Charles Barkley has taken DeSean Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Nick Cannon and Ice Cube for their recent anti-Semitic outbursts. In a video sent out on Twitter, Barkley stated:
“Man, what the hell are y’all doing? Y’all want racial equality. We all do. I don’t understand how insulting another group helps our cause. And the only person who called y’all on it was Kareem. 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. I’m so disappointed in these men. I don’t understand how you beat hatred with more hatred. That stuff should never come up in your vocabulary, and it should never come up in your heart. I don’t understand it.
"I’m never gonna accept it, and I’m asking you guys, I’m begging you guys, man, you guys are famous, you’ve got a platform. We’ve gotta do better, man. I want allies. I don’t want to alienate anybody and to take shots at the Jewish race, the white race. I just don’t like it 'cause it’s not right and I had to call them on it 'cause it’s really — it’s really been on my heart.
Needless to say, I am heartened by Barkley's intervention which comes on the heels of fellow NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's recent essay on anti-Semitism which I warmly welcomed. The more African-Americans speak out against anti-Semitism in their community the better.
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