Charles Barkley has consistently been one of the most vocal analysts in all of sports and when it comes to social justice, this sentiment rings true. Barkley has been speaking out a lot about police brutality, noting that we need real and honest reforms that will prop up the good cops, and force the bad ones out of police units. While his take is idealistic, to say the least, there is no denying he is coming from a good and honest place.
Recently, Barkley spoke to CNBC about the NBA and its efforts surrounding social justice. As Charles explained, the NBA is concerning itself too much with kneeling and jersey gestures. In fact, Barkley finds it all to be quite ridiculous and says that if you want real change, then you should be advocating for policy changes.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
“What’s happening now is we’re turning into a circus,” Barkley said. “Instead of talking about racial equality, racial justice and economic justice, we spend all our time worrying about who’s kneeling and not kneeling, what things are being said on buses, what’s being said on jerseys. I think we’re missing the point. We need police reform, prison reform. Those are No. 1 and No. 2 things to focus on. We need the cops, good cops out there policing bad cops …. When we spend time focusing on what’s on the jersey, that’s gonna defeat purpose. My concern is this is turning into a circus instead of trying to do some good stuff.”
Numerous players will be wearing social justice messages on their jerseys when the season restarts in July. Needless to say, Barkley won't exactly be the biggest fan of it all.
[Via]