Pirates All-Star Josh Bell calls this an 'awesome opportunity' for athletes to voice injustices

In a radio roundtable discussion on racial and social injustice, Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star first baseman Josh Bell called for police accountability, voting for candidates who push for reform and said this is “an awesome opportunity” for athletes of all races to come together and voice their concerns so “real change can happen.”

The 27-year-old Bell was one of six black MLB players who participated in the program with Negro League Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick on MLB Network Radio to discuss their reaction to the death of George Floyd, a 47-year-old black man, while being detained by four Minneapolis police officers May 25.

“Right now, we have an opportunity where it seems like everyone’s on the same page about this,” Bell said. “If you didn’t feel for George Floyd crying out for his life when he was out on that concrete, with his hands handcuffed behind his back, crying out and gasping for air, I don’t know. You’ve got different problems. But 99% of people watched that video and they were like, ‘Something’s wrong here.’

“I think that now is an awesome opportunity for all athletes — whether you’re black, white, whatever — to come together and start voicing these injustices, just because now’s the time. As more people realize what’s going on, as more people look around and start asking questions why things are the way they are, I think that’s when real change can happen across the States.”

Here’s the link to the full @YouTube video from my @MLBNetworkRadio BASEBALL & BLACK AMERICA Town Hall conversation w/Lorenzo Cain, @JBell_19 @LinoDeShields @thearn14 @MychalGivens & @DSmittyJr! https://t.co/Zy7xIsSDCP @MLB @Royals @Brewers @Pirates @Indians @Rangers @Orioles RT pic.twitter.com/CGZ4LKrS8d

— negroleaguesmuseum (@nlbmprez) June 7, 2020

Bell joined Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mychal Givens and outfielder Dwight Smith Jr., center fielders Delino DeShields Jr. of the Cleveland Indians and Lorenzo Cain of the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers pitcher Taylor Hearn, a former Pirates minor leaguer, in the 47-minute discussion.

All six players were asked for their reaction to Floyd’s death, which prompted the arrest of all four officers and protests in cities nationwide for almost two weeks.

BASEBALL & BLACK AMERICA: Tune in to @MLBNetworkRadio today at noon (CST) to hear a powerful conversation I had w/@JBell_19 @MychalGivens @DSmittyJr @LinoDeShields Lorenzo Cain & @thearn14 on race & social justice! @Pirates @Orioles @Rangers @Brewers @MLB @MLB_PLAYERS @Royals RT pic.twitter.com/XJmdG4AaD4

— negroleaguesmuseum (@nlbmprez) June 5, 2020

Bell said he watched the video in disbelief on his phone.

“One question pops into my mind: It’s like, ‘Again?’ ” Bell said. “It’s a scenario where, as a nation, it felt like we went through the Amy Cooper incident, then the Ahmaud Arbery incident shortly before that. So, it was like within a week and a half, two weeks, it was three glaringly disgusting things going on where it just felt like injustice was continuing to thrive.

“And it’s a scenario where we’re all sitting at home watching. We have no baseball. We have no LeBron posterizing somebody on TV. There’s no SportsCenter Top 10 right now. We’re all sitting at home watching these disgusting things come to unfold. You know, it’s tough. But it’s awesome to see that people of all color are feeling the same way, people of all color are feeling that injustice is real here in the States.

“I’m just hoping that this time next year, this time four or five years from now, things will have changed to that things like this don’t happen. It can’t be swept under the rug. It doesn’t need a video camera somewhere. It’s time for that to change, so I’m hoping that it comes now.”

Bell said it should be illegal for police officers to make arrests without wearing body cameras, he wants to see footage made more readily available to the public for the sake of accountability and punishment for those failing to comply should be more severe.

“If something goes down, and your body cam wasn’t on, make it so that it’s like six months with no pay and you can’t work in the next county over. You know what I’m saying? Make it so that it hurts so bad that stuff like this doesn’t happen,” Bell said. “I also want to see a world where this footage is more readily and easily available for the community. It shouldn’t be a fight to see stuff like this. I feel like a lot more instances have been swept under the rug, and nobody ever hears about it. And that shouldn’t be the case.

“I think that people should vote people into office that want to reform these things, change these things. I want to see a change to the system as a whole. I want to see people care about this system and care about an equal playing field for all people of all backgrounds, of all races, of all religious beliefs.

“If we can create that kind of atmosphere, I would feel so much more comfortable bringing kids into this world and so much happier about the kids that they’re going to have, the life they’re going to live. Because people 100 years ago were terrified about the world that they were bringing their kids into, and it shouldn’t be the same way 100 years later. So, let’s make sure that 100 years from now, that’s just not the case. It can’t be the case.”