Race & Sports in America: Steph Curry, Charles Barkley, Ozzie Smith & Jimmy Rollins Roundtable | NBC — Transcript

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1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:04welcome back to race and sports in
3. 0:06america conversations i'm your host
4. 0:08damon hack we introduce our second group
5. 0:10of panelists nba all-star steph curry
6. 0:13has joined us
7. 0:15hall of famer charles barkley
8. 0:18baseball hall of fame shortstop ozzie
9. 0:20smith
10. 0:21major league baseball all-star jimmy
11. 0:23rollins appreciate all of you joining me
12. 0:25this evening charles we're sitting here
13. 0:27mainly because of the events of may 25th
14. 0:29the death of an unarmed black man george
15. 0:31floyd
16. 0:32it was caught on camera it's been a
17. 0:34talking point for our country
18. 0:36what have your emotions been like since
19. 0:38that fateful day
20. 0:40well i think that that was the most
21. 0:42painful thing for any first of all it
22. 0:45didn't only have to be a black person
23. 0:47if you got any humanity in your heart
24. 0:50you see somebody kneeling on a man for
25. 0:52nine minutes and he's telling you he
26. 0:54can't breathe
27. 0:56people in the crowd are telling you he
28. 0:58can't breathe to see that
29. 1:00it just it was the first time i ever
30. 1:02seen a person die and it was painful
31. 1:05and you know damon it is so stressful
32. 1:09on guys like us being famous black
33. 1:11people because
34. 1:12we have to comment on everything
35. 1:14so you think about a three-week period
36. 1:17you saw the young black man mr aubry in
37. 1:19georgia who was jogging who got killed
38. 1:22you saw the thing in new york where this
39. 1:25young lady was screaming at a black guy
40. 1:26because he thought to put her dog on a
41. 1:28leash and then like the next week you
42. 1:30see mr floyd murdered
43. 1:32when you're a black celebrity
44. 1:34you have to come especially when you're
45. 1:36on television you have to talk about
46. 1:38this stuff all the time and it is
47. 1:40stressful
48. 1:41what's it been like this is not a new
49. 1:43story ozzy no it's not a new story and i
50. 1:45think it's uh
51. 1:47piggyback on what charles said you know
52. 1:49it's different when you have a chance to
53. 1:51see it happening right before your eyes
54. 1:53and i think that that's what has been so
55. 1:55so um
56. 1:56so prevalent here is that people had a
57. 1:58chance to see it for themselves they
58. 1:59hear us talk about it all the time but
59. 2:01this was in their face
60. 2:03and uh it's something that we as as
61. 2:05black men have to deal with all the time
62. 2:07it's different when we walk out
63. 2:09when we have to sit down and have that
64. 2:10conversation with our kids um it's
65. 2:12different it's something that we have to
66. 2:14do it's not something that's pleasant
67. 2:16but we have to do it we have to sit down
68. 2:17and have that conversation with our kids
69. 2:19about how they deal with the police
70. 2:21and uh
71. 2:22it's it's never never easy because
72. 2:25you can get into a situation by where
73. 2:28you say to your son you know this is
74. 2:30what you do son and then he'll say to me
75. 2:32well well this is what my son said to me
76. 2:34he said well you um the kid in uh
77. 2:37that got shot in in his car he said was
78. 2:39reaching for his license the officer
79. 2:41asked him for his license and he says uh
80. 2:44do you have a gun yes i have a gun i
81. 2:46have a i have a permit
82. 2:47so he reaches for his gun and he shoots
83. 2:49him and my son said he well he was doing
84. 2:52what the officer asked him to do and and
85. 2:54and he's dead
86. 2:56so it becomes very tough for us
87. 2:58what are these conversations like for
88. 2:59you you're having these conversations
89. 3:01with your young children already
90. 3:03for sure i think uh as a young father
91. 3:06with a seven-year-old and a
92. 3:07five-year-old
93. 3:10the questions that they're asking
94. 3:11because they're being shown these images
95. 3:14the you can't really you can't and you
96. 3:17shouldn't really shield them from this
97. 3:19and the way that we go about as parents
98. 3:22uh talking to them being honest and
99. 3:24truthful about
100. 3:26how society has been for 400 plus years
101. 3:29and all that we are trying to do
102. 3:32collectively to
103. 3:34take this moment turn it into a movement
104. 3:36and keep applying pressure to change
105. 3:39our experience
106. 3:41i think it's rewarding but knowing that
107. 3:43you might not see the results right away
108. 3:46but we have to continue to double down
109. 3:48and double down and and keep people
110. 3:50accountable in all you know
111. 3:53walks of life
112. 3:54all industries all forms of leadership
113. 3:58the judicial system
114. 4:00all those type of things and and
115. 4:01hopefully for
116. 4:03my kids generation their kids
117. 4:06we will see change um i'm hopeful and
118. 4:09optimistic about it but i don't
119. 4:10understand how much work
120. 4:12we'll need to go into that is it
121. 4:14exhausting jimmy how exhausting is it
122. 4:16chuck talked about this isn't new
123. 4:19for a lot of people but it's new for us
124. 4:21for maybe the majority of americans but
125. 4:23this is nothing new for the black
126. 4:24community nothing new at all i mean
127. 4:27we've seen video after video after video
128. 4:30usually resulting in someone getting
129. 4:31shot for doing something their ass
130. 4:34because their color is their gun
131. 4:37being the wrong color and the wrong
132. 4:39neighborhood means you're an automatic
133. 4:41threat but when you look at the majority
134. 4:42of gun owners they aren't black men they
135. 4:44aren't black people in general we we shy
136. 4:46away from gun stores we shy away from
137. 4:49going to get permits and license to
138. 4:50carry because we're not comfortable even
139. 4:52when we walk in
140. 4:53so
141. 4:54going to a gun store
142. 4:57am i a criminal that's the first thing
143. 4:58you're thinking that they're thinking
144. 5:00well what do you need your gun for who
145. 5:01are you planning to go kill but yet when
146. 5:03we get pulled over or we're walking down
147. 5:05the street we're doing just the normal
148. 5:07things that any american or any person
149. 5:09in this world is doing we're already a
150. 5:11threat for doing it and if you're in a
151. 5:13wrong neighborhood what are you doing
152. 5:15here you have to be up to no good so
153. 5:18it's something that
154. 5:21isn't new
155. 5:22george floyd situation you know watching
156. 5:25man being suffocated and choked out like
157. 5:27that for eight or nine eight eight
158. 5:29minutes and 46 seconds
159. 5:31that was new
160. 5:32we've seen people get shot as like okay
161. 5:34well he's going to get shot again when i
162. 5:36was watching the video not knowing
163. 5:39you know the full story prior to i just
164. 5:41pulled it up and it was there i'm
165. 5:42thinking okay he got up and he got shot
166. 5:44but then as it gets going it's like this
167. 5:46man is really kneeling on his neck with
168. 5:48no remorse kind of like i don't want to
169. 5:50listen to you because i don't have to so
170. 5:52that part was new here it is a guy
171. 5:54actually not being shot being choked out
172. 5:56with the with the man on top of him
173. 5:57making a decision i am taking your life
174. 6:00because i can
175. 6:02over a 20
176. 6:03or
177. 6:04counterfeit 20 bill
178. 6:06you don't die over that
179. 6:08you know what damon one of the big
180. 6:09problems is television
181. 6:12see america
182. 6:14is segregated
183. 6:15white people live here black people live
184. 6:17here hispanics live there jewish people
185. 6:20live here rich people in here poor
186. 6:22people are here
187. 6:23so one of the problems we have with race
188. 6:25in this country
189. 6:26is your own perception of other races is
190. 6:29what you see on television
191. 6:32we've been watching television a long
192. 6:33time
193. 6:34we know the black guy's going to be bad
194. 6:37we know the hispanics going to be bad
195. 6:40and we know if it's going to be some
196. 6:41muslim they're going to be blowing some
197. 6:43stuff up
198. 6:44so whether you want to say you're racist
199. 6:46or not you have a preconceived notion
200. 6:49because you have no choice because you
201. 6:51know when you watch tv well i mean it
202. 6:54black we don't see a lot of black
203. 6:55doctors and lawyers on television so a
204. 6:58miracle is going to have to open up your
205. 7:00heart and say wait a minute just because
206. 7:02i see something on television when i
207. 7:05interact with that group
208. 7:07i got to block that mindset saying oh
209. 7:10when i see black people walking toward
210. 7:12me
211. 7:13i know i saw him do some crazy stuff on
212. 7:15a movie or in a tv show
213. 7:18but
214. 7:19they're not like that how we're
215. 7:20portrayed what's interesting you guys
216. 7:23have all played at the highest level
217. 7:25you've had people that will cheer for
218. 7:26you when you're wearing a uniform but if
219. 7:28you were walking down the street
220. 7:30and not wearing your uniform and you had
221. 7:32a hoodie on they might look at you a
222. 7:34little bit different how do you navigate
223. 7:35that well let me say this here you know
224. 7:39in st louis where i live it's going to
225. 7:40be different for me
226. 7:42than it is for
227. 7:43some other
228. 7:44black guy i'm not treated i'm not
229. 7:47treated the same way that other black
230. 7:48people are treated and i i don't know if
231. 7:50that's the case for these guys i i would
232. 7:52if i had to guess i'd say that it's a
233. 7:54little bit different when charles walks
234. 7:56in or steph or or jimmy because we've
235. 7:59been out there and people see us and
236. 8:00people have an idea of what our
237. 8:02personalities and things are like they
238. 8:04know that we're not bad people so it's
239. 8:07different for us than it would be for
240. 8:08somebody else but uh
241. 8:10in st louis it's you know i can't say
242. 8:13that it's it's been a terrible
243. 8:14experience for me i haven't had a lot of
244. 8:16bad experiences because of
245. 8:18of of who who i am and what i did
246. 8:21i don't want to pick back on something
247. 8:23as he said he's 100 correct the notion
248. 8:25that rich and famous black people are
249. 8:27treated like regular black people that's
250. 8:29not right
251. 8:30uh we get treated great but i always
252. 8:33worry about how we treat poor black
253. 8:34people
254. 8:35you know
255. 8:37there's a great thing in spike lee who i
256. 8:39i really admire respect
257. 8:42in that movie do the right thing
258. 8:44that is a perfect illustration of what
259. 8:46ozzy's talking about what i'm talking
260. 8:48about when the guy says um you know you
261. 8:51you hate black people he's yeah i hate
262. 8:52black people he says who's your favorite
263. 8:54entertainer
264. 8:55he says michael jackson he said who's
265. 8:57your favorite jock he says michael
266. 8:59jordan he said they're black and he said
267. 9:02well they're not black right and that's
268. 9:04the disadvantage of us for
269. 9:07we had a disadvantage because white
270. 9:09people treat us great
271. 9:10and i say i'm not worried about how they
272. 9:12treat us because it really comes down to
273. 9:14economics too at some point because rich
274. 9:17black people aren't treated like poor
275. 9:18black people and that's the thing we got
276. 9:20to really engage conversation how can we
277. 9:23make get more black people and poor
278. 9:25white people also they're in the same
279. 9:26boat give them economic opportunity
280. 9:29that's what america's really got to
281. 9:30grapple with i think one thing you said
282. 9:32too is the preconceived notions of how
283. 9:35they view
284. 9:36rich successful black people
285. 9:38as the anomalies and our intelligence
286. 9:40and
287. 9:41our well-spokenness that's always the
288. 9:43first thing you hear
289. 9:45if somebody knows how to be articulate
290. 9:47if they know how to so well spoken come
291. 9:49into a room
292. 9:50what does that mean
293. 9:51like that that that's the
294. 9:53the subtle
295. 9:55racist racism and prejudice that kind of
296. 9:59starts to add on itself and if another
297. 10:01white person hears that comment they're
298. 10:02going to think the same exact thing
299. 10:04and that's not going to trickle down to
300. 10:05anybody else and have be able to create
301. 10:07opportunities for somebody else to get
302. 10:08in that room
303. 10:10and prove their value prove their worth
304. 10:12and so
305. 10:13it's just shifting perspectives and
306. 10:15again holding everybody accountable
307. 10:17whether it's a private conversation
308. 10:19whether it's a tweet whether it's a
309. 10:21video whatever it is
310. 10:23to do the right thing no pun intended
311. 10:25but to to
312. 10:26see everybody as equal and that's all we
313. 10:28asking for you know
314. 10:30let me jump in go ahead no like talking
315. 10:31about wearing hoodies i wear hoodies
316. 10:34you wear hoodies and i've asked myself a
317. 10:36number of times
318. 10:38even while playing just because i've had
319. 10:40run-ins where i've had 16 guns pointed
320. 10:42at me
321. 10:43getting pulled over on the side of the
322. 10:44freeway because i got accused of looking
323. 10:46a certain way i'm already in the big
324. 10:47leagues dropping off my car picking up
325. 10:49my cousin's truck right there in hayward
326. 10:52get on the freeway i'm accused of
327. 10:53stealing the car i'm like
328. 10:55but i'm rich that is my car that i
329. 10:57dropped off and you accused me of
330. 10:58stealing this one just the whole
331. 11:00situation
332. 11:01but
333. 11:02and since that point
334. 11:04even in my planned career i'd ask myself
335. 11:06the police officer the police officer
336. 11:08that's on the field that's taking us to
337. 11:09the
338. 11:10airport
339. 11:11if i wasn't in uniform and this guy saw
340. 11:14me on the street
341. 11:16and pulled me over or you know
342. 11:18somebody's trying to get into a fight
343. 11:20i'm just in any situation where they're
344. 11:22not expecting me
345. 11:24am i jimmy rollins in uniform
346. 11:27the guy that you communicate with you
347. 11:29have a sense of my personality know that
348. 11:31i'm generally a good person or
349. 11:34am i a black man that is just on the
350. 11:37street
351. 11:38in a situation
352. 11:40that's not and i'll never know because
353. 11:42yes we do get a preferential treatment
354. 11:44but it's something that's always gonna
355. 11:45bl back in my mind because i know
356. 11:47there's been instances where i'm not per
357. 11:50se in philadelphia and i'm not treated
358. 11:52that way i've like i've had guns pointed
359. 11:54at me just like i can't do the wrong
360. 11:57thing i'm doing everything they say
361. 11:59but stealing back my mind knowing if i
362. 12:01if my finger twitches too fast for them
363. 12:04i might get shot being a world series
364. 12:05champion doesn't help you at that point
365. 12:07being a three-time officer doesn't help
366. 12:08you with that all they all they say is
367. 12:10the skin complex we don't know this man
368. 12:12and he must be armed and dangerous what
369. 12:15can the fans do what should they know
370. 12:17it's almost like in the last few weeks
371. 12:19white america and most of the country
372. 12:20has awakened
373. 12:22to these issues what what should fans do
374. 12:25you know i've been doing a lot of
375. 12:26speaking to teams uh a lot of coaches
376. 12:28asked me to speak to their teams about
377. 12:29this situation
378. 12:31what i told them was guys
379. 12:34first of all relax and breathe
380. 12:37this crap started 400 years ago
381. 12:41we can't do nothing about that
382. 12:43we can't do anything about systematic
383. 12:45racism
384. 12:46what i challenge every black person
385. 12:48every white person to do
386. 12:51what can i do today going forward
387. 12:54this stuff has been set up for 400 years
388. 12:57uh redlining
389. 12:59um
390. 12:59using jail as a weapon so we can't do
391. 13:02anything about that all this stuff has
392. 13:04been set in place to weaponize against
393. 13:07black people and poor people for a long
394. 13:08time
395. 13:09but what i can do now
396. 13:11all of us can say what can i do going
397. 13:14forward and you have to actually say i
398. 13:16want to be part of the solution not part
399. 13:18of the problem because if you're not
400. 13:18part of the solution you're part of the
401. 13:20problem
402. 13:21but i can't get mad at slavery it
403. 13:23happened 400 years ago
404. 13:25nobody around here was born when this
405. 13:27stuff started nobody put these bills and
406. 13:29laws into existence they've been in
407. 13:31existence before i was born but what i
408. 13:34can do now is i can do good stuff going
409. 13:37forward
410. 13:38and one thing i talked to black kids
411. 13:39about
412. 13:40man we got to become get our education
413. 13:44i think we're the we are the worst group
414. 13:47in the world is called value and
415. 13:48education when i made that role model
416. 13:51commercial in 19 and late 80s when i
417. 13:53went to nike
418. 13:55i said i want to make this commercial
419. 13:56because you know when you we all do a
420. 13:58lot of speaking at schools but the one
421. 14:00thing i noticed when i was going to
422. 14:01these schools when i go with to
423. 14:03predominantly white schools i said well
424. 14:05what do you want to do
425. 14:07they like i said how many of y'all want
426. 14:08to play pro sports only about five
427. 14:10percent raise their hands i said what do
428. 14:13you want to do i want to be a doctor
429. 14:15lawyer engineer teacher accountant
430. 14:18things like that
431. 14:19but the problem i was noticing in the
432. 14:20black community
433. 14:21man when you go speak to black kids they
434. 14:23all think they're going to be steph or
435. 14:25ozzy or jimmy or chuck
436. 14:27but if you got your education and you
437. 14:29got your degree on a good job and a
438. 14:31career
439. 14:32you can withstand a lot of crap that
440. 14:34people put roadblocks in your weight
441. 14:36that's the number one thing when i talk
442. 14:38to kids
443. 14:39man get your education i hope everybody
444. 14:41can grow up to be step ozzy or jimmy or
445. 14:43chuck but that's like hitting the
446. 14:45lottery but they can't ever take your
447. 14:47education away from you period but to go
448. 14:49along with that
449. 14:52and you know because we
450. 14:53when you go to these neighborhoods and
451. 14:55you go talk to kids or even cousins that
452. 14:57are still in the hood
453. 14:58society literally only shows them your
454. 15:01way out is through entertainment
455. 15:03like you said through history it's
456. 15:04always been entertainment oh you're not
457. 15:07black if you're an entertainer or you're
458. 15:08black but you're different
459. 15:10they accept you so we've been taught you
460. 15:12can't have the top but you can have all
461. 15:14the little things along the way so we go
462. 15:16buy the fancy clothes and not invest in
463. 15:18education these jordans cost five
464. 15:19hundred dollars but this online class
465. 15:21costs five hundred dollars
466. 15:23now let me get those j's because i'm
467. 15:25gonna look good i'm not gonna invest in
468. 15:26myself because nothing's ever been shown
469. 15:28where if i become educated that there's
470. 15:31really an opportunity for me i can make
471. 15:33some money and have a decent living but
472. 15:35i want more than that there's no
473. 15:36distribution of wealth
474. 15:38privileges or opportunities
475. 15:40so
476. 15:41the way the kids see society is
477. 15:43literally through rapping
478. 15:45through sports
479. 15:46and
480. 15:47through hustling that's it let's just be
481. 15:49honest
482. 15:50you know what i'm saying
483. 15:51we live in such an instantaneous society
484. 15:53yeah you know you push a button
485. 15:55and you say something you push a button
486. 15:57it can go all over the world yeah and
487. 15:59kids think of
488. 16:01they think of life that way you know
489. 16:03that hey you know instant i'm gonna
490. 16:06automatic i'm gonna become steph curry
491. 16:08you know when you're when they're
492. 16:09playing in the bag you're on steph curry
493. 16:10oh i'm chuck i'm jimmy i'm ozzy and and
494. 16:14chuck is right
495. 16:15you got to educate yourself because if
496. 16:17you got an education you're only going
497. 16:19to get out of something what you put in
498. 16:20if you don't put nothing in you
499. 16:22shouldn't expect anything in return and
500. 16:23that's life
501. 16:26and there's no better time to be living
502. 16:28to have those opportunities and that
503. 16:29access
504. 16:30you said an online class costs the same
505. 16:32as jays and can help advance your life
506. 16:35generations past you had to go through
507. 16:37hoops and hurdles just to try to get
508. 16:39access to thought leaders and
509. 16:42uh you know certain educational programs
510. 16:45that
511. 16:46just weren't right in front of you right
512. 16:47now just going i can do homework in an
513. 16:50hour and figure out
514. 16:51a program that's going to help me
515. 16:53find a passion find
516. 16:55a career it's going you got to be
517. 16:57disciplined it's going to take some work
518. 16:59but it's right like this is the
519. 17:00generation to do it because we have
520. 17:02access to everything and let me tell you
521. 17:03something damon
522. 17:04what steph is talking about this is
523. 17:07this is the ground zero point in our
524. 17:09lives right now
525. 17:11because
526. 17:12with this pandemic
527. 17:15our lives are never gonna be the same
528. 17:16again ever
529. 17:18yeah
530. 17:19and
531. 17:20everything wrong in your life is coming
532. 17:22out right now because you ain't got no
533. 17:24job
534. 17:26you know if you got a bad business it's
535. 17:27probably going to go under
536. 17:29this is the point where everybody's
537. 17:31going to have to draw a line in the sand
538. 17:32says hey
539. 17:33i got to get my education
540. 17:35because
541. 17:36all these hotel jobs are going to be
542. 17:38drying up all these restaurant jobs are
543. 17:40going to be drying up
544. 17:42so now you got to really in now
545. 17:44technology world man you got to really
546. 17:46get your crap together now because
547. 17:49our world is never going to be the same
548. 17:51again uh
549. 17:53you know obviously with the the social
550. 17:55justice stuff is really really
551. 17:56significant but you piggyback that with
552. 17:59this pandemic
553. 18:00oh man we got a lot it's uh it's gonna
554. 18:03be a lot of stuff happening the next
555. 18:05three or four years to try to
556. 18:06get back to normal or
557. 18:08change the direction of your life
558. 18:11and i always tell kids man hey i wish i
559. 18:14could be steph curry
560. 18:15but hey he's only won him you got to go
561. 18:18and get that education and now because i
562. 18:21don't know when these kids gonna go back
563. 18:22to school
564. 18:24i mean we don't know i mean steph the
565. 18:26only one got jimmy got young kids
566. 18:28i mean they like i don't even know
567. 18:29they're gonna go back to school again
568. 18:32they gonna have to be learning online
569. 18:33they're talking about in alabama i'm
570. 18:35working with my high schoolers i'm we're
571. 18:37gonna have
572. 18:3810 to 12 15 kids and the rest got to
573. 18:41learn from home and i'm like well what
574. 18:43if they don't have access to stuff at
575. 18:44home and they assume that they assume
576. 18:46that you are you have ipads computers
577. 18:50and fortunately we do but when they just
578. 18:53yeah we do but when they say well we're
579. 18:54to do online classes and i'm sitting
580. 18:56there like but how do you just assume
581. 18:58that every kid at this school summer
582. 19:00pain some are on scholarship
583. 19:02have that at home
584. 19:03you can't assume that but in their mind
585. 19:06everyone has it everybody not
586. 19:07understanding what's going on in the
587. 19:08inner cities or in poorer communities
588. 19:11you might have an ipad you might have a
589. 19:13phone but it might be one for the entire
590. 19:14family just just to assume we have
591. 19:16multiple kids that everybody's going to
592. 19:17be able to go online that's just not
593. 19:19real so those 15 kids now that's just
594. 19:21even less opportunity which as you guys
595. 19:23are saying education becomes that much
596. 19:26greater of an importance so we have a
597. 19:27pandemic that's disproportionately
598. 19:29affecting black and brown communities we
599. 19:31have
600. 19:32systemic racism as you mentioned 400
601. 19:34years in the making that we can't
602. 19:35relitigate yes we can't go back uh
603. 19:38what's your level of optimism then that
604. 19:40these
605. 19:41deep rooted issues y'all but you know
606. 19:44can be fixed
607. 19:45first of all
608. 19:47you either hopeless or hopeful yep
609. 19:51it's either a or b
610. 19:52i'm always going to be positive
611. 19:55hey
612. 19:57when i was growing up they bombed a
613. 19:58church in my hometown of leeds
614. 20:00birmingham
615. 20:02i mean
616. 20:03i mean we've come a long way we can go
617. 20:05to the same restaurants and bathrooms
618. 20:08and i know that stuff sounds silly but
619. 20:10like we've come a long way we should
620. 20:12have a long way to go but i'ma always be
621. 20:14hopeful
622. 20:15i'm gonna always because
623. 20:17number one
624. 20:19these guys you ask us
625. 20:21yo man we're for the luckiest people
626. 20:22ever lived
627. 20:24i am so lucky i am so blessed
628. 20:28but
629. 20:28i'm always going to be hopeful i mean
630. 20:30because i'm never going to be like oh we
631. 20:32can't get better it's just going to be
632. 20:34like this no it's going to always be
633. 20:35better
634. 20:36you know
635. 20:38there's hope
636. 20:39when you look at
637. 20:40the demonstrations that are going on
638. 20:44our white brothers are latino brothers
639. 20:47it's more of them out there than it is
640. 20:49us
641. 20:50so there's an awareness now that hasn't
642. 20:52been there that i think that as we go
643. 20:54forward if if we keep the pressure on
644. 20:56and steph says you got to keep the
645. 20:58pressure on
646. 20:59change is
647. 21:01is sports the vehicle i mean
648. 21:03it's always been about history leading
649. 21:05that's right it's always leading it's
650. 21:07always leading the way and i think that
651. 21:09you know that's why right now it's such
652. 21:10a bad time for everybody because we
653. 21:12don't have any sport
654. 21:13you know it's been tough for everybody
655. 21:15but you know hopefully we can get
656. 21:17get get sports back and once sports get
657. 21:19back you know we'll we'll continue to
658. 21:21take the steps it's going to take for us
659. 21:23to get to a point to where um
660. 21:25there's some degree of equality let me
661. 21:28say something about what he said what
662. 21:30you said about sports
663. 21:32sports can help
664. 21:34but these people got to help themselves
665. 21:35also
666. 21:37like you have to ask yourself
667. 21:40what am i doing to help my own community
668. 21:42everybody has to have to answer their
669. 21:44own personal question
670. 21:46everybody's got a role in this like you
671. 21:47said yes
672. 21:49you think about the protests you said
673. 21:51the participation on every different
674. 21:53side of the conversation
675. 21:56to the impact of social media and people
676. 21:58just
677. 21:59posting and reposting and sharing
678. 22:01information
679. 22:02that's important you got people in the
680. 22:04streets that have
681. 22:05been you got real life activists that do
682. 22:07this on
683. 22:09for a living they do this
684. 22:11and have been doing it for years and now
685. 22:13we just need to support them
686. 22:15send resources volunteer your time yeah
687. 22:17put them on a pedestal because we don't
688. 22:19know all the answers
689. 22:21like you said every community has
690. 22:22different issues
691. 22:24we all have the ability to
692. 22:26kind of
693. 22:27ignite those
694. 22:29kind of efforts and again
695. 22:31be able to put people in position to
696. 22:33really make change i think that's one of
697. 22:34our
698. 22:35main goals knowing the platform we have
699. 22:38knowing what sports has given us in our
700. 22:40lives and people that if you say
701. 22:42anything it's going to be a headline
702. 22:44yeah so why not use it yeah
703. 22:46um
704. 22:47and and find those people that have
705. 22:49dedicated their lives
706. 22:51to this work that are the real life
707. 22:53heroes in these communities doing doing
708. 22:55the uh the lord's work and for us that's
709. 22:57that's our job so everybody's got a role
710. 22:59in this
711. 23:00we might not see it yeah our kids might
712. 23:02not see it but their kids hopefully will
713. 23:05like who knows what i love about this
714. 23:07movement is is like what audrey said it
715. 23:10isn't just black people out there it
716. 23:12isn't
717. 23:12just you know whites that are supporting
718. 23:14blacks they're asians they're uh
719. 23:18hispanics there are
720. 23:20people from every walk because they
721. 23:22understand
722. 23:23if a black life matters then all the
723. 23:25rest of their lives will matter
724. 23:27blacks
725. 23:28were enslaved people brought here put at
726. 23:30the bottom put in the dirt built this
727. 23:32country
728. 23:34and to not get anything back from it so
729. 23:36if we make what's what's perceived the
730. 23:39bottom level
731. 23:41get them access make sure that they're
732. 23:43accounted for everything that's
733. 23:45perceived to be on top of them becomes
734. 23:47that much more valuable that if we pull
735. 23:48them up because we've been hollering and
736. 23:50screaming at as a culture for years and
737. 23:53it's always are you playing a black card
738. 23:55there goes a black so just watch what
739. 23:57happens they're going to go off again
740. 23:58yep give them a week and it'll be over
741. 24:01now they understand that isn't just
742. 24:03about us we aren't screaming for us when
743. 24:05we say black lives matter yes
744. 24:07all lives matter but in this very moment
745. 24:10we just need you to help us
746. 24:12to and help them and empower to
747. 24:14understand that black lives matter
748. 24:15that's all we're saying we're not it's
749. 24:16not about other lives and people are
750. 24:18finally waking up to that unfortunately
751. 24:21because of what happened to george floyd
752. 24:23but
753. 24:23you can no longer ignore it you can
754. 24:25choose to act like you don't know what's
755. 24:27going on and i you know i just don't
756. 24:29understand there there will be things
757. 24:31you don't understand
758. 24:33but do your research talk to people talk
759. 24:34to friends find out how you can make a
760. 24:36difference and then you will start to
761. 24:38understand you'll start to see people
762. 24:39for who they are and understand what
763. 24:42this movement and what we've been
764. 24:43fighting for for so long is all about
765. 24:45one year from now i'm gonna ask you the
766. 24:47same question i asked the previous panel
767. 24:50what should our conversation be
768. 24:53well the first thing we need listen we
769. 24:55need police reform
770. 24:58we need to listen i've gotten in trouble
771. 25:00for defending cops and i'm always going
772. 25:02to offend cops i don't want them out
773. 25:04there killing unarmed black men
774. 25:06but we need cops
775. 25:08because you know you hear these fools on
776. 25:09television talk about the fun and the
777. 25:11police and things like that you know
778. 25:13who's not going to fund the police good
779. 25:15neighborhoods
780. 25:18who are poor black people and poor
781. 25:20wiping people are supposed to call
782. 25:21ghostbusters and crime going on we need
783. 25:24cops but we need good cops we need to
784. 25:27hold cops accountable
785. 25:29if they do something wrong the way the
786. 25:30system is set up now
787. 25:32if cops do something wrong
788. 25:34other cops judge them that's not fair in
789. 25:37any aspect of life
790. 25:39if you're a cop and you saw what
791. 25:41happened to mr floyd
792. 25:43and you think that was all right
793. 25:45you shouldn't be a cop
794. 25:46i mean equal justice yeah yeah well you
795. 25:49see mr floyd on the ground and listen we
796. 25:52know the cops are in an awkward
797. 25:53situation at times and they'll fight for
798. 25:55their lives
799. 25:56but when you see mr floyd on the ground
800. 25:59and my man got his hands in his pocket
801. 26:00like he's sitting like we're doing now
802. 26:02just chilling at the beach
803. 26:04you know like
804. 26:05that's wrong man there's no threat and
805. 26:07cops should be able to hold cops
806. 26:09accountable
807. 26:10secondly
808. 26:11we have got to make sure we got to fix
809. 26:13the school system
810. 26:15because the flaws that already have been
811. 26:17shown in public schools
812. 26:19going to be more
813. 26:21out there now because of the pandemic
814. 26:23so the gap between the rich and the poor
815. 26:25which is already humongous is only going
816. 26:27to grow
817. 26:29we've got to find a way to give poor
818. 26:30people economic opportunity
819. 26:33born poor
820. 26:35doesn't mean you should have to be poor
821. 26:36your whole life you shouldn't have to be
822. 26:39a hall of famer a hall of famer and a
823. 26:41hall of famer and hall of famer to get
824. 26:44out piggybacking on what chuck said
825. 26:46there i think the word defund
826. 26:48the police has
827. 26:50been it was the it was the wrong word to
828. 26:54use reform and i think that it's
829. 26:56important to to take some of the
830. 26:58pressure off of a police officer you
831. 27:01know
832. 27:02put money into a program for a
833. 27:04psychologist or somebody who can go to
834. 27:07uh um
835. 27:08a home where they have some type of
836. 27:10dispute don't send a guy with a gun
837. 27:14to a home where there's a there's some
838. 27:15type of family dispute and that's what
839. 27:17we that's what we use cops for we use
840. 27:19them for all the wrong things and i
841. 27:21think that it's about reforming
842. 27:23uh cops and not taking money away from
843. 27:25certainly we we can't get rid of we need
844. 27:27policemen in in and all policemen aren't
845. 27:30bad
846. 27:31all policemen are not bad but the bad
847. 27:33ones have to be weeded out
848. 27:36just like if we have bad teammates you
849. 27:37know what it's up to us as a team to
850. 27:39weed that bad guy out
851. 27:41so he doesn't spoil a whole bunch
852. 27:44and so it's reform rather than the fun
853. 27:46that i think has thrown people off great
854. 27:48word audrey i think so
855. 27:50same concept around reforming police
856. 27:53getting
857. 27:54the bad ones out is in every form of
858. 27:56leadership and government in terms of
859. 27:58how important voting is
860. 28:01not just at the national presidential
861. 28:03level but in our local city state
862. 28:05elections that which are more important
863. 28:07is absolutely more important that's
864. 28:08where the real change happens
865. 28:11so when it comes to voter suppression
866. 28:12which
867. 28:13we've seen since
868. 28:14george floyd's passing in georgia
869. 28:17we've seen long lines people have been
870. 28:19standing in there for 12 13 hours trying
871. 28:21to vote
872. 28:22and that's for a local election
873. 28:26as we look forward from a year from now
874. 28:27and beyond every single cycle how do we
875. 28:30continue to let our voices be heard not
876. 28:31just what we're saying and crying for
877. 28:34and
878. 28:35and asking for help but how can we
879. 28:37actually
880. 28:38use our
881. 28:40given right to go vote to go put people
882. 28:42in position of power that are going to
883. 28:43look out for us
884. 28:44in a very meaningful way
885. 28:47that's going to make a true difference
886. 28:49and that's
887. 28:51that's something that uh is so the sense
888. 28:53of urgency in that to me is
889. 28:55is just so real because we're coming up
890. 28:57on on november then we're gonna be
891. 28:59coming up on the next cycle and we need
892. 29:01to be have our voices heard at the polls
893. 29:03um to again hold people in positions of
894. 29:06authority and power accountable
895. 29:08for looking out for everybody
896. 29:10equally and uh
897. 29:13you got to solve that how about you and
898. 29:15the last piece you know we've touched it
899. 29:17all
900. 29:18it's just prison reform yeah i mean the
901. 29:20way that we're
902. 29:22persecuted
903. 29:23for something minor just just completely
904. 29:25over sentenced uh mandatory minimums
905. 29:28that take discretion out of the judge's
906. 29:30hand well what is what are they to do
907. 29:31other than just hit the gavel and read
908. 29:33the sentence like if you
909. 29:34can't let the judge listen to a
910. 29:36situation
911. 29:37and understand it and it's full circle
912. 29:40and make a decision
913. 29:42then there's no point of having them
914. 29:44you're leaving up to the jurors and
915. 29:45you're giving them it either has to be
916. 29:46this or that and there's nothing in
917. 29:48between that that's not fair especially
918. 29:50when you look at the way we
919. 29:52one crime by by this person of color
920. 29:54one crime by this white person and
921. 29:57you're getting three years and they're
922. 29:58getting a house of rest for a couple
923. 30:00months go check in do some you know do
924. 30:02some uh volunteer work and and they
925. 30:04scroll clean but we're in jail now
926. 30:07that's mom or dad taken away from
927. 30:09society that could have had an impact on
928. 30:11and sometimes breaking laws you don't
929. 30:13even know exist or that is really for
930. 30:15something that minor i'm doing this much
931. 30:17time people are out there getting killed
932. 30:19and and getting less time and i'm
933. 30:20getting those are just things that
934. 30:23really need to change and you know it
935. 30:25was a crime bill and it was the thing to
936. 30:27do was the hot topic democrats you know
937. 30:29trying to hey we're tough on crime like
938. 30:31republicans and just went way too far
939. 30:33realizing now that it was a mistake well
940. 30:36you can correct that you can start
941. 30:38making those changes at the local level
942. 30:40then the federal level that make those
943. 30:42changes like put pressure on them double
944. 30:43down on that pressure because if that
945. 30:45doesn't change it's going to be hard to
946. 30:47to to do the things um you know with the
947. 30:50police officers because they're still
948. 30:51going to be in a position well for our
949. 30:52job is to go arrest or shoot
950. 30:55but if there's an option let's bring
951. 30:57this guy in let's bring this bring a
952. 30:58social worker to a domestic dispute they
953. 31:01have options we don't have to do that
954. 31:03maybe you don't need officer to tell
955. 31:05your neighbor to cut down this radio
956. 31:07maybe there's another department that
957. 31:08you can put in there for you know some
958. 31:10type of prevention of the or
959. 31:13of those type of things
960. 31:14gentlemen so many complex issues i
961. 31:16appreciate your time
962. 31:18your thoughts and your honesty thank you
963. 31:20very much no man thank you for doing
964. 31:22this
965. 31:23thank you for doing this and a big
966. 31:25thanks to all our panelists this evening
967. 31:26and a reminder this conversation is also
968. 31:28available in podcast form it includes an
969. 31:31interview with the nfl hall of famer
970. 31:33jerome bettis thanks for listening have
971. 31:35a good evening
972. 31:48you