You know, players have always had this power. And - but really, this is a dynamic that has has lied pretty much dormant. I think players have found an issue that they feel like it's worth putting everything on the line for. MARTIN: Do you think that the student athletes - have their attitudes about it have changed or are the universities responding in a different way or perhaps it's both? And they - and many of them have had enough of their own personal experiences that, finally, I think their anger at injustice is now stronger than the fear of their coaches who have been silencing them. They saw their dads, their uncles, their cousins, their friends under that same knee. And I think the - just the cold, callous murder of George Floyd - I think the players saw themselves under that knee. Obviously, football and basketball players, you look at the rosters and they're lined with African Americans. I think the players today are old enough to remember the previous years of countless other police killings of unarmed Black people. And, you know, really, this is based in the murder of George Floyd, plain and simple. Does this feel like a different moment, and why do you think that is? MARTIN: And I said once again because we've spoken to you before. That's an advocacy group for college athletes. He is the executive director of the National College Players Association. We wanted to learn more about how activism among college athletes is evolving in the current moment, so we've called Ramogi Huma. And at the University of Texas, players have threatened to boycott recruitment and donor events unless the school meets their demands, which include replacing the university's fight song, which is rooted in the Confederacy and was once played at minstrel shows. The school responded by saying it supports student athletes, quote, "in standing up in the fight against racism," unquote. Last week, a group of student athletes at Kansas State University said they would not play, practice or meet unless the school took action against a student who tweeted a racist comment about George Floyd. That may be changing as college athletes continue to speak out about issues affecting their lives on and off campus. For decades now, the iconic figures in athletic activism have been professionals like Muhammad Ali or Colin Kaepernick or the Olympic runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos, athletes who have often paid a heavy price for it, but college athletes? Not so much.
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