On Tuesday, the Orioles joined teams across Major League Baseball in denouncing racial injustice and discrimination after a week of civil unrest in cities across America following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The Orioles quoted Martin Luther King Jr. and author James Baldwin in advocating for change with the statement, which reads in full as follows:
"Nearly six decades ago, at another low point in our country’s ongoing struggle to understand and rectify the racial injustice our fellow Americans have endured since the inception of our nation, the author James Baldwin warned, ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’
"Today, as our friends and neighbors experience the same mistreatment of generations ago in the form of engrained, unyielding and institutionally-discriminatory systems that deny justice and equality, and provide in their place a steady supply of brutalizing misconduct, compounded in some cases by voices that fan the flames of violence and racism, it is imperative that we face the past and present.
"Dr. King said, 'Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.'
"The entire Orioles family expresses solidarity with the families of all who have had their lives destroyed and communities disrupted by the forces of racial bias and violent abuse.
"With enduring understanding, empathy and a peaceful resolve, we are committed to advocate for the change our country needs today and to root out racism and prejudice of any kind as we strive to make a better America in the future.
"Black Lives Matter."