Post-Game Speech on Jacob Blake and Culture of Fear by Coach Doc Rivers

Delivered by Coach Doc Rivers (Source: Bleacher Report)

 

Context:

This impromptu speech was given by LA Clippers Coach Doc Rivers after a game in the summer of 2020. The emotion and words are just soul shaking.

 

Speech:

"What stands out to me is just watching the Republican Convention. They’re spewing this fear, right? You hear Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear. We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that were denied to live in certain communities. We’ve been hung. We’ve been shot. All you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing to me why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back. It’s really so sad.

"I should just be a coach. I'm so often…reminded of my color. It’s just really sad. We’ve got to do better, but we got to demand better. We got … Yo, it’s funny. We protest and they send riot guards, right? They send people in riot outfits. They go to Michigan with guns and they’re spitting on cops, and nothing happens. The training has to change in the police force. The unions have to be taken down in the police force."

"My dad was a cop. I believe in good cops. We’re not trying to defund the police and take all their money away. We’re trying to get them to protect us, just like they protect everybody else. I didn’t want to talk about it before the game, because it’s so hard, to just keep watching it. That video, if you watch that video, you don’t need to be black to be outraged. You need to be American and outraged."

"How dare the Republicans talk about fear? We’re the ones that need to be scared. We’re the ones having to talk to every black child. What white father has to give his son a talk about being careful if you get pulled over? It’s just ridiculous. It just keeps getting … It keeps going. There’s no charges. Brionna Taylor, no charges, nothing."

"All we’re asking is you live up to the Constitution. That’s all we’re asking, for everybody, for everyone.

Thank you."

 

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