Conversations about race are often awkward and awkward. But the Rangers are united by the will to listen.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated at all times.

ARLINGTON – The Rangers attempted the impossible on Friday. They tried to take a united position for a cause, remain apolitical, and make everyone happy.

Maybe start with something a little bit easier, like winning a World Series.

In a world where perception and imagery rule, if you simply watched the Rangers in the moments leading up to the season’s surreal opening against Colorado, you’d see a team seemingly as divided as the United States of America.

As part of a belated league-wide recommendation that teams take a stand for racial equality and against racism before the start of the season, about half the list wore T-shirts with the words “Black Lives Matter.” , while the other half wore T-shirts with the slogan “Together we are united”. Before the National Anthem, approximately half the team spent a moment of kneeling silence, while the other half remained upright. The division was more or less along racial and cultural lines.

It would be easy to see all that and believe it was a team in crisis at two very different ends of the spectrum.

It would also be inaccurate.

It would not take into account the hours of decision-making team meetings that, according to a fact sheet sent to teams in the league-wide effort to support social justice, were supposed to be held individually. But it’s a game where the idea of ​​team bonding and chemistry is supposed to be considered intangible assets. What the Rangers decided they wanted to do was express a message as a team, even if the symbolism was different.

What they wanted to do was novel: listen to each other.

The conversations were sometimes awkward and awkward. Conversations about race often are. But they continued.

“We had four team meetings in six days,” said pitcher Kyle Gibson. “We wanted to make sure that all of our teammates were heard and their opinions mattered. We were going to talk about it. “

The dilemma was one of many faces for Americans: All Rangers agreed that black lives mattered, but many could not support the eponymous political action group. The team agreed that those who are comfortable should wear the Black Lives Matter jerseys. Todd Frazier suggested the logo – various hands gripping the shaft of a baseball bat – for an alternative jersey. Taylor Hearn, one of four black players who had been to summer camp, suggested a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the back.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hatred;

only love can do that

But Gibson thought the Rangers needed to do more than just choose images. They needed to explain their thoughts as a team. He suggested producing a video that stated exactly that. Fifteen players and staff lined up. The result was a video of more than two minutes that came out on the Rangers’ social media at noon.

“We felt it was important to get it out, so no one would stand out,” said manager Chris Woodward, who wore the “Together We Stand United” shirt for his pregame Zoom briefing, and then changed into a Black Lives Matter shirt. to hit. practice. “Just because someone wears a patch or not does not mean we are not united. We’re.”

Gibson said: “It is easy to make a decision and perceive it in a way. We wanted to make sure that our fans, our friends, our families and the media know: ‘This is what you are going to see what you see and why the decisions were made. We made the decision on Wednesday to be passionate and speak from the heart. ”

Listen, ever since they were put into the taxi squad, Willie Calhoun and coaches Callix Crabbe and Tony Beasley appear. Like Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos. If they keep track, they both say in the video, “Black lives matter.” But it was part of a broader message that also included, among others, veterans Lance Lynn, Jeff Mathis, Jesse Chavez. Manager Chris Woodward appears, also echoing the message in the video.

That message: let’s keep talking. But let’s start doing it.

As an organization, the Rangers promised the same when they were among the last teams to issue a statement in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The statement came in early June. But since then, they have yet to announce any major action. There is a pandemic, after all. Right now, the conversation is a big step.

“I would say that one of the most important things we can do is keep having these conversations,” said general manager Jon Daniels. “I looked around the room the other day, five or six countries represented, and you had a group as diverse as there could be. From different backgrounds and different points in their careers. Have a very open and hard conversation. You don’t get that in many spaces. I think his willingness to do that, and what comes out of it, is perhaps as important as anything else. “

“I don’t know how many people want to sit down and have that conversation,” said Gibson. “But we are interested in being part of the solution. We want to be part of real change. “

That begins not with images, but with listening. The Rangers have begun to listen.

Find more stories from The Dallas Morning News Rangers here.