Jerry is that You? 

Many people call the Dallas Cowboys, “America’s Team.” With fans around the country, the Dallas Cowboys franchise carries an “All-American” reputation, but what happens when one of the faces of the team upholds unAmerican ideals? This is what happens with team owner Jerry Jones, especially after a picture surfaced showing him protesting the desegregation of a public school in Little Rock, AK.

What seems like a picture a student would see in their American History textbook turns out to not be as long ago as many think. The picture shows white students at North Little Rock High School blocking the school’s entrance in protest of Black students attending the school. One of the students was a young Jerry Jones, dressed in a striped polo top.

At this time, Jones was attempting to make his school’s Football “B” team and had received instruction from the coach to not be at the school’s entrance when the protest was happening. 

Although this is not the first time Jones’ racism has been witnessed, many people of color remain loyal fans of the Dallas Cowboys.

Self-proclaimed die-hard Cowboys fan, Christian Veazié, says that he has been a fan of the football team for the last 15 years. Although Veazié has an immense amount of love for the Cowboys, his love runs thin when it comes to Jerry Jones. “I despise Jerry Jones, even before these pictures surfaced about his youth,” said Veazié, “Both as a person and as a Cowboys fan, I am not surprised that Jerry Jones took part in trying to uphold the division between our people.” 

This is not the first time people have accused the football team owner of being racist. In September 2016, Jones went on the Shan and RJ show of 105.3 The Fan, and stated, “I’m for it [anthem] being used, in every way we can, to support the great contributors in our society – that is people that have supported America, and the flag.” A year later, Jones stated that he would not tolerate any of his players kneeling during the national anthem, although he kneeled with players a month earlier.

Najee Wilson who is another huge Dallas Cowboys fan, says that he was never a fan of Jerry Jones, and would even express that he felt as if Jones had a slave owner mentality and never cared about the players, only how much money he was making off of them. Wilson said of the uncovering of the photograph showing Jones participating in the segregation protest, “It honestly makes me embarrassed to call myself a Cowboys fan some days, knowing that the owner of the team is [in a negative way] connected to one of the most pivotal moments in the Civil Rights movement.”

Although there is a negative spotlight on Jones, some fear that it is only temporary and will not invoke any true change in Jones. Veazié said that he does not believe that anything will happen to Jones. 

“The team he owns is worth $8 billion–the most in the NFL, and his net worth is $11 million. White people with money like that rarely face scrutiny.”