Heat star Jimmy Butler details experience with racism at young age

The discussion about racial injustice and inequality has made headlines since the death of George Floyd a few weeks ago, and now many athletes are sharing their personal experiences with racism in an effort to bring attention to the topic.

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is among them, and he discussed his experiences with racism at a young age during a virtual town hall, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, and it involved a six-year-old boy:

"A white man and his son, who is no older than maybe 6 — I'm walking with my brother, and we hear the kid turn around and say, 'Hey, Dad, those are those n-words that you are telling me about.' The kid doesn't know any better. My initial reaction was to turn around and look at the father's face. I'm 6-[foot]-6, and my brother is 6-[foot]-1, and he's probably 6-foot, and yeah, he was intimidated by me. But the first thing that popped in my head was, 'You had to [have] taught him that.' [The kid] doesn't know that. My daughter, I have to teach her that the stove is hot. You are choosing to teach your kid hate.

"It was so confusing to me because I was 16. ... To me, that is what all of this stems from. Everybody is being taught this hate, and it is super hurtful. You know the difference between right and wrong. For that parent to teach his kid at that young of an age, there is no other word for it except for wrong. This is crazy. This is the world that we live in. Now is the time to change."

Many other Heat players either detailed their experience with racism or made it known how important it is to speak out against racial injustice — including Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonard and Solomon Hill. 

Other NBA players to speak out include Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony, Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving and Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. 

Brown drove 15 hours to lead peaceful protests in Atlanta alongside Indiana Pacers' Malcolm Brogdon; Anthony launched a special line of "STAYME7O" products with all proceeds going to the NAACP; and Lakers Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an emotional op-ed for the Los Angeles Times.