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Staten Island is the borough that’s had a history of ignoring the issues that plague African-American lives (note Eric Garner’s death). The Staten Island Yankees‘ (the New York Yankees minor league division) delivered another example of such blindness.

Everybody except for the Yankees’ publicity department were aware that Sunday was the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death. As a result, the Staten Island Yankees-Brooklyn Cyclones game was also a “Blue Lives Matter” event. The exhibition in bad timing featured memorabilia like this:

“Blue Lives Matter,” like the tepidly politically correct “All Lives Matter,” is an offshoot of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which drew attention to the destruction of black lives in America. The movement caught footing after the December murders of Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. Their families threw out the first pitch of Sunday’s game.

This particular event was being planned since March and fans were given “Blue Lives Matter” wristbands after paying for a $25 ticket, according to the Huffington Post.

Despite the good will, the Yankees have been forced to defend themselves against critics because, well, you just don’t do a pro-cop event on the anniversary of a young African-American who was murdered by one.

“It was a very unfortunate coincidence. [Blue Lives Matter] wanted the matchup against Brooklyn, because the attendance is usually better. This just happened to be the only Sunday [the SI Yankees host the Cyclones] in August,” said Staten Island Yankees senior director of marketing Michael Holley.

Holley also said that the Yankees would be, “open to any type of fundraiser to support people in the community,” when asked about a possible “Black Lives Matter Day.”

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Yankees Minor League Team Sponsor “Blue Lives Matter” Event On The Anniversary Of Michael Brown’s Death  was originally published on theurbandaily.com