Change from ‘End Racism’ to ‘Choose Love’ on Super Bowl field does not mean racism is over: advocates
Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Willard Reaves is not one to mince words, but he thinks the NFL did just that when it decided to change a slogan that’s become a regular sight at football games for the last few years.
“End Racism” was stenciled in the end zone of last year’s Super Bowl field. This year, it’s being replaced with “Choose Love” for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday.
Willard says racism is not something you tiptoe around.
“Just go headfirst right to it. Racism is racism. Call it for what it is. Call it out,” Willard said in an interview with CBC News. “People need to stop cowering.”
Willard Reaves is a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen and three-time CFL all-star who played five seasons for Winnipeg in the 1980s and ended his professional football career by playing a few games in the NFL with Miami and Washington. He won the CFL’s most outstanding player and the Grey Cup in 1984.
He believes the league removed the word racism because it’s yielding to political pressure.
“Donald Trump is going to be attending the Super Bowl this year. And he is one of the biggest racist people that we know of,” said Willard.
Willard says his assertion is based on his assessment of the entirety of the U.S. president’s actions, including calling factions of white supremacists carrying tiki torches at a protest in Charlottesville, Va., “very fine people”, calling Kamala Harris a low-I.Q. person, having only one black person in his cabinet during his first term, and calling on NFL team owners to fire players who took a knee in protest during the national anthem.
During this past season, NFL teams have stenciled “It Takes All of Us” on one end zone and “Vote,” “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” or “Choose Love” for the other end zone, according to The Associated Press.
Sources with knowledge of why the NFL changed the slogan told The Associated Press it wasn’t because Trump would be in attendance.
Willard believes racism is becoming more prevalent since Trump was re-elected as president.
Right after taking office, The U.S. president signed a flurry of executive orders which included directions to lay off all federal diversity, equity and inclusion employees and to end affirmative action in federal contracting.
“It’s a crying shame that we are still fighting this fight and it’s not getting any better,” said Willard, who is planning to run in Manitoba’s next provincial election after two unsuccessful bids for Winnipeg’s Fort Whyte seat in 2022 and 2023.
Politics in sports
Willard is not the only member of his family who made it to professional sports. His son Ryan Reaves plays hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his son Jordan Reaves recently retired from the CFL after playing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elks.
“To me personally, I think ‘choose love’ is a bigger umbrella than ‘End Racism,'” Jordan said in an interview from his home in Charlotte, N.C.
Jordan says he doesn’t like politics in sports because he believes it has caused turmoil. He wonders if removing the “End Racism” slogan was a slap in the face or an effort to get politics out of sports.
One thing he is sure about is that he will always stand behind players and minority groups.
He backed his brother Ryan, who took a knee during the American national anthem in 2020 as a protest against anti-Black racism when he was playing for the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I stand behind all the minority athletes who chose to take that knee 100 per cent. I’ll never go back in saying that. I stand behind my brother, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to find that fine line of, ‘where is too much?'” Jordan said.
Jordan said when companies and leagues say they support human rights it feels like a contest focused on words.
“It’s more of a bragging thing than actually making the change,” said Jordan. “Without action it’s just words.”
NFL and diversity efforts
An NFL spokesperson explained the shift to “Choose Love” was because of recent traumatic events in the U.S., including wildfires in southern California and plane crashes near Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, according to The Associated Press.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league “got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League and we’re going to continue those efforts,” during his pre-Super Bowl press conference on Monday.
“We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League,” Goodell said.
The operations director for the Hockey Diversity Alliance said the move to replace the “End Racism” slogan by the NFL was predictable based on the current political climate.
“A lot of times large organizations tend to go with the wind. And when the currents change, directions often change because everybody is realistically looking out for the bottom line,” said Ed Aliu, who is the operations director for the Hockey Diversity Alliance, founded by his brother Akim — formerly of the Calgary Flames — and seven other current and retired NHLers.
Aliu is interested in what benchmarks of tangible change have been made by the NFL. While he believes a lot of progress has been made, a lot of work needs to be done.
“We all know that you don’t solve the problem of racism or inequity in five years,” Aliu said.
When asked if he was worried about speaking out against Trump during a time when the U.S. is threatening Canada with tariffs and annexation, Willard Reaves, the aspiring provincial politician, was unflinching.
“I don’t fear Donald Trump,” he said. “If you’re doing something wrong and if you’re sowing racism and discord and on this planet, yeah, I’ll call it out.”
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