Michael Jordan speaks out on police violence: 'I can no longer stay silent'

'The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow'

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Basketball hall-of-famer Michael Jordan spoke out against police killings of black Americans in a statement published to the sport and culture website The Undefeated.

“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,” Jordan said.

“I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late.

“I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent.”

The former Chicago Bulls all-star said that while he has had an overall positive experience with law enforcement, he recognises “that for many people of colour their experiences with [police] have been different than mine”.

Jordan called for unity, education, and a dialogue to “achieve constructive change”.

In his statement, Jordan said he donated $1m to both the International Associations of Chiefs of Police Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defence Fund to encourage cooperation between law enforcement and the communities they police.

“The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow,” he said, “but if we all work together we can foster greater understanding, positive change, and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”

This is the first time Jordan has publicly spoken out on police violence since the emergence of the #BlackLivesMatter social movement – which began after the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and gained national prominence during the protests in Ferguson and Baltimore.

Throughout his career in the 1980s and the 1990s, Jordan remained noticely silent on social issues, and he received significant criticism for not using his platform to raise awareness.

According to the Boston Globe, when asked about Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Jordan avoided answering with a simple, "I need to know more about it."

During a heated North Carolina Senate campaign between Republican Jesse Helms and black Democrat Harvey Gantt in 1996, Jordan was approached by Gantt to be involved in his home state's race.

Jordan declined, reportedly saying, "Republicans buy sneakers, too."