I’m proud of Doug Baldwin and the Seahawks’ stance

Even if you don’t follow football, I think you should know about a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, Doug Baldwin. Baldwin is the man who initiated the Seahawks locking arms during the National Anthem. He said that this is about empathy, that black Americans are scared but that police officers are human.

And you should also know that the coach, Pete Carroll, purposefully hosted discussions with his team about the issues being brought up by the Black Lives Matter movement because he knows that things that go unaddressed begin to fester. They are actually having the conversation that we’re all supposed to be having.

Baldwin and other Seahawks players followed through with one of their goals by meeting on Monday with members of the Seattle Police Department at the team’s practice facility in Renton. Baldwin spoke with “60 Minutes” and, though the full interview airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, snippets of the interview quote him as saying he received death threats for his activism. His response: “There’s issues going on in our society that people feel compelled to talk about and I’m not going to be quieted about it.”

I am so proud to have this team here in Seattle. I may disagree with Baldwin on some facts but this is a man seeking understanding and this man is a leader.

The goals should be about honest discussion, understanding and being open to learning from one another.