Dan Le Batard and Roy Bellamy Engage in Emotional Discussion About Family Amidst America's Turmoil

For those who aren't aware, Dan Le Batard is the son of Cuban immigrants. His parents escaped the brutal rule of Fidel Castro and made their way to the United States in hope of a better life for themselves and their family. As such, Le Batard has had a lot to say this week as America has looked anything but the beacon of freedom and justice millions of Cuban immigrants believed it to be when they made their journeys to the country.

Roy Bellamy is a producer for the Dan Le Batard Show. He's also a black man with a young daughter, and he is terrified of the America his daughter is growing up in. Today, the two talked about family.

Bellamy was given the floor to begin the second hour of the show. He used that time to talk about his daughter and the fear he and his wife feel about potentially bringing another child into the world, because no matter what they do, they cannot guarantee their safety as minorities in this country. Listen to the full segment below:

Here's a transcription of Bellamy's words:

"Well, I've been thinking about how I wanted to phrase these words, and I figured I would probably do so as a dad. Claire is two-and-a-half years old. When I see her, I see limitless potential. I see vast intelligence. I see courage and bravery and independence. But I also see that she is a black person. And I've been thinking about how early I'm going to end up giving her 'The Talk' about how to handle herself when she's around policemen. It's probably going to be rather early. It's probably going to be before she's a teenager. Because what I'm seeing out there is, I'm seeing my beautiful brothers and sisters being murdered with impunity. That's what I'm seeing.

"My wife and I want to have more kids, but I am scared to death right now in having more children because I don't know what's going to happen. How am I going to be able to protect my child even when I'm with her outside of this house? How? If I get pulled over, and I've had many run-ins with cops, if I get pulled over, anything can happen."

Shortly afterwards, Le Batard discussed his parents, what they escaped, and the impact the last few months have had on him and his family. He struggled to get through his speech, breaking down at times. You can, and should, listen to it in its entirety by following this link. Below is a transcription beginning at the 18:00 mark of Hour 2:

"Stugotz, let me explain to you what it is that was hand-me-downed in my family so that you understand where it is that I've come from and how emotionally awful the last few days have been from an intensely personal place. All right? So my mother is put on an airplane when she's 15-years old by her family, who was afraid of what is happening in our streets right now. Days later, they went into the home and were there to take my mother. They did not. My mother, like my father, was put on a plane so that they could get to freedom. They didn't know when that happened if they were ever going to see their families again. Miami is built on this. The story I'm telling has a lot of Miami in it.

"Because these people, the 90 miles between Cuba and our shores, is literally filled with bodies that literally threw themselves to the wind to get out of the desperation and get here. On wooden boats made of tires and desperation. Died in the ocean, so eager to get over here. My mother, from everything that happened there, from being chased in the street with chains by police for her religious beliefs, my mother has trouble breathing and is in health that is an old person's health. Her esophagus closes on her in a way that makes it difficult to breath and eat. Because of this. Because of the post-traumatic stress disorder in this. And now she's got shingles because of the stress of this, of what it reminds her of when she was a teenager. And I've been trying to protect my parents here for the better part of three months because I am afraid of losing them. And what is happening... Our country doesn't feel like our country."

Le Batard broke down in tears and apologized as the show moved to commercial.

Emotions are high in every regard right now. Le Batard and Bellamy both exhibited admirable strength in discussing these intensely personal matters on air. America is listening like few other times in history right now, and it's all the more important to spread stories like theirs so everyone who cannot understand what this is like can, at the very least, understand that others do feel this way and act to change it.