Former NFLer Emmanuel Acho Creates Insightful ‘Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Man’ As An Explainer For White People

Dear white people,
For days you’ve asked me what you can do to help. I’ve finally found an answer.

Let your guard down and listen. pic.twitter.com/74SVv8XOqp

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) June 2, 2020

Emmanuel Acho is one of the personalities on the rise on ESPN after leaving the NFL. He’s young at 29 years old but brings some much-needed perspective of a modern athlete to a network that has sometimes not been the best about approaching issues of the day.

And despite however many decades he has in front of him on our TVs, this video that Emmanuel Acho put together that he titled “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” may be one of the most important things he does.

I can tell you from content we’ve posted on Twitter that there are a lot of white men in the DFS and betting space who really don’t get what’s going on right now in America. And rather than attempt to understand different perspectives, they lash out. They make things about themselves, about their experiences. They refuse to get outside of their comfort zone to think differently or even think slightly less selfishly for even a second. It’s painful to see for me as someone who’s worked in digital media and internet content for over a decade. You just want to shake some sense, or at least some bit of self-awareness, into them.

And ultimately that’s what you’d hope this video by Emmanuel Acho accomplishes. He explains why even Martin Luther King Jr. would support the aggressive actions in protests around the country. He discusses the concept of “white privilege” and how it affects so many Americans of color every single day. He even talks about the anxiety he encounters for something as simple as going to his own mailbox when a white woman is there at the same time.

It is uncomfortable. It is genuine. And, before anyone out there drops another “WELL ACTUALLY!” response tweet, it’s something you should give up 10 minutes of your life to watch.

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