Colts GM Chris Ballard: ‘White America Refuses to Listen’
INDIANAPOLIS — Chris Ballard repeatedly confessed that he’s ashamed.
The Indianapolis Colts general manager is ashamed of himself and for his country. He also admitted on Thursday that he’s been too ignorant for far too long about the disturbing depths of racial inequality.
Ballard couldn’t have been more contrite about lacking understanding in the past. And he couldn’t have sounded more determined to do something about it in the future, starting with a unified team effort.
Unlike others in the NFL, who have recently said the wrong thing and failed to grasp what’s really been going on in nationwide protests and violence, Ballard offered an unscheduled oratory in a Zoom video conference call that at times included his anger and frustration about what too many fail to grasp.
“I can’t sit here and remain silent, because that’s exactly what we’ve done every time our black community screams and yells for help,” he said in a 16-minute chat that included answering media questions. “We have to end social injustice and racial inequality. We have to end the police violence against our black communities. Black lives matter. I don’t understand why that is so freaking hard for the white community to say. Black lives matter.
“I’ve been ignorant, I’ve been ignorant to the real problem, and I’m ashamed of that. I just came to the realization here over the last 10 days with some really hard, difficult conversations that we’ve had as an organization, as a team, with my family, with my sons, and I’ve been ignorant to the real problem.”
Ballard, who is white, bluntly stated that problem.
“You see, this is not a black problem,” he said. “This is a white problem. This is an issue that we have to talk about and we can’t sugarcoat it. We can’t sugarcoat our way out of this. We can’t go back in our bubble, because that is what we have always done. We have always gone right back into our bubble and we’ve never really listened. We haven’t listened, I haven’t listened. We haven’t listened as a country. White America refuses to listen.
“We want to keep things the same and it can’t, or we will continue down the same paths we are continuing down and that has to change - and nothing will change until we do that. I’m ashamed of that. I’m embarrassed by that.”
Ballard, 50, and his wife have five children. He said he’s spent time talking to his children about what’s going on. He admitted that raising them to be accepting of all people regardless of race isn’t enough. He blamed himself for his children not knowing why a nation is so outraged. He reiterated that children aren’t born to hate, that they learn about race at home and in society.
Ballard said he’s been “very naive” because although he doesn’t see color, he failed to realize how others don’t think that way.
He read from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’
“Well, that ain't happening right now. That's not happening. We can sit here and say, 'Oh, yes it (is);' No, it's not. It's not.”
He referred to the death of George Floyd, a black man who was suffocated while in Minneapolis police custody last week. All four officers have been arrested. But the viral video of Floyd’s final moments sparked protests that at times have turned violent across the country in the past 10 days.
“How does the black community — and this is how I kind of explained (to) my son the other day — how does the black community feel when they see George Floyd with a knee on his throat and dying because of it?” Ballard said. “Then, to have three people watch it — three other people watch it — and not do anything. That's what we're doing right now as a country. We're watching it, and we're not doing anything about it. That makes me sad.
“To have a fear that every time, you live every day, you come into contact with a police officer — when a black American comes into contact with a police officer and they're scared, and they're fearful of what can happen, that is wrong. That is dead wrong.”
He explained how that point was driven home with his son.
“I said, 'OK, close your eyes, and I want you to think about this: a police officer's got a man, got his knee on him, he's choking him, he's sucking all the air out of him, and I want you to think that's your father, who's white,’” Ballard said. “‘Think about what your reaction would be, and think about seeing that over and over again. What would your reaction be? You'd be angry. You'd be hurt.’”
He was adamant that the Colts, as an organization, intend to do something about raising awareness to make a positive difference.
“I was ignorant to the fact — I knew it — but I was ignorant to the fact it was happening,” he said. “And shame on me. That won't happen again. We're gonna stand up for what's right. We're gonna stand up for what's right as an organization. People deserve it. This is about humanity. This is about human lives we're talking about here. You've gotta have some empathy for the human life. We're all the same.”
He confessed that when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a controversial knee during the National Anthem before NFL games in 2017, Ballard thought he understood when Colts cornerback Darius Butler explained the reason for the silent protest was to raise awareness about racial inequality and police brutality toward blacks.
“I'll say it this way: like everybody, we didn't listen,” Ballard said. “I didn't listen in '17. You know, I didn't listen to Darius — I love Darius Butler. I love Darius Butler. He tried to explain it. I thought I heard it; I didn't hear it. We didn't listen. We didn't listen.”
A final question asked what his reaction would be if the Colts wanted to take a knee during the National Anthem this season.
“Well, whatever our team ends up doing, we're gonna support,” Ballard said. “But we're gonna do it together as a team. That's what we're gonna do: We're gonna support 'em, and we're gonna do it together as a team. We've said that all along. So whatever we decide to do, we're gonna do it as a team. That's the beauty of that locker room: We're gonna do it as a team. I understand why people took a knee. I don't know I didn't completely understand it the first time, but damn right I do now.”
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
