'An Open Letter to Charles Barkley' or "How to Act Black" from The Nation Magazine

[Husky_Khan]

So The Nation posted an "open letter" to Charles Barkley that seems rather out of the blue considering it touches on issues and comments that in some cases happened years prior (this article is from 2014) but was released just a few days before February and Black History Month so I'm sure it was intentionally timed for that.

Here are some choice bits from the comedy piece they wrote:

You have never been afraid to speak your mind and I commend you for that. But with that comes great responsibility.

And now the advice on how to best speak your mind without fear...

When the wolf begins to praise the sheep, it would be wise for the sheep to undergo some serious self-evaluation.

The fact that they were praising you should have made you take a long look in the mirror. I’m not going to disrespect you by calling you an Uncle Tom or putting up a big picture of Samuel L Jackson from Django Unchained, nor am I writing this to “slam” you, although I am sure many writers will attempt to frame it this way. I respectfully disagree with a position that you have every right to take.

The reason why your latest comments were so surprising for many in the black community is because they appeared to echo Bill O Reilly, Sean Hannity and the rest of Fox News. That’s not what we expect from Sir Charles.

It’s like in Animal Farm where the other animals looked in the window and the pigs were walking upright like the evil humans.

Sir Charles should never appear to be taking on the characteristics of Rush Limbaugh.

Very un-BLack of him. But at least he won't call him an Uncle Tom... he'll just say he's taking the characteristic of Wolflike White people.

You have the nerve to praise the police as a whole for their work in the black community?

And while we don’t condone breaking the law, burning or looting, let me remind you of a quote from Dr. King, who said, “A riot is the voice of the unheard.”

And after castigating Barkley for praising law enforcement as a whole... as well as justifying (though not condoning) rioting and looting in Black neighborhoods we get to the conclusion.

“Who’s afraid a large black man?” Tragically, it now seems like the answer might be you.

Keep in mind... nothing in the article points to Charles Barkley fearmongering in any sort of way, shape or form so... yeah. But at least he didn't call Charles an Uncle Tom though... right?

An Open Letter To Charles Barkley

Once you were not afraid to ask that all-important question: “Who’s afraid of a large black man?” Tragically, it now seems like the answer might be you.

www.thenation.com

 

[Cherico]

This is still relevant.

 

[ShieldWife]

He is in fact calling him an Uncle Tom, not even for being a conservative, but just for siding against the supposed “black side” on a handful of sensationalized news stories which were obvious nonsense.

 

[Emperor Tippy]

So what did Barkley say or do to cause all of this?

 

[Husky_Khan]

So what did Barkley say or do to cause all of this?

The article itself was written in 2014. it's referencing comments Barkley made about George Zimmerman and Ferguson while 'praising' what an icon he was back when he was a outspoken Republican. Like somehow that would be all forgotten.

Basically Barkley's comments were these ones brought up in the article:

We have to be really careful with the cops, because if it wasn’t for the cops we would be living in the Wild, Wild West in our neighborhoods…we can’t pick out certain incidentals that don’t go our way and act like the cops are all bad…. Do you know how bad some of these neighborhoods would be if it wasn’t for the cops?

and

Those aren't black people, those are scumbags. There is no excuse for people to be out there burning down people's businesses, burning down police cars.

The comments criticized years prior pertain to George Zimmerman:

"I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn’t have enough evidence to charge him (George Zimmerman).

Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly, something went wrong and I feel bad for anybody that loses a kid. But if you look at the case, and you don’t make it … there was some racial profiling, no question about it. Something happened to change the dynamic of that night. And that’s probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence, I agreed with the verdict. It gives every white person and black person, who’s racist, a platform to vent their ignorance. That’s the thing that bothered me the most. I watched this trial closely and I watched all these people on television, talking about it. A lot of these people have a hidden agenda … The bias comes out.