Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker took the stage at Monday night’s anti-racism rally at Salt Lake City Hall, speaking briefly to the crowd of nearly 2,000 people about the importance of diversity and love in the wake of the violent white-supremacist gatherings over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
“I want to set the record straight: we all came here to build, not to destroy. We came out here because we don’t hate them, we just don’t like them. But they hate us,” he said.
Parker, a 22-year-old member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has spoken publicly in the past about a number of issues, including racism and gun violence in his hometown of Chicago. At Monday’s rally in Salt Lake City, Parker said he would be “doing a disservice for my people if I didn’t come here today” and said he would encourage other professional athletes to speak up, too.
Jabari didn't just show up, he spoke and urged other athletes to use their status to shine a light on equality. Bless this dude. pic.twitter.com/uC4Sa1YHvH
— Greg (@Johnny_UT) August 15, 2017
Here is a transcript of Parker’s remarks:
“Good evening, everybody. I know a lot of you guys already know me, but I play in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I just want to give you guys a brief background on me. My mom, she’s from Tonga. My dad is [inaudible]. My best friend is Jewish. My uncle is gay. I could go on and on. I came from welfare, government cheese.
“I would be doing a disservice for my people if I didn’t come here today. So I’m here to speak for diversity. I’m diverse. It’s in my DNA. I love my culture. I love you.
“And hopefully I can get a few more professional athletes to do the same. …
“I want to set the record straight: we all came here to build, not to destroy. We came out here because we don’t hate them, we just don’t like them. But they hate us.”
Thanks to @JabariParker for showing up to and speaking at the Solidarity Rally in Salt Lake City! ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/rJjtQhiymQ
— Jack Waters 🌹🇸🇪 (@h2oetry) August 15, 2017
Pulled up with @N8SmiFF and @JabariParker showed up and supported ✊🏾 the protest 💯 pic.twitter.com/cFrlkhaJ6M
— cam (@datboycam) August 15, 2017