On Monday, the captain of the U.S. men’s soccer team had an excellent response to a question from an Iranian reporter about racism in America.
Milad Javanmardy of Iran’s state-run PressTV grilled American midfielder Tyler Adams in a news conference in Qatar, which is hosting the World Cup.
Javanmardy pointed out that Adams had mispronounced the word “Iran,” saying that he had previously said it as “eye-ran” rather than “E-Rahn.” The reporter then went on to question Adams, who is black, about racism in the United States, pointing to claims from the Black Lives Matter movement.
Javanmardy asked, “Are you OK to be representing a country that has so much discrimination against black people in its own borders?”
Adams began by apologizing for mispronouncing Iran, going on to speak to the reporter’s claims about racism in America.
The captain of the U.S. men’s team went on to say that racism isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to the United States, referencing his own experiences while living abroad.
“There’s discrimination everywhere you go,” he said. “You know, one thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the U.S. we’re continuing to make progress every single day.”
“Growing up for me, I grew up in a white family, and with obviously an African-American heritage and background as well,” he continued. “So I had a little bit of different cultures, and I was very easily able to assimilate in different cultures. So, not everyone has that ease and the ability to do that, and obviously, it takes longer to understand, and through education, I think it’s super important.”
“Like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. So, yeah, it’s a process. I think as long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing,” Adams said to conclude.
Adams’ response was met with praise, with one soccer reporter calling his response to the question “remarkable” and a soccer analyst saying that his response was “an all-time classy answer.”
Adams, as well as U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, were asked multiple politically charged questions in the news conference, with soccer taking a backseat to Iran’s issues with American policy in the Middle East.
Some viewers believe that the pressure placed on the coach and team captain are in response to the U.S. soccer team’s show of support for protests in Iran by showing an altered version of the Iranian flag on their official Twitter account for 24 hours and that the state-run media group is pushing back against American denunciation.
Iran and the United States are expected to square off at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday in a key match for advancement in the tournament. Longstanding geopolitical tensions between the two countries are expected to cast a shadow over the match.
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