New England Wide Receiver Julian Edelman, who is Jewish, posted an open letter to Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard about his use of an anti-semitic slur on his twitch yesterday.
In part, Edelman writes:
The letter reads, in part: “I get the sense that you didn’t use that word out of hate, more out of ignorance. Most likely, you weren’t trying to hurt anyone or even profile Jews in your comment. That’s what makes it so destructive. When someone intends to be hateful, it’s usually met with great resistance. Casual ignorance is harder to combat and has greater reach, especially when you command great influence. Hate is like a virus. Even accidentally, it can rapidly spread.”
Julian Edelman has been very outspoken in his support and defense of his Jewish background and helping out his community in recent years. Last year, he invited then wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. after comments came out publicly with Jackson making anti-semitic social media posts.
Time will tell how this affects Meyers Leonard and his career. He is on a leave from the team indefinitely as of yesterday from the Miami Heat. People have said worse and have returned to their social media platforms and kept their jobs, so we will see if he has a spot on the Heat’s roster after this. Anti-Semitic comments to tend to be career killers so I do not hold a lot of hope for Leonard after this. To be honest, I didn’t even know that Meyers Leonard still played in the NBA so I guess everyone is learning a lot recently from this situation.
