Karl Malone to Black Community: 'Stop Using That Excuse About Race'

 

Speaking with liberal commentator Mark Lamont Hill on Huff Post Live Thursday, former NBA star Karl Malone said he was “sick and tired” of fellow African Americans using “that excuse about race,” arguing that it was time for personal responsibility and for the community to “stop waiting on someone to come march on our behalf.”

Malone’s comments came in response to Charles Barkley’s criticism of the anti-law enforcement riots in Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown, an excerpt from which Hill played for Malone:

Barkley: We, as black people, we got a lot of crooks. We can’t just wait till something like this happens. We got to look ourselves in the mirror. There’s a reason [law enforcement] racially profile us at times. Sometimes it’s wrong, but sometimes it’s right. So to … sit there and act like we all hold no responsibility for some of this stuff is disingenuous.

When Hill asked Malone his take on Barkley’s call for the African American community to “look in the mirror,” Malone said he completely agreed:

Malone: I echo his sentiments exactly. We need to look in our mirror ourselves, stop waiting on someone to come march on our behalf, take ownership in ourself, make our community better, and stop looking for a handout. Do something about it yourself that you can control. Stop using that excuse about race. I am sick and tired that every time you turn around, that’s what we dangle. Everybody can dangle it. [...] Race goes both ways—it really goes both ways.

Hill then asked him if he thought race did not play a part in Ferguson, to which Malone said while his heart went out to the family, he thought “everyone was at fault." He then stressed the importance of valuing our first responders and taking personal responsibility:

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