USMNT defender DeAndre Yedlin: “All we’re asking is we’re seen as equal”

As he prepares for the restart of the Premier League season, Newcastle United fullback DeAndre Yedlin received a text from his grandfather.

The message — his grandfather was happy he wasn’t living in the United States right now because he “would fear for my life as a black man” — sparked the US men’s national team defender to describe his reaction in a Twitter thread.

He was born in 1946, lived through the civil rights movement, lived through some terribly racist times in U.S. history, and now 70 years later he STILL fears for the life of his black grandchild, in the country he and his grandchild were born in,

— DeAndre Yedlin (@yedlinny) June 2, 2020

“.. with liberty and justice for all.” Every American needs to ask themselves, is there “liberty and justice for all” and if their answer is yes, then they are part of the problem. In no way are we asking black lives to matter more than white lives,

— DeAndre Yedlin (@yedlinny) June 2, 2020

all we’re asking is we are seen as equal, as more than 3/5 of a man, as humans. My heart goes out in solidarity to George Floyd, his family, and all of the countless number of victims that have had their lives taken at the hands of meaningless police brutality.

— DeAndre Yedlin (@yedlinny) June 2, 2020

The former Seattle Sounders standout spoke of solidarity to George Floyd and others who are victims of police brutality and questioned if there is truly “liberty and justice for all.”