This article appears in the July/August edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, a digital-only publication available exclusively to US Lacrosse members. Join or renew today for access to this 96-page edition, which includes immersive and interactive features as well as video tips from professional players. Thank you for your support!

2020, am I right?

First the pandemic, now a civil rights movement unlike anything we have seen since the 1960s. This spring went from surreal to just so real.

Only in the year 2020 would I find myself emailing a dozen of my colleagues with the subject line, “To the People of Color of US Lacrosse.” It’s one thing to see and hear how people of color are hurting right now — to share virtually in their outrage and disbelief via social media and other less personal platforms. It’s another thing altogether when people you know and care about shed that layer and show the rawness of what’s inside.

I’ll be the first to admit that outside of work, I don’t keep very diverse company, especially not since we moved out of the city. The “white flight” is real. I’m as guilty as anyone for retreating to what’s familiar and comfortable, rather than surrounding myself with people who challenge and broaden my worldview.

In this space four years ago (“Digging Deep for Diversity,” June 2016), I wrote of my then 3-year-old son’s diverse preschool in Baltimore that “I hope he never sees a discernable difference between black and white, Asian and Latino, gay and straight.” But colorblindness is not the answer, as former North Central College lacrosse player Mynk Richardson-Clerk emphasizes in our feature (“Silent No More,” page 20) on the Black Lives Matter movement’s relevance in our predominantly white sport.

I’ve experienced similar revelations in conversations with coworkers of color. I’m grateful that US Lacrosse is not a cookie-cutter workplace, that our organization’s leaders challenge us to look within for unconscious bias and we have a safe space to be vulnerable and authentic.

My son just turned 7. He learned about Martin Luther King Jr. earlier this year and understood the notion of segregation. But this was beyond his comprehension. He’s a lacrosse fan, naturally, so I made him watch part of the Zoom chat between Atlas LC teammates Kyle Hartzell and Pat Young, facilitated by Matt Hamilton of our staff. Having recently learned to ride a bike and venture off on his own, he perked up when he heard Young talk about getting a flat tire without a cell phone signal on a new trail.

“I was scared for my life,” Young said. “When I say that, it’s a real thing.”

Young feared how he might be perceived pushing a disabled bike and how a confrontation could escalate.

“I ran all the way home, and when I got home, I cried to my mom.”

Up until that point, everything I was saying about systemic racism went right over my son’s head. Something clicked when he saw that segment. I could see it in his eyes. That’s why we must and will continue to provide a platform to amplify the voices of those who live in the margins of the lacrosse community.