A lot of people are talking about inequality and peace and healing.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix intends to do something about it.
Via Jason Wilde of ESPN.com, the Packers safety said he’s finishing his degree in criminal justice, in part so he can be part of the solution to our country’s ongoing divide between law enforcement and the African-American community.
“I understand what’s going on in this world,” Clinton-Dix said. “But cops have to go home at the end of the day. They have a family. They have to go home, too.
“Growing up where I’m from, some people are afraid of cops. They don’t really like cops. And what a lot of people don’t realize is, they’re really not the bad guys. They’re really on our side, they’re really trying to help us out. And sometimes, we don’t understand that.”
He re-enrolled at Alabama in January, and took classes online beginning in the playoffs and throughout the offseason, finishing up one class while the Packers were in training camp. He’s taking the fall semester off from school to concentrate on his day job, but plans to graduate in 2017.
Clinton-Dix grew up in Eatonville, Florida (a small town near Orlando), and wasn’t singularly focused on football. He dreamed of a career in law enforcement, so he could help communities like his own.
“I went into criminal justice because I want to learn more about the law, about what’s going on in this world, and be a mentor to kids from where I’m from,” Clinton-Dix said. “To [help them] understand that the law isn’t against you, it’s actually for you.
“You have to put yourself in people’s shoes in certain situations because you don’t know what people really think or what they’re really going through. I feel for the cops, I feel for us as a society as a whole, period. I just hope we can find peace and justice and get back to getting better in this world. That’s how it was going. We were getting better. And I just hope it goes back to that way.”
For that to happen, it’s going to take work from both sides to come together. And Clinton-Dix deserves credit for trying to do what he can to find a solution.
