Greg Popovich's emotional message: I am ashamed as a white man, our country is in trouble

The famous basketball coach, Gregg Popovich, sent a strong and emotional message at a time when citizens across the United States of America have been protesting for days over the death of African-American George Floyd.

Floyd died last month in Minneapolis after being taken into custody, and an autopsy requested by his family showed he died of asphyxiation.

The legal representative of George Floyd's family said that the cause of the suffocation was the pressure on his back and neck from the officer who kept his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes and ignored his warnings that he could not breathe.

"In a strange way, from this last great tragedy, it's as if we got a lesson from the look that that policeman had, from the expression on his face. That white people see how nonchalant he is, how everyday it is for him, so he put his hand in his left pocket and pressed another person with his knee to give him an additional lesson.In his mind, it was his right and duty to do so.

I do not know...

I think as a white man I am ashamed to know that this can happen. To actually see it in reality. We've all read books and seen illustrations of black people hanging from trees...

And I'm amazed to see it. I thought I would never see it again with my own eyes in real time."

"I think we as white people have to do something because nothing is going to happen by itself. Black people have been carrying this burden for 400 years. The only reason this nation has prospered is the tenacity, patience and perseverance of black people. The history of our nation is was a lie in many ways from the beginning. We continue today to try to make that lie the truth. Rights and privileges must apply to all people.

It is up to us to speak the truth regardless of the consequences, that the truth has power. We have to speak up, we can't let things just happen.

What else do we need? A few more black people with a knee to the neck? I wouldn't say. I don't believe that will happen. It is easy for people to forget an injustice that did not happen to them. It's like when you have a 'dangerous part' of the street in your neighborhood and you know that one day something will happen there, but no one does anything until a child is killed. And then everyone stood up.

If I don't get into politics, we all have to rise up, quickly, because our country is in trouble, and the main reason is race," said Popovic, as reported by Sport Club.