NBA coach Steve Kerr said on Monday that he does not support defunding the police, but reimagining them so that they do not “chase down and murder” innocent people, Fox News reported.
“You know, I think we need police, but I think, I think we need to reimagine the role of the police, got to get back to protect and serve, not to chase down and murder,” the Golden State Warriors coach said on Spotify’s “Jemele Hill is Unbothered.”
“And that may sound extreme, but it’s kind of the truth when you watch all these acts of violence happening,” he said.
In the interview, Kerr tried to distance himself from comments he made in June that praised the Oakland Unified School District’s decision to shut down its police force.
He said those comments should not be misconstrued to imply that he supports the radical left’s “Defund the Police” movement.
“It was a hugely controversial issue,” Kerr said, speaking about OUSD.
“And now I am known as someone who believes in defunding the police,” he complained. “I’ve never made a comment about defunding the police. And in fact, I think it’s a terribly misleading phrase to say defund the police.”
Kerr’s incendiary and false rhetoric echoes the sentiment of NBA star LeBron James, who claimed, without evidence, that black people cannot safely leave their homes.
We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the….. pic.twitter.com/r1PNxs8Vgn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 6, 2020
Some, however, have made the distinction that the true systemic injustice in the country is the classist, socioeconomic rift.
To that end, race-baiting NBA stars and other athletes are deflecting from their own oppression of the lower classes by claiming that they, too are victims of an oppressive system.
Moreover, critics have noted that beyond the semantic subterfuge there is no meaningful distinction between “reimagining” the police and “defunding” the police.
Both movements want to remove police from communities and replace them with bureaucrats, social workers and self-proclaimed violence deescalation experts.
“So I’m taking all kinds of s—t right now for being the guy who wants to defund the police,” Kerr said. “I happen to think the police should be reimagined, not defunded.”
