Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posted a quote incorrectly attributed to Adolph Hitler: “because the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep America’s secret the Jews will blackmail America. They will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.”
That was obviously an insane and anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
The Eagles called Jackson’s statements “offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling.” Jackson apologized. Then apologized again. He also spoke to a rabbi and pledged to educate himself.
Meanwhile, former NBA player Stephen Jackson is defending DeSean Jackson’s initial comments.
Stephen Jackson in a series of Instagram videos (including one deleted):
So I just read a statement that the Philadelphia Eagles posted regarding DeSean Jackson’s comments. He was trying to educate himself, educate people, and he’s speaking the truth, right? He’s speaking the truth. You know he don’t hate nobody, but he’s speaking the truth of the facts that he knows and trying to educate others. But y’all don’t want us to educate ourselves. If it’s talking about the Black race, y’all ain’t saying nothing about it. They killing us. Police killing us and treating us like s—. Racism at an all-time high. But ain’t none of you NFL owners spoke up on that. Ain’t none of you teams spoke up on that. But the same team had a receiver that said the word, to say n— publicly! And they gave him an extension! I play for the Big3. We have a Jewish owner. He understands where we stand and some of the things we say, but it’s not directed to him. It’s the way we’ve been treated.
With all this I be saying, and all these facts I be saying too, I try to make everything understandable for y’all, how it ain’t rocket science, how it’s simple, right? And it is people that’s on the side with us. It is people that understand what we saying and not hearing to respond or not hearing to debate what we’re saying. It’s a lot of people that’s listening to us that understanding what we’re saying is right and understanding, we’re not saying that to demean another race. We’re saying it to educate people and understand why we’re hurt, why we want equality. And a lot of people know what’s been done to us. They just ain’t never had the conversation and ain’t never had the guts to admit it. I want to salute Steve Kerr for reaching out. I want to salute the coach from Minnesota for reaching out. I want to salute Mark Cuban for reaching out. I want to salute Adam Silver for reaching out. Because they understand. It ain’t about hate. We just want equality.
Let me say this, too, to finish that last message. I don’t give a f— who I offend. Ain’t nobody gave a f—about offending us all this time. Ain’t nobody standing up when people are saying s—, racist s—, about us. So, no. I don’t give a f—about offending nobody. And that’s just what it is. If you know me, you know I love everybody the same way. But what I’m standing for now – if you don’t understand it, then you never knew me. You was just around me for the wrong reasons. Love for all who have love for all. It’s that simple. If you don’t love everybody, then so be it. That’s on you. But I’m looking to offend you. I’m looking to piss you off. The days of you being comfortable and treating people like s—is over. Big facts.
Jackson also posted a since-deleted message that included:
I don’t know nothing about hitler and didn’t read d jack message. I’m not reading all that fam. [F—] hitler
Stephen Jackson said DeSean Jackson was “speaking the truth.”
How would Stephen Jackson know DeSean Jackson was speaking the truth without even reading what DeSean Jackson posted? That’s an absurd explanation, one way or the other.
At best, Stephen Jackson ignorantly defended DeSean Jackson. If that’s the case, Stephen Jackson should apologize, and we can all move on with Stephen Jackson merely losing credibility for speaking so strongly about something he didn’t even read.
Instead, Stephen Jackson doubles down.
Calling Big3 owner Jeff Kwatinetz one of the good ones doesn’t excuse Stephen Jackson’s offensive remarks. In fact, it’s remarkably similar to how white people sometimes problematically single out black people deemed acceptable. I wish Jackson would see that.
Stephen Jackson has led in the current movement for racial justice. He raises legitimate concerns about people not caring enough racism, including when former Eagles receiver Riley Cooper said the n-word in 2013.
But the Eagles condemned Cooper’s behavior and fined him. Yes, they later gave him a contract extension. Should they have cut him? There’s room for debate on how teams should handle players who say and do wrong things. It’s happening right now with DeSean Jackson.
The solution to bigotry toward black people, though, is not bigotry toward Jews.
Jackson also went astray when he said racism is at an all-time high. That is completely untrue, and saying otherwise demeans everything people have done to reduce racism. There’s still plenty of work left, but there has been SIGNIFICANT progress. That should be recognized.
Lastly, I don’t think Stephen Jackson knows Ryan Saunders’ name.
