Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby rips Woodrow Wilson in moving post about America's racial divide

NHL star Braden Holtby did not hold back his thoughts on progressive Democratic former President Woodrow Wilson in a statement Wednesday about America's racial divide and the protests going on in cities and towns following the death of George Floyd.

What did he say?

The Washington Capitals' goalie tweeted that, though he felt he "couldn't find the words to say" about the state of unrest in the U.S. after Floyd died at the hands of four now-fired and arrested Minneapolis cops, he believed he "had to try."

His statement about the "injustice and hatred infused power we've seen recently" began by making it clear that this fight over race "is anything but new." All anybody has to do is look at the racist president whose name continues to adorn the bridge connecting Virginia and Maryland on the south side of the Beltway, which surrounds Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson.

"I stare at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, spanning across the Potomac River. From Virginia it leads to Maryland, into Prince George's County," Holtby began, noting that Prince George's is "one of the most affluent Black counties in America."

And then he goes after the progressive left's favorite president.

"And here a monstrous bridge stands, named after a racist president," he wrote. "A President who was an outspoken white supremacist. Who segregated Federal workers based on race. The bridge sits there mocking every black person who has to travel across it while reading that name as a reminder of how much pain has been inflicted on their race."

But his criticism isn't just for Wilson — it's also for those who are appear to be proud of Wilson's legacy.

"And yet, the society that has inflicted that pain seems proud of it," he said. "Proud enough to name a bridge in a white supremacists [sic] honor."

'Where do we go from here?'

Holtby went on to share his brokenness over the state of affairs in America, saying that to believe there have been actual improvements in race relations is "very naive" and adding that "change has been far too minimal" considering the age of information and communication we currently live in.

"The amount of inhuman, hate based, racial crimes that have been committed in the centuries of American history is enough to make your skin crawl in discomfort and your eyes well with tears," he mourned. "Yet it's still happening. [I]n 2020. It should never happen. Yet... it still is."

So what do we do about it? Holtby offers this:

So now what? Where do we go from here? As a person who definitely falls into the white privileged category, I know I will truly never know what it's like to walk in a black man's shoes. But I know I have arms, and ears, and a voice to walk beside beside and listen to every world of anguish and give my strength to every black man, woman or child until their shoes weigh the same as mine.

For everyone standing up and marching for what is right, your voices are not going unheard. You're bringing pride to every person who believes in the universal value of a human being. Keep fighting, and I vow to demonstrate and educate what you are fighting for. Not only for myself but my children, family and everyone else who will listen. Because America will never be great until all BLACK lives matter.