New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram added his voice to the growing chorus of NFL players speaking out against social injustice in America.
Speaking with local media on Friday in the Saints’ locker room, Ingram shared his heartbreak over police violence against people of color, such as we saw recently with Terence Crutcher.
“It hurts my heart and it’s a sensitive topic, it’s a difficult topic to touch on, everybody has different views,” Ingram said, per Herbie Teope of NOLA.com. “It’s not right, man. It’s not right and until we can all realize that it’s not right, there’s still going to be problems.”
Ingram also said he supports Colin Kaepernick and others, such as Brandon Marshall, who have chosen to kneel during the national anthem to bring awareness to this issue.
He also brought a message of his own, saying things will never change until people truly unite.
“We’re all humans and we all need to unify and become one,” Ingram said. “That’s what makes our country so beautiful is that we can come here, we can be free and we just need that equality among everybody.”
He pointed out that violent protests, like the one happening in Charlotte in the wake of Keith Lamont Scott being killed by police, are just as harmful as the actions that precede them.
“It just hurts my heart to see the stuff going on, people getting murdered, difficulty happening, protests happening, violent protests,” Ingram said. “That’s not the way to do things. Like I said, we all need to come together and until we all realize there is an issue and acknowledge there is an issue, nothing will be fixed.”
Ingram’s message of unity is one we can all get behind. One can only hope and pray that it will make a difference during these troubled times.