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Drew Brees’ wife Brittany issues apology: ‘We are the problem’

Drew Brees’ wife Brittany penned an emotional message Friday on Instagram, stating “WE ARE THE PROBLEM,” a day after the Saints quarterback offered a second apology over his national anthem remarks in the wake of George Floyd’s death. “WE ARE THE PROBLEM,” Brittany began. “I write this with tears in my eyes and I hope you …

Drew Brees’ wife Brittany penned an emotional message Friday on Instagram, stating “WE ARE THE PROBLEM,” a day after the Saints quarterback offered a second apology over his national anthem remarks in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“WE ARE THE PROBLEM,” Brittany began. “I write this with tears in my eyes and I hope you all hear our hearts.”

Sharing two quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. — “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” and, “Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people” — Brittany said that while she has read these statements a thousand times, she digested the whole meaning in recent days.

“I have read these quotes and scripture 1000 times and every time I read it and the words sink into my heart,” Brittany said, also referencing the passage: “The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you.”

Brittany said, “I think yes this is what it’s all about…Only until the last few days ,until we experienced the death threats we experienced the hate… Did I realize that these words were speaking directly to us.. how could anyone who knows us or has had interactions with us think that Drew or I have a racist bone in our body? But that’s the whole point.

“Somehow we as white America, we can feel good about not being racist, feel good about loving one an another as God loves us. We can feel good about educating our children about the horrors of slavery and history. We can read books to our children about Martin Luther King, Malcolm X., Hank Aaron, Barack Obama, Rosa parks, Harriet Tubman.. and feel like we are doing our part to raise our children to love , be unbiased and with no prejudice. To teach them about all of the African Americans that have fought for and risked their lives against racial injustice,” she continued.

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“Somehow as white Americans we feel like that checks the box of doing the right thing. Not until this week did Drew and I realize THAT THIS IS THE PROBLEM. To say ‘I don’t agree with disrespecting the flag ‘.. I now understand was also saying I don’t understand what the problem really is, I don’t understand what you’re fighting for, and I’m not willing to hear you because of our preconceived notion‘s of what that flag means to us,” she added.

Brees, 41, came under fire earlier this week after an interview with Yahoo Finance, saying he “will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.” He apologized Wednesday following a wave of criticism from LeBron James and members of the NFL community.

“In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused. In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country,” Brees said.

He spoke again Thursday in a video message posted to Instagram.

“I know there’s not much that I could say that would make things any better right now,” Brees said in the video. “But I just want you to see in my eyes how sorry I am for the comments that I made yesterday. I know they hurt many people, especially friends, teammates, former teammates, loved ones, people that I care and respect deeply.”

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Brittany added in her remarks, “That’s the problem we are not listening, white America is not hearing.”

“We’re not actively LOOKING for racial prejudice,” she continued. “We have heard stories from men and women we have known and loved for years about the racism that occurred in their lives .. stories that were never shared or talked about because somehow they were considered normal.”

Brittany then vowed, “To all of our friends and anyone we hurt …we will do better.”

“We want to do better , we want to HEAR you, and we will fight for you because thinking we are not part of the problem…is checking the box it means we are are not doing enough. It’s our job to educate ourselves. We are sorry 🙏🏻,” she concluded.

Brittany’s message follows nationwide protests taking place in response to Floyd’s death. He died in Minneapolis last month after former cop Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. He has since been charged with murder and manslaughter.

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