Coach K delivers powerful message about Black Lives Matter and U.S. racism

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Mike Krzyzewski is not here to coddle you, to absolve you, to give you an easy out. We’re talking to you, white America. As a leader of young men as the head coach of Duke basketball, Coach K is about holding people to account. Forcing them to reckon with their action or lack thereof and taking the step necessary to correct the error in their ways.

These aren’t basketball lessons. These are LIFE lessons.

The uprising and rapid change that we’ve seen in this country over the past month is astounding. We are nowhere near a full accounting of justice, but public sentiment has put immense pressure on politicians on all levels, federal and local, to take decisive action to rid our society of systematic racism and social injustice.

Yesterday, the head ball coach released a powerful video speaking to all these things. Coach K, in no uncertain terms, took the U.S. to task for ignoring the ugliest parts of itself for over four-hundred years. Also, by our count, he said “Black Lives Matter” three times. Which is 3 more than Alabama head football coach Nick Saban said in his school’s viral video message that included both white and Black players uttering the ubiquitous phrase for freedom.

Press play on the clip below and take a good long gander at what allyship and messaging looks like. Again, we’re talking to you, white America.