It is certainly not the first time that Charles Barkley has talked sense to the mob. The proud son of Alabama has again risen to the occasion and has called out certain black sports figures and entertainers for trafficking in anti-Semitic rhetoric. We and many others have long since pointed out that Black Lives Matter is chockablock with anti-Semitism, so it is good to see prominent blacks like Barkley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar raise their voices.
Town Hall reports:
American basketball legend Charles Barkley is calling out black celebrities for their anti-Semitic and anti-white racism.
"Listen, DeSean Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Nick Canon, Ice Cube - Man, what the hell are y'all doing?" asked Barkley in a Steam Room podcast.
"Y'all want racial equality," Barkley began. "We all do. I don't understand how insulting another group helps our cause."
DeSean Jackson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, posted anti-Semitic posts attributed to Louis Farrakhan and Hitler on his Instragam. In defending that Jackson, another Jackson -- Stephen Jackson, the former NBA player -- said DeSean was simply "speaking the truth." Both Jacksons have since apologized.
Nick Cannon, the actor and TV host, said a bunch of racist things about white people and Jews in a recent podcast that sparked widespread controversy. ViacomCBS eventually fired Cannon, but not for being racist against whites, just jews.
Ice Cube was similarly accused of anti-Semitism after the rapper tweeted an image that many consider to be anti-Semitic.
Barkley wants to know how black people fighting for so-called racial equality benefit in any way by hating other racial groups.
"We can't allow black people to be prejudiced also. Especially if we're asking for white folks to respect us, give us economic opportunity, and things like that," Barkley said. "I'm so disappointed in these men, but I don't understand how you beat hatred with more hatred."
Yes, indeed. You do not earn respect by disrespecting others.
And then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has offered an extended reflection on the problem in his column for the Hollywood Reporter:
Recent incidents of anti-Semitic tweets and posts from sports and entertainment celebrities are a very troubling omen for the future of the Black Lives Matter movement, but so too is the shocking lack of massive indignation. Given the New Woke-fulness in Hollywood and the sports world, we expected more passionate public outrage. What we got was a shrug of meh-rage.
The point is worth emphasis. It’s not just that some public figures expressed anti-Semitism. The more important point is the members of the black community and members of the woke white left had so little to say about it.
When reading the dark squishy entrails of popular culture, meh-rage in the face of sustained prejudice is an indisputable sign of the coming Apatholypse: apathy to all forms of social justice. After all, if it’s OK to discriminate against one group of people by hauling out cultural stereotypes without much pushback, it must be OK to do the same to others. Illogic begets illogic.
Specifically:
Ice Cube’s June 10 daylong series of tweets, which involved some creepy symbols and images, in general implied that Jews were responsible for the oppression of blacks. NFL player DeSean Jackson tweeted out several anti-Semitic messages, including a quote he incorrectly thought was from Hitler (not your go-to guy for why-can’t-we-all-get-along quotes) stating that Jews had a plan to “extort America” and achieve “world domination.” Isn’t that SPECTRE’s job in James Bond movies?
These statements would be laughed at by anyone with a middle-school grasp of reason, but then former NBA player Stephen Jackson, a self-proclaimed activist, undid whatever progress his previous advocacy may have achieved by agreeing with DeSean Jackson on social media. Then he went on to talk about the Rothschilds owning all the banks and his support for the notorious homophobe and anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan. That is the kind of dehumanizing characterization of a people that causes the police abuses that killed his friend, George Floyd.
June continued to bust out all over with anti-Semitism when performer Chelsea Handler, herself Jewish, posted videos of Farrakhan to her 3.9 million followers. That means almost 4 million people received a subliminal message that even some Jews think being anti-Jewish is justified.
Naturally, all three were induced to apologize. And yet, Abdul Jabbar adds, the apologies smacked of insincerity:
Even the apologies floundered, more attempts at spin than true contrition. In a CNN interview, Stephen Jackson was angry and belligerent at being called out: “I stated I could have changed my words. There’s nothing that I said that I support any of that. There’s nothing I said that I hate anybody. I apologize for my words and I could have switched up. That’s the end of it. I love everybody.” While it’s possible the words were wrong, celebrities have a responsibility to get the words right. It’s not enough to have good intentions, because it’s the actual deeds — and words — which have the real impact. In this case destructive impact. In 2013, there were 751 reported hate crimes against Jews, but by 2019 the number had nearly tripled to 2,107. That same year, a gunman in San Diego entered a synagogue and murdered one person while wounding three.
One thing is obvious. Not only does Jackson not know how to think, he has no command of the English language.
They also said many malicious things about “white people” but only the anti-Semitic comments got called out. They never had to apologize for saying white people were murdering savages etc. Making blatantly racist comments directed toward white people is fine, just don’t say anything about the Jews.
ReplyDeleteWhites need to form a big tribe, and defend it against anyone who says anything against it or takes action against it. A self-consciously White tribe of all Whites people. I wonder how the Jews would react to that project?
"We can't allow black people to be prejudiced also. Especially if we're asking for white folks to respect us, give us economic opportunity, and things like that," Barkley said.
ReplyDeleteWhile Barkley is correct to call out the anti-Semitism, his asking for economic opportunity and respect falls flat. If he and the other sports figures and entertainment figures speaking out have not earned and enjoy both, no black person will ever. Have Sheila Jackson Lee and Maxine Waters earned a prominent place in American society? Yes, they have. Are they worthy of it? That's a different question.
Very few sports figures, nor Lee and Waters, have a good command of the English language.
“A liberal society requires people to choose freedom over power. Those who would rather have power than freedom will always find such a society oppressive and conspire to destroy it.” — Daniel Greenfield
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Sheila Jackson-Lee, she should be canceled. She's named after two - not one, but TWO - Confederate generals.
ReplyDeleteQED
This is a confounding scene. If the first quote from Barkely were left on its own a rational and productive discussion might be had. But the second section is a damning tell: "We can't allow black people to be prejudiced also. Especially if we're asking for white folks to respect us, give us economic opportunity, and things like that".
ReplyDeleteThat again. "...give us economic opportunity".
Barkley is speaking from his understanding of how opportunity is discovered, and to him it is a gift from one to another. You know, like an inheritance or a cache of goods from The Great Society or a Section 8 voucher. And there is the problem.