities.