Racial tensions are fairly high in the United States right now when you considering the recent murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police. People of color and white folks all across the country are currently advocating for an end to police brutality and a society that is a lot more equitable than what we have been used to. With this in mind, there is a much larger sensitivity to racialized language. Buffalo Bills rookie Jake Fromm recently found this out the hard way.
Some of Fromm's personal text messages were leaked in which he advocated for more expensive weapons so that only "elite white people" could own them. Based on the tone of the texts it seemed as though Fromm was trying to make himself out as one of those "elite white people." Fromm immediately caught on to the backlash and issued a lengthy apology.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1268392579193876482
https://twitter.com/_/status/1268606432125030401
“I am extremely sorry that i chose to use the words “elite white people” in a text message conversation. Although I never meant to imply that I am an “elite white person,” as stated later in the conversation, there’s no excuse for that word choice and sentiment," Fromm wrote. “I promise to commit myself to being a part of the solution in this country. I addressed my teammates and coaches in a team meeting today and I hope they see this incident is not representative of the person I am."
It remains to be seen what the Bills will do with Fromm but it's clear his NFL career is already off to a shaky start.
