"I'm three people in this country. And that's either a footballer, a rapper or a drug dealer. These are the facts," Gray said
Saturday 6 June 2020 18:04, UK
Andre Gray says protests in the UK are not only about the death of George Floyd, but about "systematic racism that is everywhere".
Floyd died on May 25 after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck. The officer has been charged with Floyd's murder.
Black Lives Matter protests have swept through the United States since, and while there have also been protests in the UK, Watford forward Gray says they are not just about the injustice suffered by Floyd, but about systematic racism the world over.
"It's not just about George Floyd and the brutality that is going on in America. It is about what is going on in England and the rest of the world," Gray told the Guardian. "I feel we are lucky we don't have armed police officers on the street because we are still stereotyped and judged by these police officers over here, just the same [as in the US].
"I can't even count how many times I've been pulled over. I can't count how many times I've gone to a club and not got in, how many times a security guard has followed me round a shop.
"I can't count how many times that somebody has asked me if I'm a footballer because I've come out of a nice car. Look, at the end of the day, I'm three people in this country. And that's either a footballer, a rapper or a drug dealer. These are the facts.
"So the marches over here are not just for the police brutality in America - it's for England, as well. And Paris and all over the world. It's because of the systematic racism that is everywhere."
Gray says Brexit epitomises racism in Britain, and that it came about because people have "had enough of immigrants".
"The Brexit thing says it all," he said. "It's all to do with immigration and the people that have voted to leave the EU... for me, it's because of racism, because they don't want people coming into our country.
"It frustrates me because if you see some of the places these people are coming from, these other countries, [the situation there] is a lot worse and we are supposed to be a country of freedom, as is America. So that just proves to me how bad the racism is - because they've had enough of immigrants. It's just a nail in the coffin."
