Charles Barkley is never afraid to speak his mind, and although he may ruffle some feathers with his latest comments, much of it is true. Barkley was asked about NFL player Russell Wilson reportedly not being “black enough” according to his teammates. Here’s what Barkley had to say on “Afternoons with Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis.”
Video below, here’s the transcript:
“We as black people are never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When you are black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It’s a dirty dark secret, I’m glad it’s coming out, it comes out every few years. I wrote a big chapter in my book about it to be honest with you. I said when young black kids when they do well in school, the loser kids tell them ‘oh you’re acting white’. The kids who speak intelligently, they tell them ‘you’re acting white’. So it’s a dirty dark secret in the black community, one reason we’re never going to be successful as a whole is because of other black people. For some reason we are brainwashed to think, if you’re not a thug or an idiot, you’re not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligently, and don’t break the law, you’re not a good black person. It’s a dirty, dark secret in the black community.
I heard Stephen A. talking about it, I hate to bring white people in our crap but as a black person we all go through it when you’re successful. One of the reasons a lot of black players go broke is because when you’re successful, your friends say ‘oh you ain’t cool, you ain’t down with us anymore’. Then you end up giving all your money to these damn losers and you end up broke again.
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 because they’re intelligent, they speak well, they do well in school, and they’re successful. It’s crabs in a barrel. This debate is funny, we’re the only race that tells people if you don’t have street cred (that means you been arrested), that’s a compliment. We’re the only ethnic group that say ‘hey if you go to jail, that gives you street cred’. It’s just typical BS that goes on when you’re black, man.
I don’t know Russell Wilson, but just because he studies the playbook all the time, he doesn’t go out clubbing and things like that, I guess some of the other players, you see what happened with Percy Harvin, I guess they didn’t like that, they wanted him to do crazy stuff and he didn’t wanna do it.”
Thanks Sir. Charles for describing the problem or rather the symptom. I think it is good to talk about certain happenings in the black experience, but to be responsible, we must also talk about the root cause. It was not that long ago that black people who tried to educate themselves were pegged as uppity and dangerous to white communities making demonstrating smarts dangerous for black. Dummy oneself down was in fact a coping mechanism used by Blacks so as pacify violent whites who needed to see blacks as inferior. Not long before that, slave masters only offer for black success was a system of betraying fellow blacks. Black drivers and overseers were used to whip other blacks, betray plans for resistance, etc. I dare say that the day in 1863 when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and that the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education verdict came in, some expected coping behaviors blacks used to survive 250 years of hostile society would immediately disappear. I don’t think there is one credible psychologist anywhere that would deny that these modern issues are just a small part of the psychological legacy stemming from systemic and institutional slavery and persistent racism leveled at Black people for centuries. Now that we know the root, perhaps we can raise the consciousness of Blacks like Charles Barkley and the entire Western society.
Thanks Sir. Charles for describing the problem or rather the symptom. I think it is good to talk about certain happenings in the Black experience, but to be responsible, we must also talk about the root cause.
It was not that long ago that black people who tried to educate themselves were pegged as uppity and dangerous to white communities, making a demonstration of smarts dangerous for Black. Dummying oneself down was in fact a coping mechanism used by Blacks so as pacify violent whites who needed to see blacks as inferior. Not long before that, slave masters’ only offer for Black success was a system of betraying fellow Blacks. Black drivers and overseers were used and rewarded for whipping other Blacks, betraying plans for resistance, etc.
I dare say that the day in 1863 when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and that the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education verdict came in, some expected coping behaviors Blacks used to survive 250 years of hostile society and discriminatory behavior whites used would immediately disappear. I don’t think there is one credible psychologist anywhere that would deny that these modern issues are just a small part of the psychological legacy stemming from systemic and institutional slavery and persistent racism leveled at Black people for centuries. Now that we know the root, perhaps we can raise the consciousness of Blacks like Charles Barkley, whites and the entire Western society.
Here is a simple solution that addresses much of what Charles says….. GET RID OF RAP MUSIC
Hey Uncle Charlie, don’t worry you meet the criteria, idoit. You’re so dumb you need to read an instruction manual to change your mind.