Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's Black Lives Matter message was a 'recruiting pitch', says Internet
Duke University's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski recorded a video on June 26 afternoon pleading Americans to acknowledge systemic racism and social injustice. The video was uploaded to Duke Men's Basketball's official Twitter page and soon, people started flooding the comments section to dismiss his statement as just another recruiting PR pitch.
"'Please still play at duke' is what he’s saying," read a comment. While another comment read, "Coach K is a cancer on college basketball. Great message and all, but this is only a recruiting ploy." Another comment read, "Marxism 101, Great for recruiting though coach..." Another comment read, "These coaches dancing to make sure they don't lose the black athletes." While another wrote, "I'm really confused cause college basketball seems like a real close analog for modern racism and this man profits $9m/yr off the backs of unpaid players. Like, it’s nice what he says, but I still wanna scream!"
Here's a transcript of Krzyzewski's statement: "Black Lives Matter say it. Can't you say it? Black Lives Matter. We should be saying it every day. It's not political. This is not a political statement, it's a human rights statement. Over the last couple of months, I have had an opportunity to see more, to listen more, to think more, and to understand at a deeper level. So have you. Do we not see the problem, the disease, the plague that has been with our country for 4 centuries? Do we not see systemic racism and social injustice? C'mon, we all see that. It is manifested in so many ways. Criminal justice, the killings we have seen and we haven't seen, the denial of economic opportunities for black communities, educational opportunities, health care. It is manifested in so many ways and has been there for four centuries. We see that and what do we do when we see it? We talk, alright but we turn the other way. We don't solve the problem. No problem is solved unless you acknowledge the problem. If you acknowledge it, you have the duty to solve it. We as a country have the duty to solve this problem. When I was a cadet at West point and the prayer is still there, in the cadet prayer one of the segments of the prayer says, 'Lord help me choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong'. We as a country have chosen the easier wrong for four centuries. It's time to choose the harder right. It is time to end systemic racism and social injustice. It's time. Black Lives Matter."