Former NBA player Royce White put on a t-shirt to show support for Uyghur Muslims facing oppression by the Chinese government in a post game interview.
The basketball player spoke to a CBS representative about Uyghur Muslims while holding a black t-shirt with a slogan “Free The Uyghurs.”
How would @NBA have responded?
— Peter Irwin (@PeterIrwin_) July 12, 2021
Former @NBA player Royce White (@Highway_30) speaks on the Uyghur issue in a post game interview.@IceCube founded this new league, @TheBig3. pic.twitter.com/plgL1tgCX7
The reporter asked Royce White “is this your shirt; what does it mean?”. He answered: “”Free the Uyghurs; two million ethnic minorities are living in concentration camps in China.”
Twitter users have hailed the basketballer’s support for China’s minority; Khaled Beydoun, a law professor and author, shared a photo of the former NBA player while carrying the shirt and wrote: “Salute Royce White, one of the few American athletes to talk about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China.”
Salute Royce White, one of the few American athletes to talk about the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China ?? pic.twitter.com/r41bMxZ9pa
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) July 13, 2021
Royce White - does what no NBA player has courage to do @thebig3 respect !!! pic.twitter.com/ugeCouuiG9
— Mitch Roschelle (@Mitch_Roschelle) July 10, 2021
After loads of debates in social media; Royce White slammed the huge criticism by media outlets and said that he believes the attacks show that he is on the right track.
He continued: “When it doesn’t suit anybody to talk about justice and freedom, that’s when you should talk about it.”
When you know a moment like this should be going viral but instead you get crickets from media outlets… that’s when you know you’re doing it the right way. When it doesn’t suit anybody to talk about justice and freedom, that’s when you should talk about it. #FreeTheUyghurs pic.twitter.com/Gx2TkXWadS
— Royce White (@Highway_30) July 11, 2021
The Uyghurs are recognized by the Chinese government as a regional minority and the titular people of Xinjiang. The government is accused of performing ethnic cleansing to the minority group. Millions of Muslims are kept in concentration camps north-west region of Xinjiang forcibly working and exposed to torture; women are being raped and forced to undergo birth control programs.
World leaders have slammed China’s oppression against the Muslim minorities; Canada, EU, US and the UK have jointly imposed sanctions on Xinjiang to slam the human rights violations and abuses there.
