Former NBA player Stephen Jackson made anti-Semitic remarks Wednesday while continuing to defend Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who apologized Tuesday for anti-Semitic social media posts he shared over the weekend.
Asked if he thought Jews were “trying to divide the black community,” Jackson replied, “No, but I don’t think they stand up for us as much as they should.”
The day before, Jackson had offended some when he appeared to be speaking to Jewish people in writing, “Your races pain doesn’t hurt more than the next races pain. Don’t act like your hardships [are] more devastating then ours. … Truth Hurts. Never waste time explaining to people who never supported u anyway.”
Here's the video of Stephen Jackson talking about the Rothschilds owning all the banks. https://t.co/ps8T3XXZEy pic.twitter.com/YYQBrUwmMB
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) July 8, 2020
The claim about the Rothschild family, which has for centuries been the focus of anti-Semitic vitriol and conspiracy theories, came as Jackson also affirmed his “love” for Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan has made numerous anti-Semitic claims and comments, including about the Rothschilds, and in a speech last year he said he was “here to separate the good Jews from the satanic Jews.”
In a 2017 radio appearance (via Forward), Farrakhan said: “Holy Land don’t belong to a white Arab or a white Jew. You are settlers on our land. We are the original owners of that part of the Earth, and you all kicked us out and assumed our position.”
DeSean Jackson appeared to be making a similar claim in his posts. He shared a passage from a book containing a quote, incorrectly attributed to Adolf Hitler, stating that “the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel,” that Jews “will extort America” and that “their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.”
The wide receiver also shared posts, which he subsequently deleted, that praised Farrakhan, whom he reportedly called “powerful.”
In one post, Jackson shared the same image of the book, which also included a reference to “the Illuminati,” that he had earlier. This time, he included a caption in which he said, “Anyone who feels I have hate toward the Jewish community took my post the wrong way/ I have no hatred in my heart towards anyone!”
The Eagles, whose owner and general manager are Jewish, said in a statement Tuesday that the messages Jackson shared were “offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling.” The team said it was “continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action.”
While the 33-year-old wide receiver followed that with a pair of public apologies, Stephen Jackson took to social media Tuesday to assert that DeSean Jackson had been “speaking the truth.”
“He don’t hate nobody, but he’s speaking the truth of the facts that he knows, and trying to educate others,” Stephen Jackson, 42, said in a video that he later deleted but which was saved and shared online. “But y’all don’t want him to educate ourselves.”
Stephen Jackson says Desean Jackson is speaking the truth pic.twitter.com/giPOBFYoU9
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) July 7, 2020
Stephen Jackson also accused the Eagles of hypocrisy, referring to an episode in 2013 when Riley Cooper, a white wide receiver for Philadelphia, was shown on video using the n-word. Cooper was fined an undisclosed amount and made to undergo counseling, but he was allowed to rejoin the team shortly thereafter and was re-signed after the season.
Jackson, who helped the San Antonio Spurs win the 2003 NBA championship during a 14-year career and who has worked as a basketball analyst on TV, returned to that topic Wednesday. In an interview with podcast host Brian Custer that he also streamed on Instagram, Jackson said, “I don’t know nothing about Hitler and I could give a [expletive] about Hitler.” He declared his “whole reason for supporting D-Jax” was that the receiver claimed during a phone conversation that the Eagles were “threatening to fire him,” in contrast to how they treated Cooper.
“And I’m like: ‘You right. You shouldn’t have to apologize if they didn’t make him apologize.’ And that was my whole thing,” Stephen Jackson said. “I don’t hate Jews. I don’t support Hitler. But they are wrong for how they’re handling D-Jax because Cooper said the n-word publicly at a concert. They slapped him on the wrist and he got a contract extension. Never talked about being fired. But they want to fire D-Jax. And I see a lot of people tried to deflect that I called the owner out on how he handled the black man and the white man, and tried to deflect to make it seem like I hated Jews and I was supporting Hitler.
“Today, I’m saying to you, [expletive] Hitler. I love Jews. And I love everybody. And I stand on love for all who have love for all.”
Jackson also hosts a Showtime podcast, “All the Smoke,” with fellow ex-NBA player Matt Barnes. Saying Wednesday (via the New York Post) it was “aware of Stephen Jackson’s recent statements,” a network spokesman added, “Regardless of his intentions, Stephen’s comments were hurtful and inconsistent with the values espoused by this network.”
Since the killing in May of George Floyd, a longtime friend of Stephen Jackson’s from the Houston area who shared a facial resemblance, Jackson has become a prominent voice against police brutality and racial injustice.
“I didn’t ask for this position,” he said last month. “God just put me here.”
On Wednesday, Jackson said that Farrakhan was “teaching me how to be a leader.”
“I’m a fan of Minister Farrakhan because nobody loves black people more than him. And that’s just facts. I’m my own man. I believe what I want to believe, and I love everybody else. But I love the minister.
“Y’all want to push your issues. Y’all want to push your beliefs. Y’all want to push all your [expletive] on people because y’all feel this way,” he added. “I’m my own person. I do what I want to do.
“I know how to love the minister and love Jewish people, too. I know how to love the minister and love white people, too. This is a new day, bruh. Y’all don’t get it.”
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