(ThyBlackMan.com) C harles Barkley is known for speaking his mind. But there are some times when his words make him look a little silly, partly because he doesn’t always think about what he says before he opens his mouth. Barkley’s recent appearance on Afternoons with Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis raised some eyebrows because it almost sounded as if Barkley was saying that many black people don’t like other black people who are educated or successful.
Whenever you start your diatribe with the words “As I tell my white friends,” we know that you’re probably going to degrade black people and engage in some kind of explicit or implicit promotion of the everlasting oasis of white supremacy. The conclusion is usually “White people – good, clean and perfect. Black people – bad, dirty and irreparably flawed….except, of course, those black people who’ve learned to think like white people. Those negroes are OK.”
In other words, the greatest thing a black man can accomplish is to stop thinking like other black people. This is what some might call
assimiliation.
Charles Barkley’s comments came after he was asked about a situation involving just Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson was getting into locker room confrontations and was reportedly told by certain teammates that they don’t think he’s black enough. The problem is that this information came from a second-hand source who was merely speculating on something that he didn’t see for himself.
After reporting this second-hand information, Mike Freeman, a writer for a white-owned website, Bleacher Report, threw in his own remarks, being cheered on by a largely white audience who loves to hear black people talk about how ignorant other black people are. If you ever want to get a job with a mainstream media outlet, just make sure you’re willing to bash black people and to also let whites off the hook for racism. They’ll love you for it.
Here’s what Freeman said:
There is also an element of race that needs to be discussed. My feeling on this—and it’s backed up by several interviews with Seahawks players—is that some of the black players think Wilson isn’t black enough.
This is an issue that extends outside of football, into African-American society—though it’s gotten better recently. Well-spoken blacks are seen by some other blacks as not completely black. Some of this is at play.
So, Charles Barkley’s remarks were basically made in response to Freeman’s anonymous quotes and speculation about how some black people dislike other blacks just because they are successful. How he ends up tying this to the Russell Wilson situation might be defined as sloppy reporting, since the Seahawks players may dislike Wilson just because they think he is a jerk. Plus, if several players dislike Wilson, it doesn’t make sense to say that they are all stupid and Wilson is the good guy. It could easily be the other way around.
Freeman may be an educated black man himself, but he was allegedly pushed out of The Indianapolis Star for fabricating parts of his resume back in 2004. So, it’s not as if he couldn’t be stretching the truth to make his own personal report.
So, here’s what Charles Barkley said about other black men, riding the backs of Freeman’s sketchy and broad-based remarks about what black men think about Russell Wilson and why it can’t be Wilson’s fault. Notice in the audio that Barkley starts his comment off by saying, “As I tell my white friends.” He then starts explaining why black people are the reasons for our own problems, but doesn’t say much of anything about the 400 years that white people spent oppressing us, stealing our wealth, murdering black children, and putting black people in prison. But of course, according to Charles Barkley, we only have ourselves to blame. According to Barkley:
“There are a lot of black people who are unintelligent, who don’t have success––it’s best to knock a successful black person down ’cause they’re intelligent, they speak well, they do well in school, and they’re successful.”
Listen to more of what Barkley has to say:
[youtube P7i3xkTc_Fg]
Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.
