Gregg Popovich speaks on George Floyd, police brutality, and more.
San Antonio Spurs’ Head Coach Gregg Popovich discussed his thoughts on police brutality and the death of George Floyd in a new video series for the team’s social media titled “#SpursVoices.” He says he is “embarrassed as a white person” to see how black citizens are being treated by police.
Hector Vivas / Getty Images
“In a strange, counterintuitive sort of way, the best teaching moment of this recent tragedy, I think, was the look on the officer’s face,” Popovich said in the powerful video.”For white people to see how nonchalant, how casual, just how everyday-going-about-his job, so much so that he could just put his left hand in his pocket, wriggle his knee around a little bit to teach this person some sort of a lesson — and that it was his right and his duty to do it, in his mind.
“I think I’m just embarrassed as a white person to know that that can happen. To actually watch a lynching. We’ve all seen books, and you look in the books and you see black people hanging off of trees. And you … are amazed. But we just saw it again. I never thought I’d see that, with my own eyes, in real-time.”
Floyd died, May 25, after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over 8 minutes.
Check out the full video of Popovich’s thoughts below.
[Via]
Gregg Popovich speaks on George Floyd, police brutality, and more.
San Antonio Spurs’ Head Coach Gregg Popovich discussed his thoughts on police brutality and the death of George Floyd in a new video series for the team’s social media titled “#SpursVoices.” He says he is “embarrassed as a white person” to see how black citizens are being treated by police.
Hector Vivas / Getty Images
“In a strange, counterintuitive sort of way, the best teaching moment of this recent tragedy, I think, was the look on the officer’s face,” Popovich said in the powerful video.”For white people to see how nonchalant, how casual, just how everyday-going-about-his job, so much so that he could just put his left hand in his pocket, wriggle his knee around a little bit to teach this person some sort of a lesson — and that it was his right and his duty to do it, in his mind.
“I think I’m just embarrassed as a white person to know that that can happen. To actually watch a lynching. We’ve all seen books, and you look in the books and you see black people hanging off of trees. And you … are amazed. But we just saw it again. I never thought I’d see that, with my own eyes, in real-time.”
Floyd died, May 25, after police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over 8 minutes.
Check out the full video of Popovich’s thoughts below.
[Via]