"It doesn't have to be about everyone at the minute" - Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie throws support behind 'Black Lives Matter' movement after death of George Floyd
Oli McBurnie, the Sheffield United striker, has thrown his weight behind the #BlackLivesMatter movement in a video posted to his Instagram story today.
Footballers across the country have posted plain black squares on their social media pages today, as part of a 'blackout Tuesday' campaign following the death of African American man George Floyd in police custody last week.
Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, and the incident has provoked outrage around the world.
McBurnie posted a video on his Instagram page earlier today revealing his motives for posting a #BlackLivesMatter message earlier.
"I never claim to be a politician or an activist or anything like that," McBurnie said, "and I'm not a specialist on the subject, but I posted something about Black Lives Matter and got a couple of responses saying 'all lives matter'.
"And while I completely agree with that, the movement of Black Lives Matter isn't about saying the rest of lives don't matter. Black people, in America and everywhere, are being targeted and persecuted and shot and killed, at the end of the day, because they're black.
“That doesn't happen to white people and it doesn't mean that everyone's lives doesn't matter... it means black lives are getting lost at the minute, and that is what the movement is about.
"It doesn't have to be about everyone at the minute. It's about the fact that black people are dying and being targeted because of the colour of their skin."
McBurnie admitted the subject was "hard" for him to speak about, because "it looks like I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon."
"I said this to my friend the other day," the Scottish international striker added, "and he said 'it might look like that, but is this not the bandwagon to jump on?'
"And I thought 'that makes sense'. People can take it however they want but he said to me, if I change one person's outlook or perspective and make them think 'that's not right' and change their mind, then it's worth doing."