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“That’s Not The Way To Protest” – Rafael Nadal Speaks Out On USA Protests

Published 06/04/2020, 11:45 AM EDT

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There are multiple accounts of the protests going on in the USA which has led to many celebrities taking varied positions. Tennis stars have also rallied behind the Black Lives Matter movement calling out the custodial death of George Floyd. Rafael Nadal also supported the call by participating in the Black Out Tuesday initiative.

However, Rafa threw in some extra caution as he also decided to call out all the violence. In fact, he said that it was not the way to protest. Overall, Rafa clarified that he is against racism and all the evils but he couldn’t support violent protests.

He also expressed hope for a better tomorrow. There is sure to be backlash against these comments. The movement has maintained that the police have been the aggressors in the violence, contrary to Rafael Nadal.

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What did Rafael Nadal say?

Rafa maintained that he was still supporting the call for justice for George Floyd wholeheartedly. However, violence needs to be condemned.

“I think it’s a very long conversation and it’s a difficult situation to answer right now. We don’t have enough time to talk about this problem,” said Nadal in a Zoom press conference call with international media on Thursday.

“But of course, all the people who want a peaceful world, we are against racism, we are against poverty, we are against all terrible stuff that is happening in this world.”

“When you see all these disasters on the streets, my feeling is that’s not the way to protest or to… I don’t know, I don’t like… that’s not a good example either.”

“Of course the situation is critical but I really believe strongly in people and I really believe that we will be able to fix the problems,” added Nadal.

“Like everything, it takes time, all the improvements, it takes time. But we are getting there in all ways … to everybody having the same opportunities, to everybody having the same rights, in terms of being protected.”

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“Of course it’s not enough, of course we need to keep working hard to make this world a better place.”

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“Violence and pandemics like this today, create a difficult climate for the world. It’s important to stay with calm, to respect everyone and live together in peace, that’s the main thing in my opinion. I respect every single opinion and every single thing that avoids violence because violence creates disasters.”

We might see some tennis stars disagreeing with Rafael Nadal. Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka had earlier asserted that the violence is getting undue attention. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond to these comments.

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Written by:

Aryan Sharma

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Aryan Sharma is a WWE and Tennis author and editor at EssentiallySports. Being a journalism graduate from Delhi University, he combines his love for creating content with an astute knowledge of almost three eras of professional wrestling. He's also a Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova fan and likes to write on the social impact of these two legends beyond their achievements on the tennis court.
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