{"id":436438,"date":"2020-06-19T16:41:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T23:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=436438"},"modified":"2020-06-19T16:41:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T23:41:25","slug":"cullen-jones-group-of-black-swimmers-joining-voices-together-to-fight-racism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/cullen-jones-group-of-black-swimmers-joining-voices-together-to-fight-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"Cullen Jones, Group of Black Swimmers Joining Voices Together to Fight Racism"},"content":{"rendered":"

With his swimming days behind him, Cullen Jones<\/strong> knew he could only provide a certain perspective. As he told USA Today Friday<\/a>, USA Swimming consulted the 36-year-old four-time Olympic medalist on the organization\u2019s response to protests against police violence and systemic racism in the wake of the killing of George Floyd<\/strong> by Minneapolis police May 25.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 response was to help but also acknowledge the younger voices in the conversation, those of swimmers still in the pool. That has led to a group chat of a dozen black swimmers, many household names among American swimming\u2019s elite, to coordinate their responses and amplify their collective voices.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first thing was like, you need to put out something quickly,\u201d Jones told USA Today.<\/em> \u201cYou need to address this head on because I\u2019m not talking about myself anymore because I have retired and I\u2019m not training for 2021. Not only Olympians but Olympic hopefuls are coming up, and they are not only people that are going to contribute to Team USA, they are leaders on your team. They might be voted your captains. So you need, as an organization, to stand behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those collaborations led to USA Swimming revising its initial statement into a more substantial letter June 12<\/a>, which includes a pledge to continue working with members of the black community to increase its structural diversity efforts. Many swimmers \u2013 including Simone Manuel, Lia Neal, Reece Whitley, Natalie Hinds<\/strong> and Giles Smith<\/strong> \u2013 have expressed their thoughts<\/a> on the current moment as individuals<\/a>. But the group has been a springboard to greater collective visibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been rallying a bunch of swimmers, Olympians, national teamers past and present, to be part of fundraising to contribute to organizations that combat these racial injustices and systemic racism,\u201d Neal told USA Today. \u201cSo what I\u2019ve been working on with Cullen has been about the Black story specifically. And what I\u2019ve been working on with Jacob has also been, yes, involving the Black athletes but also now, just as important in this movement is having allyship, and getting all these swimmers to show their support and solidarity in volunteering their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Start by contributing to @InnocenceProject and help exonerate the wrongfully convicted and reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Link in bio. #SincerelyYours @lia_neal #MoreThanAnAthlete #BlackLivesMatter #LiftBlackVoices<\/a><\/p>\n

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