Alabama Crimson Tide football players and coaches marched Monday against racism and social injustice, making their voices heard after a string of police shootings of Black Americans.
“This is not a problem that will simply come and go in a news cycle,” senior running back Najee Harris said in front of the schoolhouse door at Foster Auditorium, the site where Alabama Gov. George Wallace symbolically blocked two Black students from enrolling in the University of Alabama in 1963.
“Being here today is a huge step, but I ask you: What’s next?” Harris said. “For certain we can’t let this momentum die. This has to be an ongoing movement until change happens.”
A large crowd gathered to watch and support the team as it walked. Student-athletes from other programs at the Tuscaloosa school joined the gridiron squad.
The march kicked off around 4 p.m. local time, and coach Nick Saban led the players. He said he was “very proud” of his squad.
“Sports has always created a platform for social change,” the 68-year-old coach told the crowd at Foster Auditorium. “For each of us involved in sports, I think we have a responsibility and an obligation.”
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