NC State coaches, athletes and students marched on campus on Saturday
Kevin Keatts coaches basketball, but on Saturday he was giving history lessons.
Keatts, the N.C. State men’s basketball coach, grabbed a megaphone and stood in front of hundreds of Wolfpack athletes on campus Saturday afternoon. Dressed in all black, wearing shirts with ‘Black Lives Matter’ written on the front, the athletes gathered in front of Case Dining Hall, then marched to through campus and stopped in front of Holladay Hall, the first building built on N.C. State’s campus.
Wearing a shirt with the word ‘Vote’ written across his chest, Keatts told the assembled group how proud he was of them. PACKUNITED, a group of athletes that came together this summer to address social injustices and racial issues, formed the peaceful demonstration, their second form of action since June.
This one bigger, with athletes from every sport at the school represented.
Keatts wasn’t the only coach in attendance. Football coach Dave Doeren and women’s basketball coach Wes Moore stood off to the side as Keatts spoke. Director of athletics Boo Corrigan was also in the crowd. Once he addressed the group, Keatts told them how proud he was and how powerful of a moment it was for them to come together to use their platform, their voice.
He reminded them that their voices meant something and it should be used to educate everyone they encounter about social injustices and racism. Keatts can relate to how they are feeling. When he was growing up Rodney King was the name that he rallied for. The athletes in the crowd were too young for that name to ring a bell, considering none of them were born when King became a household name. In 1991 after members of the LAPD were caught on camera beating King with their batons after King led them on a high-speed chase.
When the officers were found not guilty, several days of rioting followed in California. Keatts remembers the emotions he felt as an African American man when that happened. So he gets it when an athlete like Isaiah Moore of the football team, or Jada Rice of the women’s basketball team, speaks to the crowd about their frustrations.
“I want you to google Rodney King. When I grew up it was Rodney King,” Keatts said. “It was a horrible story and I cried. It was emotional, but I vowed from that day that I would make it better for you guys. I never thought that in 2020 we would have some of the same stuff going on. We have to make sure this doesn’t happen six months from now, 20 years from now.”
Moore was vocal this summer about his quest for change when it comes to social injustice. On Saturday he was backed by hundreds of his fellow athletes, doubling the size of the crowd that marched with Moore over the summer.
“It takes all of us. It’s not a black problem, it’s not a white problem, it’s an us problem,” Moore said. “And us being student-athletes we have a tremendous platform to advocate for change. It was great to have our athletes and coaching staff all come out and be a part of it.”
After Moore addressed the crowd he asked everyone to kneel in a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time police officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on the neck of George Floyd in Minnesota, killing him.
Afterwards, Moore hugged Doeren, who in the past few weeks talked about how proud he was of Moore and the work he’s done with PACKUNITED.
“Obviously, I’m very sensitive to their pain,” Doeren said in a previous interview. “I know that Isaiah and PACKUNITED and guys on our team have done a lot of good things to impact change, not just in our locker room, but around them.”
Keatts encouraged the group to use their social media platforms to share their stories, positive stories. He told the athletes they have the ability to share their stories in 30 seconds or less through Twitter or Instagram and coming from them it could go a long way. He also warned them not to engage with people who are looking to discredit the positive work they’ve done and the message they are attempting to spread.
“Don’t fight with people that don’t care, it’s not even worth it,” Keatts said. “You’re not going to change everyone, but there are going to be a small group of people that they just don’t know how you feel. It’s hard to walk in your shoes if you never have.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 2:07 PM with the headline "NC State coaches, athletes and students marched on campus on Saturday."
