San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been an active supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. Though, that doesn’t mean he’s not paying attention to other groups as well.
During a Zoom session with reporters, Popovich said that Hispanics have also been the victims of systemic racism.
“Black and brown people are the two major groups that suffered these injustices,” Popovich said.
“Obviously, the Black population, for hundreds of years. But our brown brothers and sisters have suffered the same discrimination in a lot of ways that reflect the same system that has created such inequality in wealth across the board for Black and brown peoples,” Popovich said.
Popovich says that racism directed at the black and Hispanic communities as “basically the same problem, but much more exacerbated in the African American community because of the ancient brutality and the history.”
The coach went on to explain how whites can’t share the same experiences as the black and Hispanic communities when it comes to interacting with the police.
“When I hear a cop car, when I hear the noise, I get nervous because, ‘Damn, I don’t want to get a ticket,’” the coach said. “Other people hear that sound and they don’t want to die. That’s a pretty big difference.”
Popovich fired a parting shot at President Trump after the conversation turned to District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who the president once referred to as “Mexican.”
“At this point, all one has to do is look at the border to see what the priorities are,” Popovich said. “Who rips children from their mothers? Sane, balanced, empathetic people do not participate in such actions, and you see what we’re held to every day to observe.”
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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