Comments on: If Only More People Took Charles Barkley Seriously

By: ChrisP

ChrisP — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:09:14 +0000

I have great admiration for Charles because he’s a rich black man who hasn’t let his success and money blind him to the problems that still ravage his community. The difference between Charles and Bill Cosby is that Charles knows how to give tough love without being demeaning at the same time. That is the point that Jesse Jacksn was trying to make MikeNYC, black folks don’t mind hearing constructive criticism which happens to be a well publicized myth, but we don’t won’t our own leaders talking to us in a condescending manner either. Tell us what we need to hear and challenge us to rise up and be better than what people think we are. Ahgain, kudos to Charles and Black America for continuing to rise to the challenge.

By: Ben60657

Ben60657 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:17:42 +0000

I’ve been legitimately busy at work, which really puts a damper on my TBL time and I’m not really on the computer over the weekend unless it’s 5-10 minutes to check on my fantasy teams.

By: I Pulled a Groin

I Pulled a Groin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:10:03 +0000

You completely missed the point rittyrich.

Of college aged black males 18-24, there are 4 times as many black males in college than in prison. People who cite this statistic like Chuck did make it sound like many more YOUNG black males are in jail than in college and that’s false.

By: rittyrich

rittyrich — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:05:07 +0000

Oh, oh, sorry – There are just slightly more black men in college than in jail. That makes everything better.

/s/ Charles.

By: rittyrich

rittyrich — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:03:29 +0000

1) War Eagle, Chuck
2) Yes it is common sense but it’s significant because he isn’t toeing the party line. Cosby has been mentioned but there just aren’t that many black men, women of significant stature who come out and blatantly say things like that.

By: I Pulled a Groin

I Pulled a Groin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:02:15 +0000

Chuck needs to get his facts straight. The idea that there are more black men in prison than in college is a myth.

Myth 1: There are more black men in jail than in college. That study came out of the Justice Policy Institute in 2002. Morton’s research revealed that 805,000 black men were in college and 757,000 black men were in jail. “Of course that’s bad, but the actual storyline was there were more black men in jail than college,” Morton told BET. “That’s untrue. The study was flawed. The sample was flawed. The data was flawed.”

The Justice Policy Institute responded that there were more college-aged black men in college than were incarcerated. But the study researched incarcerated men ages 18 and older; because of that larger sample group, the number of black men in jail is higher than the number of black men in college.

Morton visited that statistic again looking at 2005 numbers. His research revealed that of black men ages 18 to 24, there was a 4-to-1 ratio of black men in college to black men incarcerated.

By: Highball

Highball — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:49:38 +0000

@Mags: I feel for you, because I lost my speakers at work also. I upgraded to a better monitor but lost speakers. I’m about 90% less productive, but I have developed awesome lip reading skills.

By: Gonzo

Gonzo — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:44:06 +0000

Mags, he hasn’t said anything you haven’t heard before. Basically he tells black kids to stop the crime and aspire to be something other than a basketball player.

By: AlmightyThor

AlmightyThor — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:43:36 +0000

Maggs, thats why I like this clip of him – he isn’t saying anything crazy

By: Magglio Merkin

Magglio Merkin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:41:08 +0000

I wish I could actually hear this at work, but I have no speakers. My opinion on Chuck is I love him. He is great on TV and doesn’t give boiler plate canned responses. On the other side of that coin, he knows people like when he almost goes over the line and you can plainly see that 50% of the time he is just yucking it up and saying crazy shit so he will stay relevant.