Mets Slugger Dom Smith Posts Powerful Response to Recent Protests

The impact of the protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd and dozens of other unarmed African-Americans at the hands of police officers has trickled into the sports world, and New York Mets first baseman and outfielder Dominic Smith is the latest to make his feelings known.

Smith posted a long story explaining his thoughts on the current social climate and the numerous cases in which police brutality has resulted in the deaths of African-Americans. Smith claimed that being silent at a time like this "kills" before declaring that the American people should come together as one and "be the change."

Players like Smith have felt empowered to speak up about the negative experiences that they've had as it pertains to race. Cleveland Indians outfielder Delino Deshields Jr. decided to use his platform to explain how he wished he took a knee during the 2017 season, while former Minnesota Twins star Torii Hunter has detailed ugly race-based insults hurled at him in Boston and Kansas City.

Smith's experience is, unfortunately, not that uncommon. Hopefully if his message and the stories of dozens of other African-American athletes continues to receive the amplification that they've been receiving of late, it could go some way to making the general public more aware of the fact that even well-known athletes are not immune to discrimination.

Smith added his name to a long list of professional athletes hungry for change after the recent wave of protests.