A week after calling Ferguson looters “scumbags,” claiming “the media loves race stories,” and declaring “ I cant believe anything I hear on TV anymore,” NBA legend Charles Barkley doubled down on his Ferguson remarks, and offered more disapproval for the media, and black community with its reaction to the death of Michael Brown.
In a radio interview Tuesday afternoon, on 97.5 the Fanatic in Philadelphia with Mike Missenelli, Barkley was asked about the criticism he received from black pundits, writers, and leaders. Sir Charles responded: “Every black person knows if you don’t kiss up to every black person, you are going to be called an Uncle Tom or a sell out. That’s just the way it works in the black community. “
Barkley also thinks the outrage in Ferguson is “another example of tribal mentality.” “When something bad happens everyone develops a tribe mentality. Whether your guy is right or wrong, you are automatically going to protect your tribe,” he said. “It was like when the idiot O.J. [Simpson] killed those people. I saw all these black people jumping up and down, [saying] ‘because of the system!’ Well that doesn’t justify this guy killing two people. That doesn’t help anybody, if we are jumping up and down when O.J. got acquitted because we are trying to fight the system.”
When questioned about conservative websites “embarrassing” last week’s comments, Charles responded: “I don’t want republicans and democrats muddying up my message. My message has been, for us as black people to act like all cops are out their rampaging, and just killing black folks is ridiculous. That’s flat-out ridiculous.”
“Most cops are good people out there doing their job,” Barkley asserted. “But for us in black America to act like white cops are out there shooting us for no reason, that’s absurd.” Barkley later added: “I’m able to look at the facts, and not just assume because a white cop shot a black guy it was racial … You can’t lump it all together, you have to look at the facts before you jump to conclusions.”
He declared, “It’s disingenuous for too many people with hidden agendas, especially lawyers, and people who love racial BS to go on, to act like white cops are out there killing black folks.”
Why did Barkley wait to publicly comment on Ferguson until after the grand jury testimony was released? “I don’t fight every battle, and I don’t want to be like one of these guys that when every time something racial happens, they want to stoke the fires, I want to pick my battles because every battle is not worth fighting.”
