Charles Barkley Wants Black People To Do Better: I respect and admire what cops do.

Charles Barkley

Former NBA baller and TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley is the latest celebrity weighing in on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. This week, he shared his comments on ESPN’s Dan Le Batard Show, addressing the recent police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Philando Castile in Minnesota and the deadly attack on officers during a rally in Dallas. Barkley said that the blame isn’t solely on the police, but blacks should take ownership.

The cops have made some mistakes, but that doesn’t give us the right to riot and shoot cops. We need the cops, especially in the black community. We as black people, we’ve got to do better. We never get mad when black people kill each other, which that has always bothered me … I’ve always said if we as black people want more respect, we have to give each other respect. You can’t demand respect from white people and the cops if you don’t respect each other. We’ve got to do better as black people. The cops have made some mistakes, but there’s a lot of blame to go around. But I’m not going to get on TV and yell like all these other idiots.

He adds:

I’m not perfect. I’m not trying to be perfect. But you have to ask yourself, ‘Are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution?’ I respect and admire what cops do. My bodyguard is a cop — a black cop. We talk about situations all the time. One of the problems with this stuff on the media is that all these people are ‘Monday Morning Quarterbacks.’ … Everybody is saying what I would do or what I should do. I think some of these cops are panicking under pressure.

[Facebook, ESPN]

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