Without fail the mention of Charles Barkley and the Black community in the same story results in something cringeworthy and this week is no exception.
In a new interview with The Shadow League, Barkley discusses his philanthropic efforts with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and in the next breath says black people are “full of sh*t” and “c**ksukers.”
“I don’t worry about that. Listen, my track record speaks for itself. The one thing I’ve learned as a Black man is everytime I say something that is not 100 percent in agreement with the Black community there’s a faction that goes crazy. I don’t care about that. People say to me ‘Man, did you just give a million dollars to a Historically Black College?”
“I say ‘Yeah.’ And they say ‘Well, why didn’t you tell anybody?’ and I say ‘I’m not trying to impress those co**s*ckers.’ I just gave Morehouse, Clark Atlanta and Alabama A&M in Huntsville. A million dollars to help black kids go to college. I just gave Auburn two million to recruit black kids. I’m good with my blackness. Listen, man, one thing I understand about being black and famous is a lot of black people are full of sh**. I’m good with that.”
Even when Charles is supposedly working for the betterment of black people he continues to undermine his efforts by layering on disrespect. Ending the statement with “I’m good with my blackness” would have been more than sufficient but in true Charles fashion he couldn’t help but punctuate his “upstanding Nubian status” with a dig at black people.
Oh well. Charles is going to Charles and we can’t do anything about it.