opinion

Will 'Black lives matter' protests disrupt Super Bowl?

Do black lives matter more than the Super Bowl?

Is that even a question?

Of course black lives -- any lives, all lives -- matter more than a sporting event.

Do concerns about black lives matter more than a Super Bowl?

That's a different question, and one that may be raised soon by local activists.

On Tuesday local organizers concerned with confrontations between the police and the Black community announced plans to use the Super Bowl as a platform.

In a press release preceding a press conference the group writes: "As the Nation counts down to Super Bowl XLIX, Arizona's Black community announces a new campaign incorporating the national theme 'Black Lives Matter: Addressing The Violence Of Systemic Racism in America and Arizona.' Black leaders and activists in Phoenix, Arizona have organized to monitor and document police misconduct and brutality across the country as the nation continues its 'business as usual' attitude of distraction and sport."

One of the organizing group's leaders, Rev. Jarrett Maupin, says in the release, "We are challenging Arizona's moral and social status quo. As long as the status quo allows others to perpetrate the violence of systemic racism on Black people, we will not be silent or immobile."

There is a problem nationally between law enforcement and the minority community. But I don't believe "the status quo allows others to perpetrate the violence of systemic racism on Black people." Does it happen? Yes. Is it the "status quo?" No.

Still, it's a conversation we must have, so I had one with Rev Maupin.

"Look," he said. "We know the Super Bowl is coming. And we're not going to stop it. And I'm not certain it should be stopped, but I've talked to some folks from the NFL players union and others and they agree that we need to have a national dialogue. Not just on racial profiling or the bad things police do, but just in general we need a mature, nationwide conversation on these problems we're having."

He hopes for and envisions the NFL and it's partners doing a national messaging campaign similar to the one the league launched on domestic violence.

"One of the things we struggle with is that, yes, police are brutalizing people. But not all police, not even most of them, and at the same time there are some things we need to do internally as a community," Maupin said. "I don't want to say we invite it on ourselves. But we certainly don't ward off confrontation. There's a school that says, 'We shouldn't have to rise above. It's an undo burden on black males and minorities.' But isn't that the moral challenge? We're answerable to more than just the community. Each side has to take a deeper look."

Maupin said he has talked to police officers who described for him what it is like to be abused by the public, adding, "You can't discount that.... although, no one wants to hear that. On my side."

Maupin is 27.

He said, "A lot of people my age and slightly older see any attempt to communicate with the police as compromising the movement or its principles. Nothing is farther from the truth. We have to get past that. We have to talk."

Maupin also has been approached by people asking him if he cares about the football fans who only want to enjoy a game and might have that experience disrupted.

"Well, fans in general have to remember that over 94 percent of the men who will take the field on Super Bowl Sunday are black," he said. "And a lot of them are struggling with these issues as well. They are not anti-police, but they are pro-youth. And they're worried about the kids who look up to them. So, yes, this issue is impacting players too. That's why we have to have this conversation."