Former NFL Running Back Arian Foster will apparently not go quietly into the good night of retirement. Foster launched into a Twitter tirade on Thursday night, weighing in on race, criminal justice, social classes, and just about every other social justice issue under the sun.
The rant appeared after an announcement by the Department of Justice, that Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo greenlighting the continued use of private prisons. This directive overrides a previous memo issued under the Obama Administration, by then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, where she told the Bureau of Prisons that they should either decline, or significantly reduce the role of private prisons upon reaching the end of their contract.
This did not sit well with Foster, who tweeted that the move herald the rise of prison labor:
wow. prison labor on the horizon. https://t.co/l1ScQJINOw
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
Things deteriorated from there, when Foster began responding to detractors and supporters in his timeline:
yikes. you do realize prison labor is a euphemism for slavery? https://t.co/LGz6Zvs35r
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
it’s a non issue to you. minorities in their neighborhoods are statistically targeted for petty crime. https://t.co/MabaIiRmza
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
you know what the 13th amendment is? https://t.co/BQH5qZyoZn
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
screen shot the amendment and post it. we’ll read it together. https://t.co/A5JBUdDmJT
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
classism is racisms cousin. agreed. https://t.co/P5BMFIL8Un
— Feeno (@ArianFoster) February 23, 2017
Foster played for eight years in the NFL, most of it with the Houston Texans. During that time he was one of the best running backs in the game, totaling nearly 9,000 yards and 68 touchdowns.
I’m going to choose to remember him for those things.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn