Do we have to talk about race again? Gregg Popovich says, Youre damned right we do.
Notoriously surly sideline interviewee Gregg Popovich may not always be an open book when it comes to basketball, but ask him about societal issues and he’ll give you an earful. On Thursday, following San Antonio’s 102-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Spurs coach dug into an issue from which he thinks too many Americans shy away — racism and race relations in the United States.
“I think if people take the time to think about it. I think it is our national sin,” he said. “It always intrigues me when people come out with, ‘I’m tired of talking about that,’ or, ‘Do we have to talk about race again?’ And the answer is, ‘You’re damned right we do’ because it’s always there — and it’s systemic, in the sense that when you talk about opportunity, it’s not about, ‘Well, if you lace up your shoes and you work hard, you can have the American Dream.’ That’s a bunch of hogwash.”
Popovich, who got on the topic after a reporter asked him about Black History Month, also took the opportunity to discuss white privilege, a concept that has garnered more attention lately because of the increasingly vocal “alt-right” movement known for its views espousing racist, anti-Semitic and sexist points of view.
“If you were born white, you automatically have a monstrous advantage — educationally, economically, culturally, in this society and all the systemic roadblocks that exist, whether it’s in a judicial sense, or a neighborhood sense with laws, zoning, education,” he said. “We have huge problems in that regard that are very complicated, but take leadership, time, and real concern to try to solve. It’s a tough one because people don’t really want to face it.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/02/03/do-we-have-to-talk-about-race-again-gregg-popovich-says-youre-damned-right-we-do/?utm_term=.5359c772a134&wpisrc=nl_break&wpmm=1
= new reply since forum marked as read
