Is Charles Barkley RIGHT?

by A. Asadullah Samad
-Guest Columnist-

The March 11th edition of Sports Illustrated has the world talking about (and shying away from) one subject America hates to talk about: Race. It�s coming from a source that it is least likely to come from, a Black professional athlete�a former athlete but a professional athlete nonetheless. Professional basketball player Charles Barkley graced the cover of the magazine in broken chains (with neck and wrist shackles) looking like an escaped slave�the inference being that he has broken loose from the silence of that slave culture, known as professional sports to talk about the double standards Black athletes are held to.

Everybody from politics to news commentary has commented about everything from the audacity of the cover photo to the brashness of his statement. But, the one thing nobody has said is that Charles Barkley isn�t correct in what he�s saying. And all he is saying is what everybody kinda knows but is afraid to say.

The most notable quote (of many) concerns the failure of Black athletes to speak up, particularly Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, against the double standards of race, not just in sports, but in the larger society. Barkley points out that the image of Blacks as sports "icons" has hurt Black people. He states, "people look at athletes and entertainers as the sum total of Black America."

Barkley recognizes that his success and his wealth came from his athletic prowess, but he sees his and his colleague�s images as nothing more than commodities to be traded and bartered. The value of that commodity rises and falls with its salability to the American mainstream, formerly known as the "crossover appeal." Barkley acknowledges that Michael and Tiger are locked into the images created for them, which is good for them but bad for Black America in that Black children only want to be "like Mike," "like Tiger" and see sports as their only vehicle to success.

Barkley�s comments are stinging only because we know that they hold "much truth." But Black educators, Black politicians, Black lawyers, Black accountants, Black civil rights activists, Black preachers say this everyday. So what makes it news when Charles Barkley says it? Because Black athletes are to be seen and not heard. Athletes and entertainers have no social and political opinions. They don�t speak for themselves; they speak through agents, managers and publicists. And when they speak for themselves and don�t talk "the right talk," they�re "angry," "aloof," and "malcontent." They�re "damaged goods" to be separated and discarded, no matter how talented. Like during slavery, anyone talking freedom was whipped and separated from the general populations.

Barkley separated himself from the others with his outspokenness during his playing days. Coming from Alabama, the heart of segregation and racial oppression, Barkley understood race in ways many didn�t. It affected his insights and his opinions, none of which he allowed to be separated from him when he turned pro. In the pros, he was labeled as outspoken, brass and even a loudmouth.

But nobody ever challenged his views because the more you challenged him, the more he would talk. They just hoped he would keep them to himself. Now, that his playing days are over, Charles Barkley has a job as a TNT commentator. His job is to talk and to express his views (opinions). So when asked about the image of Black athletes, the subject of Tiger Woods came up. And Charles was brutally honest. Not about Tiger, but about the treatment of Tiger in the domination of golf.

The rise of Tiger Woods has been met with anguish and disdain. Like Ali, he is "too damn good" and people don�t always tune in to watch him win, but to see if he�ll get beat. And when he doesn�t lose, they try to find a way to make him lose. For example, the whole of the Augusta Golf Course being "tigerized" for this year�s Masters tournament. Tiger has won the Master�s twice before the age of 25. Augusta has seen the need to add an additional 300 yards to the course this year, but claim it�s not because of Tiger.

Barkley stated what most of us thought, "that�s Bulls*#t." "Blatant racism," is what Barkley actually called it and cited the fact that Jack Nicklaus outdistanced the players of his day and won the tournament six times and they never changed the course that dramatically. Logic stands to reason that players play the course not other players, so when the course becomes too easy, it time to change. Tiger made Augusta look too easy, though it is still a difficult play for others. The point Charles made and continues to make is that Tiger could say that for himself, if he was willing to break away from the "image plantation."

The treatment of Black athletes who make comments pertaining to race offers little benefit other than ridicule, as Barkley puts it. Some of us could stand to be ridiculed a little more often if it means the truth comes forward a lot more often. Maybe then the truth wouldn�t be ridiculed. Instead, the double standard would be ridiculed. In that regard, Charles Barkley is right. Race is still America�s biggest problem, and silence is still Black America�s biggest problem. And if we don�t talk about it, nobody will. The plantation still lives.

(A. Asadullah Samad is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.)