Panthers head coach Ron Rivera expresses strong opinions on immigration and race

Ron Rivera has expressed strong opinions about immigration and race in contrast to the ideas of our new president. Rivera, the only Hispanic coach in the NFL and one of three Hispanic men to ever coach in the NFL, has a unique perspective on the issues of immigration and race. Athletes and coaches of professional sports teams have recently commented on many social and political issues, especially revolving around the policies of newly elected President Donald Trump.

Growing up in a military family, Rivera was never exposed to racism until the eighth grade when he moved back to the United States when he was called a “wetback.” Hearing this was one of the few times he was really "ticked off" by someone speaking to him in that manner. Another form of racism that he experienced was from a teammate who made a couple of racist comments while he was playing at the University of California-Berkeley; however, he said that while he was in the NFL he never experienced any form of racism.

While playing in the NFL he was asked to be a role model for Hispanics and was often looked up to by kids in the Hispanic community. When asked about a growing popularity of football in the Hispanic community he felt as if it had grown a lot with there being a lot of youth leagues for football in Puerto Rico and Mexico. He thinks that this growth of football within the Hispanic culture is a wonderful thing.

As he has become a coach and because of the higher stress put on issues of immigration, he has been forced to be more defensive of his ideals. His ideas on immigration are different from those of the President. In his eyes, immigrants are just a group of people that are trying to make better lives for their families and he believes that’s what it’s really about.

“That’s what America is built on, and we can’t lock people out because of that,” Ron Rivera said in an interview with Ahiza Garcia of CNN Money on February 27th 2017.

He and Cam Newton, his quarterback, both feel an increased pressure to perform because of their race according to Rivera.

“He wants to present that you can be successful as an African American quarterback, I struggle with that because at the end of the day it should really be about your merit,” said Rivera in the same interview with CNN Money.

He feels a responsibility because of his race that he is obligated to do well to give that same image for the Hispanic community.

“I feel that I have to do well, and I’m at that level now,” Rivera said.

Ron Rivera disagrees with the president’s ideas on Immigration. He believes that because he is the only Hispanic coach he has an obligation to speak out about race and immigration. He believes that in America people of color have to do more to prove themselves as an athlete.