Why Penn State football’s Lamont Wade says fear won’t stop him from speaking out on racial injustice
Lamont Wade’s greatest hope for his son isn’t one of grandeur. It’s not for an extravagant lifestyle with all of the riches in the world, or even a football career similar to his own.
All Wade is asking for is for his son to see less evil.
“I feel like what I’m trying to do is diminish it as much as possible,” Wade said on a teleconference Tuesday morning. “So whenever the next generation comes up they don’t have to deal with as much evil. ... I just wish he could grow up in some type of environment where everybody does things through love and peace. ... That’s me being a parent for my son ... I wouldn’t want anything less.”
Wade’s Tuesday morning teleconference with the media was timely. The senior safety has taken a stand on social media, speaking out in the pursuit of equality for people of color time and time again since he enrolled at Penn State in 2017. This week, there was plenty for Wade to speak up about as he logged onto Zoom to speak with the media.
Protests have broken out in Minneapolis after George Floyd, a black man, died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis Police Department officer who video footage shows kneeling on the man’s neck. The officer didn’t release pressure despite Floyd’s pleas for help when he was pinned down by his neck and couldn’t breathe. The four officers involved have since been fired and the FBI is investigating.
In New York City’s Central Park, a white woman called the police on black bird-watcher Christian Cooper, saying “there’s an African American man, he’s recording me and threatening me and my dog,” after he had asked her to put her dog on a leash in accordance with park rules.
Over the weekend, Wade’s teammate DT Aeneas Hawkins recounted on social media a story about a man deriding him for being black while he pumped gas on his trip home.
While the senior safety is aware his opinions about those societal issues might bother those who disagree, including some who fill Beaver Stadium on Saturdays, it hasn’t stopped him from speaking up. He uses his voice, which has continued to grow while at Penn State, to try to put what he feels in perspective for other who don’t know what it’s like to be on the opposite side of the same coin.
“I feel like a lot of people really don’t see things from a certain perspective all the time,” Wade said. “I feel like it’s really good to have perspective on any situation through different lenses ... specifically on these situations that happen a lot and occur often, over and over again. I just feel like it’s important for people to understand how some people feel whenever they feel like they’re supposed to be protected but it kind of seems like the opposite is happening.”
Wade said his goal isn’t to divide Penn State, even if some who comment on his Twitter posts think otherwise. Rather, it’s to unite people and bring them together.
“Instead of focusing on what divides us, we (need to) focus on what brings us together,” he said. “I think it’s just real important to realize what brings us together instead of what separates us or what divides us apart.”
Despite his best efforts to raise cultural awareness, Wade knows he’ll still face critics. People will comment on his social media posts, they’ll criticize him in casual conversation, and there will be inescapable cries for him to “shut up and play.”
Compound those certainties with the abrupt end to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s football career after he protested police brutality against people of color by kneeling during the national anthem, and it would be easy for Wade to fall silent. The senior safety has a chance to play professional football and could put that in jeopardy if he continues to speak out for social justice, based on the league’s treatment of Kaepernick.
But Wade isn’t worried about that. He has no plans to “shut up and play.” Instead, he’ll continue trudging forward, because he’d much rather be hated for who he is than loved for someone he isn’t.
“One thing I don’t do in life is fear,” Wade said. “I don’t really fear anything. That’s one thing about me. I can’t focus on the things I can’t control. Anything that’s out of my control, I can’t put much into it. I’d rather be me and the world hate me for me being me, than me trying to be somebody I’m not and getting the love of millions.”
