Du Bois and other black, Northeast liberals.īarkley's MLK Day message falls short of some of his 2014 lowlights - "There are a lot of unintelligent black people who don't have success," he clumsily said in a defense of quarterback Russell Wilson - but he says enough to further inflame the critics who liken him to Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain and Allen West.īarkley's message is devoid of any mention of white supremacy to overcome, racial progress to be made or playing fields in need of leveling. "Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities," the former-slave-turned-Alabama educator publicly advised, to the consternation of W.E.B. Stupid things and steady progress.Ĭall it Barkley's update of the Atlanta Compromise, the stay-in-your-place, soothing-to-Southern whites prescription for black progress famously orated by African-American leader Booker T. He name-drops Nelson Mandela and calls Ali "the biggest influence in my life." He admits doing some "stupid things." But he finishes by insisting that he "never did anything where I said to myself I didn't keep progressing as a person, and that's always been the key."Īlabama. "One problem we have in the black community," he continues, "there's a lot of self-inflicted wounds. And the one thing you don't want to do is screw it up. And my grandmother, who's the greatest person who's ever been in my life, always said to me, there's a lot of people did heavy lifting to make you become successful. "For myself, being from Alabama," Barkley summarizes after calling King a true hero and endorsing the movie "Selma," "civil rights means a big deal to me. Barkley readies to do what he does best, what will earn him far more money talking basketball than playing it, what has made "Inside the NBA" a perennial Emmy winner and must-see TV for more than a decade: speak from the heart. The pregame show for the Bulls-Cavaliers contest approaches. Today, the NBA has laid claim to the King holiday, broadcasting a dozen games with its television partners and rolling out a promotional video featuring an extremely rare and expensive commercial use of the "I Have A Dream" speech. LeBron James, Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant amplified the discussion, flouting league rules by wearing "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts in support of #BlackLivesMatter protesters and Eric Garner, the New York man who died after a police chokehold. Since casting out disgraced owner Donald Sterling this past spring, the league with the highest concentration of black athletes and fans has risen to the forefront of America's renewed, loud conversation about race. Recent NBA events have magnified Barkley's voice, and this moment. The Undefeated will challenge, engage and advocate for people of color in a manner consistent with the black-press pioneers, such as Sam Lacy, who led the charge for Jackie Robinson's civil rights-sparking baseball career. Through the lens of sports, The Undefeated will be the premier platform for intelligent analysis and celebration of black culture and the African-American struggle for equality. He has reached the broadcasting mountaintop with a mouth inspired by Muhammad Ali, a style reminiscent of Howard Cosell and buckets of down-home wisdom. He has pursued this platform since the day he retired as a player and chose TNT over NBC because, he says, Turner promised he could address social issues. Somehow, Barkley has arrived at this position, as one of America's sought-after voices on race and injustice. "No Justice, No Peace" ramming headfirst into "We Shall Overcome."Įnter Charles Barkley, born into Jim Crow segregation in 1963 in Leeds, Alabama, to analyze the day, the month and the entire history of civil and uncivil disobedience. Similar protests ignited across America, quiet, dignified remembrances of the Founding Father of racial equality disrupted by boiling anger over police killings of unarmed black males. It's the same church where, a few hours earlier on this MLK Day 2015, about 200 demonstrators sat down in the streets, halted the traditional parade and protested while carrying a symbolic, makeshift coffin. Day, Charles Barkley sits calmly before four cameras, a hot mike pinned to his gray suit, preparing to offer a compromise.īarkley is on the Atlanta set of "Inside the NBA," less than three miles from Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was baptized as a child, preached as a minister and was laid to rest as a martyr. T the end of a turbulent, troubled Martin Luther King Jr.
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