George Floyd’s recent death in Minneapolis has done more than touch off a string of violent acts in cities across this country.

Watching video of a black man dying while laying chest down on the pavement, a policeman’s knee on the back of his neck choking him out, is going to do that.

But Floyd’s death touched off a string of solemn thinking as well.

This tragic act of injustice transcends many areas of stereotyping in society, whether it be race, religion or gender.

Including sports.

Not for a second do sports remotely compare to what happened to that man — or others like him — through our nation’s history. But it does bring stereotyping to the forefront of our minds.

It exists. It’s out there. We need to face it. We need to change it.

The Rooney Rule was designed to do that in the NFL. It was supposed to force teams to interview at least one minority candidate for each head coaching and coordinator position that comes open.

In a sport that has such a strong minority presence on the field, it’s a shame this rule even had to come into existence. It’s a bigger shame that it hasn’t worked very well.

This offseason, it was even proposed that a team be awarded a higher draft choice for hiring and keeping a black head coach for at least two years. That proposal wasn’t passed.

It’s pathetic it even had to be brought up.

A number of black quarterbacks — current stars Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson among them — have blossomed into stars in the NFL in recent years.

Not all that long ago, there was an unspoken belief that blacks could never succeed at that position at that level.

Women have only recently begun breaking into the field of sports officiating and umpiring. Only a handful of women exist as assistant coaches in the professional sports world.

Female athletics — regardless of the skill level — are not even close to their male counterparts in terms of media coverage, monetary gain or attendance.

Then again, female athletics barely existed 50 years ago.

Overcoming stereotypes takes time. It’s a gradual process, one that may not arrive in my lifetime.

There is a movement going on in Pennsylvania to make girls wrestling an official PIAA sport. A few colleges have women’s wrestling programs. There are 21 states that offer it at the high school level.

No one knows whether girls will take to the sport unless it’s offered to them — as their own sport, not being part of a boys team.

For decades, no one thought women could play football. The Pittsburgh Passion changed that.

Blacks can coach and thrive in adminstrative roles. Women can compete, coach and officiate.

It’s taken years to overcome the idea engrained in our brains that they can’t.

Attitudes can and do change.

No change can bring back George Floyd. His death is a tragic reminder.

As a people, we still have a long way to go.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle