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America has been taking to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd (as well as countless other innocents that have been killed). Those protests took place in Cincinnati as well.
Even though Dre Kirkpatrick is no longer a Bengal, he still owns a business in the area. He recently spoke with Keenan Singleton of WCPO about the complexity of the situation.
asked Dre what he would say to the people out there demonstrating their frustrations. pic.twitter.com/X8bljmBecm
— Keenan Singleton (@KJMSingleton) May 31, 2020
I was impressed with @Joe_Burrow10 statement a few days back. Dre's thoughts on the number of white QBs speaking up and the silence of white decision makers. pic.twitter.com/2wXSYGLVDB
— Keenan Singleton (@KJMSingleton) May 31, 2020
These are obviously tough times for the black community. Kirkpatrick takes a sensible route of calling for peace but not asking for people to go home. There is obviously plenty of frustration that won’t go away without justice not only for Floyd, but all African Americans who have been killed at the hands of police.
It is good to hear that Kirkpatrick is happy with his life outside of football. He currently is a free agent, but one would imagine he should find work soon enough whenever things regarding COVID-19 allows teams to have something close to an actual training camp. It really is something that many people outside of football should hear at times like this. You need to be able to be happy with your life outside of what you do for a living.
Kirkpatrick clearly has plenty of wisdom to share, and he has plenty to offer this world beyond the football field. It is a shame that he won’t be part of the Bengals going forward. It does appear that he will have plenty of ties to the community still, though.
Hopefully, we all see some changes soon so we don’t have to fight so hard for justice to actually be served in the future.