Steve Kerr hasn't been afraid to use his platform to speak his mind.
The Warriors coach has consistently criticized President Donald Trump. He has publicly pushed for what he thinks are desperately needed gun-control reforms. Kerr, a white coach in a predominantly black sport, has also repeatedly spoken out against racism and police brutality toward African Americans, including in the wake of George Floyd's death in the custody of Minneapolis police earlier this week.
Kerr also thinks he and other white people can do more to advance racial equality.
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"[Even] though I've tried, I haven't done enough and I don't think any of us have done enough," Kerr told 95.7 The Game's "Damon, Ratto & Kolsky" on Friday afternoon. "When I say us, I mean white people. We haven't done enough. It's just the truth. If we had, this sort of thing wouldn't be happening."
Bystanders in Minneapolis recorded video of former officer Derek Chauvin, a white man, kneeling on Floyd's neck for approximately eight minutes as the 46-year-old African American man pleaded that he couldn't breathe. Chauvin and three other officers at the scene were fired Tuesday, and Chauvin was arrested Friday on charges of manslaughter and third-degree murder. Charging documents alleged that Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck for nearly three minutes while Floyd was unresponsive, though a preliminary autopsy determined there were “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
Floyd's death set off protests in the Twin Cities beginning Tuesday. Protesters demonstrated nationwide Friday, including in San Jose and Oakland. Athletes with ties to the Bay Area, including Floyd's longtime friend and former Warrior Stephen Jackson as well as ex-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, have spoken out in recent days. Jackson, in particular, called on white people to join the voices advocating for social justice and racial equality.
Kerr noted Kaepernick tried to bring attention to situations like Floyd's with his peaceful protest during the 2016 NFL season, but he said the QB "basically got shut down" for kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since becoming a free agent in 2017, while a Rutgers University study published last year found African American men and boys are nearly 2.5 times more likely to die in an encounter with police than white men and boys.
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"I guess I'm saying it's not enough to sign a petition, or send a tweet or make a statement," Kerr said of himself and other white people. "We have to actually do something. There's got to be a call to action, and then we need a list of things to check off, and we need to do them collectively and demand that those things be done. It's embarassing and humiliating that we're still in this place, and it's tough to reconcile all this stuff."
[RELATED: Jackson calls for justice for 'my twin' George Floyd at rally]
Kerr told the hosts he will rely on his friends who are involved in race relations and community organizing to learn how he can help. After a lot of "soul-searching" this week, Kerr said there is more work to be done.
"There's so many things that have to happen in order for the African American community to gain the racial equality, the social justice that they deserve," he said in the interview. "And it matters because we're all Americans, and we're all together and what happens to one person affects what happens to the next person, and so on. It's been really demoralizing to feel the divide that exists in the country, and especially when that divide is exacerbated by our President on a daily basis, on an hourly basis. I'm frustrated, I'm humiliated, but I'm also determined to try to do more."