Bell on activism: 'Real change can happen'

PITTSBURGH -- When Josh Bell saw the video of a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, one question popped into his mind: “Again?”

Bell, Mychal Givens, Dwight Smith Jr., Delino DeShields Jr., Lorenzo Cain and Taylor Hearn joined Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick on MLB Network Radio on Friday to discuss issues of race and social justice. Their conversation began with each player’s initial reaction to the disturbing video of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, being killed while being detained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

“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,” Bell said on MLB Network Radio. “So, it was like within a week and a half, two weeks, it was three glaringly disgusting things going on where it felt like injustice was continuing to thrive.

“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 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 so 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 change, so I’m hoping that it comes now.”

The former officer who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck has been charged with second-degree murder while three other officers on the scene were charged with aiding and abetting murder. With protests taking place across the country, players throughout baseball have joined in expressing their empathy and anger while calling for systemic change following Floyd’s death.

In the past, some professional athletes have been cautious when asked to discuss social issues like police brutality and racial inequality. But Bell and several other players noted the importance of using their platform as prominent African-American athletes to call for justice at a time like this.

“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 percent 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.”

To wrap up the 47-minute discussion, Kendrick asked Bell what he would like to see put into place to create that kind of real change. Bell called for public policy reform related to police accountability, encouraged people to vote and expressed his hope for a more compassionate, understanding society that never leads him to ask, “Again?”

“It’s got to be illegal for cops to make arrests without a body cam on,” Bell said. “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 go 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.

“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 gonna have, the life they’re gonna 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.”