Yahoo Finance NBA legend Ray Allen: Politicians need to put their differences aside and work together
NBA great Ray Allen was always known as a deep thinker on and off the court. Allen’s pursuit of knowledge has extended into his life after basketball, and is often captured in thought-provoking posts (see below) to his 2.3 million followers on Instagram.
Some of his most recent posts have been more vocal on where politics are in America.
Allen shares with Yahoo Finance that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol showcased the profound societal differences right now in a country still reeling from the chaos of the Trump presidency.
“The day of the Capitol siege, when you see white people storming the Capitol, and you know, police officers almost let them walk in there, and there's nothing done to them,” Allen said. “And you know, it was a terrorist attack. But yet, when there were peaceful protests over this past year due to police brutality and the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the shooting of Jacob Blake and people wanted to express their displeasure, and ultimately, they were met with the national guard and police.”
Continued Allen, “So you see the two differences in America and how there's governing done differently over the Black people when they protest. And, you know, protesting is the American way — this is how our country was built. When there's been situations that have risen over the course of this country, the people have to step up and speak their piece in order to change the status quo and to make this America a better America for all people.”
The Biden administration has wasted no time in trying to undue many of the controversial policies of the Trump administration. President Biden signed 30 executive orders in his first three days in office. Some of the more headline grabbing ones included stopping funding on Trump’s border wall along Mexico, reversing a travel ban targeting mostly Muslim nations, imposing a mask mandate on federal property and jump starting the production of COVID-19 supplies. The president has also laid the groundwork for a $15 an hour minimum wage.
These are in addition to Biden unveiling a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus proposal just before being sworn in as president. Biden is expected to unveil a new infrastructure plan within the next month.
But more needs to be done, especially as it pertains to race relations in the country — something then candidate Biden promised to immediately address if elected president.
Allen is hopeful Biden will help mend fences. Key to doing that is getting people to listen to one another again, Allen said.
“First off, people have to listen. And people have to be willing to understand that in a compromise, you have to give something up, you don't get everything that you want in this country, it's not Democrat and Republican,” Allen said. “You know, we are far too embroiled in political parties right now where we want people from our party from another party to either win or lose in this country. We've played this game, and it starts with the people in elected positions. They only care about winning, but it's about making this country a better place. And it's important that our politicians put their insignificant beefs and immaturity aside so we can actually see them work together.”
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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