Three African American members of Clemson University’s national championship football team have said that Donald Trump’s “racism” and “divisive politics” were the reason nearly three-quarters of the team’s black players declined to attend the traditional White House reception earlier this month, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The players, speaking to the Root on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the US president was the reason approximately one-third of the entire 119-player roster passed on the visit, which made headlines after Trump served a spread of McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and pizza because White House chefs were furloughed due to the partial government shutdown.
“It wasn’t like we had a team meeting or anything,” one offensive player said. “Players were talking amongst each other but everybody was like: ‘I’m not going to that.’”
Only 15 of the 57 black players on the team attended the reception on 14 January, the sources said. Of those, 11 were freshmen or sophomores who had little playing time and feared reprisals over their status. Only six were listed on the depth chart for the national title game victory over Alabama.
One player noted: “Not saying anything against the players who went, but if you look at who went – freshmen and people fighting for playing time – you’ll see what I’m talking about.” The players said coaches and staff neither pressured them to attend nor asked them to keep quiet about their reasons.
The news comes after the Golden State Warriors, the two-time defending NBA champions, again avoided a White House visit during their trip to Washington, instead visiting former president Barack Obama.
