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"An unarmed black teenager was shot dead by a white police officer in the middle of America nearly two weeks ago, setting off a string of racially charged clashes between protesters and police for much of the past week in the town where he was killed. \nNow a group of NFL players have decided to pay tribute to the slain teenager by taking the field for a Monday Night Football game with their hands up \u2014 the same gesture of surrender that witnesses say victim Michael Brown made before he was shot.\nThe players who made the statement play for Washington's NFL team, which is nicknamed the Redskins \u2014 a moniker that has increasingly come under fire for being a racist epithet used against Native Americans for centuries, and one that many fans say has no rightful place in modern sports. \nSee also: Ferguson Protester: 'You Don't Want to Be Here After Sundown'\nSo, to recap: Professional athletes who play for and wear the logo of a team with a racist nickname disparaging Native Americans walked onto the field while making a gesture of support for a black teenager whose killing by a white police officer has distinct, undeniable and troubling racial elements. America is one strange country. \nWashington Redskins defensive backs entered FedEx Field field before their Monday night home game against the Cleveland Browns with their hands in the air:\n\nRedskins players led by Meriweather appeared to have paid tribute to #MichaelBrown today: http://t.co/Qx0vrvTUVD pic.twitter.com/4HcYgUPiF8\n\u2014 NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) August 19, 2014\n\nProtesters in Ferguson, where nightly demonstrations have routinely teetered on the brink of chaos as police squads decked out like military forces struggle to control the situation, have widely adopted the gesture. \nWashington safety Brandon Meriweather told USA Today that he and his fellow defensive backs felt it was important to mark the killing of Brown and its aftermath. \n\"We just wanted everybody to know that we support Michael and acknowledge what happened in Ferguson,\" he said. \"Crazy things happen every day in this world. It was all of our idea, something we decided to do as a group just to show our support.\"\nThen, once the game started, its biggest moment was probably Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel \u2014 a white athlete known for his partying antics off the field \u2014 casually flipping off the Redskins bench during the third quarter. \n\nSometimes you've just got to laugh to keep from crying, America. \nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/08/19/michael-brown-washington-redskins-players/>