Published Aug 11, 2023
Donovan Edwards addresses controversial social media post from 2022
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Brock Heilig  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
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Last football season, during Michigan's 2022 campaign which saw the Wolverines finish 13-1, star running back Donovan Edwards shined on the field, but he also made headlines with what he did off the field.

In October of last season, Edwards retweeted a post that contained antisemitic language and was endorsed by rapper Kanye West.

The tweet read: "Jewish people will literally tell you that they want you to kill your own and humiliate your women simply because they have children to feed."

Not long after Edwards retweeted the post, he removed the tweet from his twitter page, and issued an explanation.

"I speak for myself. I know what’s in my heart,” Edwards wrote. "I am unequivocally against racism, exploitation and oppression in all forms, including stereotyping and trafficking in hate. I have nothing but love for others and I never judge anyone based on race or religion.”

On Friday, Edwards met with the media ahead of the 2023 season, and he once again cleared the air on the incident.

"I feel like that was a great thing for me, because it was a learning experience for me," Edwards said on Friday. "The way I look at it is, I don't have any type of hatred. I don't disgrace anybody. I have love for everybody, all people. I don't care who you are. Black, White, Puerto Rican, Dominican Republic, I don't care."

"The thing that I learned from that is, I can't allow a caption to define who I am," Edwards said.

Edwards went on to explain why he retweeted what he did.

"For me, I'm a Black male, and I look at that very specifically" Edwards said. "And it's like, Black people are getting diminished... we're looking at celebrities and they're telling us this and that, we're listening to the rap lyrics, so we're depriving of ourselves... so that's why I retweeted what I retweeted. It's not about I hate Jewish people, I don't hate Jewish people. Black people are Jewish, too."

"I learned a lot from that, and that's why I don't deprive myself of who I am, because I know who I am," Edwards said. "If you ask people in this building who really know me, they would say I'm a great person, and I believe that of myself, too."

Edwards concluded with one last apology as he cleared the air seemingly one last time following the incident.

"I apologize to anybody who I may have hurt, and I understand my actions and I will grow from it. It's taught me a lot."

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