Is the NFL Donating $250 Million to Black Lives Matter?

The total is an accurate accounting of the NFL's pledge to 'social justice efforts,' but the money will not be going to just one group.

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A series of viral social media posts claim that the National Football League is donating $250 million to Black Lives Matter. The claim is based on a real NFL initiative that created a $250 million fund to “combat systemic racism and support the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by African-Americans.” The NFL statement announcing the fund further said that the money will go to “support[ing] programs to address criminal justice reform, police reforms, and economic and educational advancement.” However, it did not state what specifically these “programs” are.

An article on NFL’s website said that before this latest pledge, the NFL had donated “$44 million to its social justice programs” which funded “20 national social justice grant partners and made matching contributions to 350 local grassroots organizations identified by players and former players.” 

The article states that the NFL will work with players to find programs to support. While new partners have not yet been announced, leaving it possible that some of the $250 million will end up going to the Black Lives Matter Foundation or another BLM-affiliated organization, when asked if the whole of the fund would go to BLM, Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president for communications, told The Dispatch Fact Check: “No that’s not accurate.” 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    And after the money is gone, then what?

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    Felipe

    Except there is an organization called "Black Lives Matter" with policy proposals and a vision for America that many find disconcerting. So it's is disingenuous to say BLM is the same as "No Taxation without Representation".

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    Pat Riot

    In a way this exposes the Republican mythology around BLM that it it's some sort of organized attack on our country as a whole. It is in fact only one step above "antifa" in that there's an actual owner of a website called "Black Lives Matter" and they naturally position themselves as the leader of some sort of movement, but they also know they don't own the phrase anymore than anybody else does.

    "Black Lives Matter" is no different, as a phrase, than "No Taxation Without Representation". It's just a statement of solidarity to a broad idea, not the illuminati.

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    1. Sean

      Wouldn’t a statement of solidarity to a broad idea be support for the fact that black lives matter (not capitalized)? How do we distinguish between support for black lives and support for a goal to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement,” or to defund the police or to pay reparations, or solidarity with the promise of the president of the Greater New York BLM to “burn down this system” if certain demands are not met?

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      1. Avatar photo
        William Cotton

        Oops, here's the example of a business using the the phrase Black Lives Matter but without any mention of the end the nuclear family structure, reparations, etc:

        https://weedmaps.com/black-lives-matter

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      2. Avatar photo
        William Cotton

        > How do we distinguish?

        I dunno, ask people, instead of just putting words in their mouths?

        Here's an example of a business using the the phrase Black Lives Matter but without any mention of the end the nuclear family structure, reparations, etc.

        How people use words define their meaning, not the other way around. The intention is what is important.

        That being said, the contemporary world of instantaneous electronic communication is very good at quickly destroying any context and with it any possible meaning, so I can't blame you too much for being confused.

        There are of course some actions you could take: 1.) Spend less time online. 2.) Spend more time talking to people in person who support "Black Lives Matter" to see what it means to them.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Victor Clairmont

    So the question would be what are the groups. Good luck to the NFL on that one.

    Thanks for the fact check Mr Dent. Someone please donate 250 million to my retirement account, thanks.

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