Because of his unique, worldly background and increased willingness to speak up about social issues, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has become a sought-after voice in this polarizing political climate.
The most recent controversy: President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning travel into the United States for refugees from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. It has created chaos at airports across the country, as people have been detained and emotional protests have broken out, fighting back against what many people have labeled a Muslim ban.
Kerr was born in Lebanon the son of Malcolm H. Kerr, an American academic who specialized in the Middle East. Kerr’s father was assassinated in Beirut in 1984 in an act of terrorism.
After the Warriors’ Sunday game in Portland, Kerr was asked his thoughts on the controversy.
“I would just say that as someone whose family member was a victim of terrorism, having lost my father,” Kerr said. “If we’re trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country by really going against the principles that this country is about and creating fear, it’s the wrong way to go about it. If anything, we could be breeding anger and terror, so I’m completely against what’s happening. I think it’s shocking and a horrible idea and I really feel for all the people who are affected and the families that are being torn apart and I worry in the big picture what this means to the security of the world. He’s going about it completely the opposite — you want to solve terror, you want to solve crime, this is not the way to do it.”
This article originally appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.