Charles Barkley Makes Controversial Race Comments

Charles Barkley, the retired NBA basketball star, has again made the news for a recent statement, this time about race. The often quotable Barkley was on CBS Philly, a morning radio show, and the topic of Seatle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson — specifically a rumor going around that some on his team think “he isn’t black enough.” Barkley, who has never shied away from giving his opinion on anything, was asked what he thought about this.

“It’s a dirty secret in the black community—unless you’re a thug or got a criminal record, or you’re just a jackass, some black people think you are not black enough,” Barkley said. “It’s a dirty little secret in our community. I want black kids to know we can be strong and intelligent. We shouldn’t tell kids, if you’re doing good in school, you’re acting white. If you speak intelligently, you’re acting white. That’s bullshit. It’s one reason we as a group are struggling, black people are struggling. We don’t have great respect for each other.

“I have talked about it in my last book—one of the problems with our black community is us. Not white folks. Other black folks. It’s not something I haven’t said before. You don’t have to be a thug or unintelligent, you’re supposed to do great academically. You’re supposed to speak correctly. I tell people, we’re the only group where if you got a criminal record, it makes you more black.

“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.”

Barkley has discussed this before, and as he had in other situations, come to mixed results from other people, specifically on Twitter.

Needless to say Barkley received a great deal of attention for his comments which he was surprised by. “It’s nothing I haven’t talked about before,” he said, before also backing it up to Vibe. “I stick by what I said.”