Ex-cop and rising media star Brandon Tatum introduced former NBA superstar Charles Barkley as “just a logical dude that’s just not buying into this BS, you know, somebody that’s not afraid to put his foot forward, somebody that’s not afraid to stand up for values and really don’t care what people think about him.”
Tatum was impressed with the way Barkley addressed how so many current celebrities and athletes are waging the battle for racial equality.
Barkley lived up to the introduction. Here’s what he had to say:
“Listen, DeSean Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Nick Cannon, Ice Cube…, man, what the hell are y’all doing? Like, y’all want racial equality. We all do. I don’t understand how insulting another group helps our cause.”
“And the only person 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. But, 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 got a platform. We gotta do better, man.:
“I want allies. I don’t want to alienate anybody and to take shots at the Jewish race, white race? I just don’t like it because it’s not right. And I had to call him on it because it’s really… it’s really been on my heart.”
Barkley will likely receive blow-back from some quarters and support from others. But, as Tatum said in the introduction, Barkley wasn’t, and isn’t afraid to stand up for values.
Tatum went on to share his perspective: “But my question is, “What have you accomplished? Like, like, like, what are y’all doing at this point? Because Martin Luther King already dealt with the civil rights thing. I don’t know if y’all know your history but the civil rights act was already passed, right? Black people are equal under the law, equal under the Constitution.”
“So what are you complaining about now? The thing is that black people are not going to be favored in the law. They’re not going to be favored in opportunities and I don’t believe that they should. I believe that black folks should be given an equal opportunity to succeed like everybody else. There shouldn’t be, uh, you know, a ball and chain hanging on your ankles where you can’t even, you, progress in life. I don’t believe that should be the case.”
“But in America in 2020, man, look, it’s a free country. You can do whatever you want to do if you pursue it. If you dream big. If you view yourself in a positive manner, you have positive self-esteem. You treat people with respect, you believe in God. I mean, what can you not do?”
Listen to the rest of what he shares below: