SAN ANTONIO – Spurs great Sean Elliott shared an emotional and powerful account about how he has dealt with racism throughout his life, and shared an incident that occurred in San Antonio when he and Bruce Bowen were called the N-word while golfing.
Elliott’s account is one video in a series of social media videos titled “Spurs Voices,” which highlight racial discrimination and inequality.
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“I was golfing in a golf tournament with Bruce Bowen, and Bruce and I were with two other executives. It was a charity tournament and we were on the No. 5 hole at La Cantera and it’s right there next to La Cantera Parkway,” Elliott said. “We’re on the green putting and a guy drives by in a service truck and he yells, “Hey N*****s,” just as loud as he could, and you could see the two white guys that were with us were shocked.”
“Whenever I interact with people, there’s always this pressure on me to represent the black race to the best of my ability.”#SpursVoices pic.twitter.com/dS5Z9Qmi4T
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) June 7, 2020
“Sometimes you get a rude awakening and you get reminded, but I would never hold that against all white people or the people of San Antonio,” Elliott said. “It’s just that it happens still to this day. It happened when I was in elementary school and it happens now. It didn’t matter who you are.”
In the video, Elliott also described the pressure to smash preordained stereotypes that others may have about the black community or having to defuse a situation to make others feel comfortable in his presence.
“I have so many people over the years tell me things like, “You’re a breath of fresh air. You're not like the rest of them,” Elliott said.
He added there are others that have also accused him of thinking he is white because of the way he speaks.
“I’ve gotten that not only from white people, but I’ve gotten it from black people because we’ve been so ingrained with racism and stereotypes,” Elliott said. “Why would I think I’m white? I love being a black man.”
The Spurs Voices series is a way for employees, coaches and players in the Spurs and San Antonio FC organizations to share their stories and experiences with racism across the country.
The videos were released after the killing of George Floyd and demonstrations across the country to protest systemic racism and police brutality.
