Gregg Popovich says he’s “embarrassed as a white person” that George Floyd died in “nonchalant” manner

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — “I’m just embarrassed as a white person.”

The words spoken by San Antonio Spurs Coach Greg Popovich in a video addressing the death of George Floyd that was posted over the weekend.

It was released by the Spurs as past of SpursVoices, a series the team is sharing on social media.

Two weeks ago, Floyd was in handcuffs when Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Floyd was pronounced dead a short time later.

“The best teaching moment of this most recent tragedy, I think was the look on the officer’s face. For white people to see how nonchalant, how casual, how just 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 it was his right and his duty to do it in his mind.”

Popovich then pauses and appears to hold back tears as he says:

“I think I’m just embarrassed as a white person, to know that that could happen. To actually watch a lynching.”

Popovich says black people have been shouldering this burden for 400 years and the only reason the nation has made the progress it has is due to the “persistence, patience and effort of black people.”

The coach says it’s going to take the effort of white people to push for change.

“It’s easy for people to let things go…because it doesn’t involve them.”

https://www.facebook.com/Spurs/videos/718319175664220/