In an interview on MLB Network Radio Friday afternoon, Pirates first baseman Josh Bell spoke about racial injustice in America with Negro League Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick, saying "it can't be swept under the rug."
"I was seeing it on my phone, and one question pops into my mind. It's like, 'Again?'" Bell said about learning of George Floyd's death. "It's a scenario where, as a nation, it felt like we went through the Amy Cooper incident, and then the Ahmaud Aubrey incident shortly before that. So it's like, within a week and a half, two weeks, it was three glaring disgusting things going on, where it felt like injustice was continuing to thrive."
Kendrick spoke with Bell and some of the game's other notable African American athletes -- including Lorenzo Cain, Mychal Givens, Dwight Smith Jr., Delino DeShields and Taylor Hearn -- on race, social justice and progress.
This conversation comes shortly after the death of Floyd, which has sparked protests across the country and a nationwide discussion on race in America.
Bell would go on to say that "people of all color are feeling that injustice is real."
"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," Bell said. "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."
Kendrick tweeted a portion of his interview with Bell:
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
