Last month, a couple of weeks before he was set to report to Giants camp, Jaylin Davis published a powerful blog post on the team's website discussing the racism he had dealt with in baseball and society. Davis is quiet in the clubhouse, for the most part, and he noted that writing the post was difficult.
"I'm extremely private," he wrote.
Davis has opened up in recent weeks, and on Monday night he was one of the Giants who took a knee in front of the dugout during the national anthem. It's an image that has been seen across social media in the hours since, even catching the attention of the President, and on Tuesday morning Davis posted to Twitter to explain why it was so important that the Giants take this step:
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Giants executives and coaches have encouraged the players to use their voices without any fear of it harming their careers. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who traded for Davis last July, released a statement Monday night supporting his players and coaches.
[RELATED: Why Slater knelt during the anthem before Giants-A's game]
Manager Gabe Kapler, who also took a knee, met with the team before the game and delivered a clear message.
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"I wanted them to know that they got to make their own decisions and we would respect and support those decisions," Kapler said. "I wanted them to feel safe in speaking up, and so we had these kinds of discussions for the last several days and will continue to have them."
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