Former reporter claims Bills owner Terry Pegula, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made racist comments about hiring, social justice protests


This morning, Pro Football Talk tweeted out the first look NFL fans have gotten at longtime NFL reporter Jim Trotter’s discrimination suit against the NFL.

Trotter’s suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, names the National Football League and NFL Network, Trotter’s former employer, as defendants. The complaint filed on Trotter’s behalf spans a full 53 pages, but PFT tweeted out a few of the allegations contained therein, including allegations of statements that confirm that racial equality is still a big problem in the NFL.

Remember all those “End Racism” block letters in the endzones? Take a look at what Trotter alleges owners Jerry Jones and Terry Pegula have said in his presence. Trotter’s lawsuit alleges, in part:

  1. As one such example, Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Bills, stated inteference to player protests against racial injustice that, “If the Black players don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is.” See infra at SIII(D).

Mr. Trotter says he raised complaints and concerns about this remark, but no action was taken.

  1. As another example, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, responded to a question posed by Mr. Trotter regarding the dearth of Black professionals in decision making positions for NFL teams by stating, “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire.” See infra at SIII©. Mr. Trotter raised complaints and concerns about this remark but no remedial action was taken.

read more: https://deadspin.com/jerry-jones-terry-pegula-nfl-racism-lawsuit-1850829902

    • Haui@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      Honestly, this is nothing but rage bait to me. Every person who makes a remark like this should go to jail for a cool 20 yrs. I had an incident last year with a nonprofit I was working with where people were sharing memes of asian chefs (with text bubbles giving them the stereotypical r to l change) serving bats to unknowing western guests… I asked that this practice is stopped and got publicly humiliated for my „unprofessional demeanor“.

      I can’t tell you how furious I am about racists.

  • Heikki@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I am a firm believer that the only draft pick that would have saved the Dallas Cowboy’s was Jerry Jones by the Vietnam draft

  • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    What old billionaires from the south and made their money from exploitation, are racist?! Never would have guessed

    • Haui@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      They should be disowned. As should be everyone who made money from slavery, war profiteering, etc.

      • Historical_General@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s most of the establishment. Even new money people are mostly crooks. And then you get people like Rowling who make money honestly and join the far right cult of the wealthy.

        • Haui@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          Definitely a lot of them. Our world has a problem with morality. It’s not ok to cross a red light but it is okay to have made millions working for the nazis somehow (for example). I don’t care about the jk rowlings of this world. Being a dumbfuck is not morally bankrupt but using slave labor definitely is and even has been when it was legal.

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is the same organization that has spent millions of dollars to downplay the effects of multiple concussions on several players across the league.

    People receiving regular brain damage was swept under the rug for the sake of what is essentially modern day blood sports.

    • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I feel like ancient some blood sports would be an improvement, most gladiators fought to first blood so it would devolve into WWE style drama.

  • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Now ask them what they think life in Africa is like?

    Reed huts, water jugs on your head, walking sticks and a coke bottle that fell from the sky?

    • Evie @lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I think that is part of their cruel point… they want people they deem below them, to see what a ‘prevliege’ it is to live in the States, so they are more ‘grateful’ to be abused here… because at least there are ‘certain’ comforts In our country… it’s sick.

      I only say this cause I do have a racist uncle who share this type of thinking. I got in an argument once with him about immigration and how they help our country. He had an issue with them (immigrants) complaining about literally anything, so they should just go back to their country… When I asked him why he would want ‘them’ ( a Mexican family he was upset with, to go back to Mexico) he shared a very similar sentiment. To make them grateful for being abused here…

  • keeb420@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I’m shocked that Jerry Jones would say something like that. Shocked. Well not that shocked.

    • vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      It’s worse than that! It’s not “go back to Africa”. It’s “go to Africa and see how bad it is there”

      That is really really close to “you should be really really glad we abducted your ancestors, kept them like animals and raped them for generations”.

        • Jomega@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          If I stabbed you and then patched it up later, you would still be mad at me for stabbing you.

          • DaveFuckinMorgan@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’d be mad at the guy that stabbed me, and grateful for the guy that patched me up, since the union and the confederacy were different.

            • query@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              People like the Buffalo Bills owner are not on the side of the union.

        • vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 year ago

          I’m not exactly sure what you’re trying to say, and since all possible interpretations I’ve tried sound really bad I’ve decided not to speculate.

          • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The USA liked slavery so much that parts of it fought a war to keep it (which they thankfully lost) and that’s apparently a good thing.

        • Liz@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          Along with a pipeline, meaning you gotta get the kids playing from a young age too. But, success breeds popularity, ideally they would all decide to move to Kenya, which already has a decent rugby sevens program, and they can help fill out the fifteens team. Also it would be funny to watch all the US football teams suddenly get worse as half their team quits and they’re scrambling to bring all the new players up to speed.

          That being said, league minimum is half a million dollars, and only the best rugby players make that much right now, so…

  • shifted_drifter@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Fitting, considering that Buffalo Bill himself was a fucking racist monster who literally is only famous for A. his stage show depicting him scalping a First Nations war chief, and B. being a buffalo murder machine

    • Hobo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s more than a bit of a reductionist view of Buffalo Bill. I think there might be a considerable amount of nuance that you’re ignoring about him that you could glean from just reading his wiki[1]. Not saying he’s a beacon of morality and ethics, but he wasn’t just a racist with a stage show either.

      [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill

    • hedgehogging_the_bed@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      His quotes on Native American rights and women’s rights suggest he might have had broader views than you are considering. He could have been a racist but he appears to have been fairly progressive by 19th century standards.

  • Adub@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Why don’t they go back to the “Free Market” and fund their own football stadiums. Then go fund their own talent building & recruitment programs instead of relying of public schools as well as public college & universities.