“Will People’s Hearts Change?”: Kevin Durant Finally Breaks His Silence on Racism and Police Brutality

Brooklyn Nets fans can make peace with themselves now. Kevin Durant publicly mentioned his status about competing this season when they start back in Orlando. Furthermore, his chat with Marc J. Spears has unearthed a lot of opinions and his take on the ongoing issues. 

Speaking to The Undefeated on Friday, Kevin Durant faced numerous questions about his return, his recovery, and the major problem persisting in the US at the moment. The most important ones came about racial discrimination and the two-time final MVP’s views on George Floyd’s death. 

First, KD is immensely proud of his community for stepping up and demanding justice, that goes back a long way. “This is about our culture,” Durant said. “I’ve seen the care, love and attention we have as a community. With everything going on right now, it makes me have a lot of pride.”

“We have a lot of stuff on our back, but we keep fighting through. It’s beautiful to see everybody coming together as one right now for what we all believe in, which is equality. The black community always sticks together through tragedy. But to see everybody support us in their own way is cool.”

“Will people’s hearts change?” – Kevin Durant

We have seen reports of racial killings for many, many years now. People belonging to the African-American community have endured so much over the years and it is more than time that people started treating everyone equally. For people like Kevin Durant, looking at videos of police brutality has become a monotonous issue. 

According to KD, police brutality against an unarmed man is like a proper betrayal. “At that point, you get tired of seeing it or wondering if things are going to change or whether we will see this again in the future. Will people’s hearts change? There are just so many questions going through my mind when you see a black man getting slaughtered on TV and on camera like that,” Durant expressed.

“It’s damaging to see another life being taken away from us. Someone with a family. Someone who was a father. A son. A friend. It was just horrible to see, especially coming from people who are supposed to be protecting us. We’re really supposed to feel like we are safe all around. It’s a weird time we are in now.”

It is like a box of broken trust when a police officer manhandles an unarmed African-American man. 31-year-old Durant feels the world is a weird place to live in right now. Of course, with the lasting impact of the coronavirus, everything so far has been a bumpy road in the year. Moreover, the widespread protests in the US are grabbing the attention of the entire world. 

KD picks out the positive thing that has risen from these protests 

Initially, the protests started in the city of Minneapolis, which slowly spread to Atlanta, and then to various cities across the country. To add to the support, people from different countries around the world marched on the streets to demand justice for George Floyd and his community. Nothing can affect us as long as we stay united. Standing together is the only way of defeating injustice.

The Nets star supports the same thought too. It is indeed overwhelming to see the number of external support people have been delivering for the death of a man in the United States. That reflects the power of humanity.  “It’s been good to see so many different people’s voices being heard around this time,” Durant continued. “So many different ethnicities coming together to bring awareness to what we’ve been talking about for a while now. Our generation, the younger got involved.”

The fight against racism has been prolonging for hundreds of years now. However, one can’t stop fighting injustice just because there is no permanent solution. The current movement is very powerful according to KD. “To finally see the world come together and all of these big corporations who never spent time to talk about it, you can tell that when we move as one we’re pretty powerful,” he added.