#PGA Tour’s Jon Rahm: ‘I’ve gotten dirty looks’ for speaking Spanish

FORT WORTH, Texas — Amid the racial unrest that’s engulfed the country since George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of the Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, Jon Rahm has been one of the PGA Tour players who’s felt compelled to voice his thoughts.

“As a Hispanic immigrant in the U.S., even though I’m not even close to experiencing what some people have experienced in this world, even myself just speaking Spanish with one of my teammates or with people in some public areas, I’ve gotten dirty looks,” Rahm said Tuesday from the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. “I’ve never been racially profiled for the color of my skin, but I have had some experiences. And it’s not a good feeling.

“I can’t fathom the reason why anybody would treat somebody differently just the way you look or they sound or what you believe in. We’re all the same. We’re all human beings, and we should all be treated the same way. To me, it’s as simple as that.”

Rahm took to Twitter last week to speak out against racial injustice.

“When this whole thing broke out, I’ve tried to reach out to understand more profoundly what’s going on because if I’ve somehow experienced a little bit of what racism can be like, I can’t imagine what some people have experienced throughout their whole life. As an athlete let’s say in a mainly white sport with somewhat of a platform on social media … it was my belief to support this cause and try to reach as many people as possible.

“I understand you can’t make everybody aware of everything, but if I can just have one more person understand the situation and support it, to me it’s a win. It’s trying to raise awareness to everybody, and I mean, now it’s become the biggest civil rights movement in history. Not that I want to be a part of it, I just felt like I had to be a part of it and try to reach as many people as possible.”