NFL Seahawks Star Richard Sherman ‘If Black Lives Matter, They Should Matter All The Time’

VIOLENCE
Image from uk.anygator.com


Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman has managed to ruffle some feathers this week, although this time it’s not conservatives that are throwing heat at the star NFL cornerback.

The story starts with a fake response to a very stupid meme created by a moron who goes by the name “King Noble”. Noble posted a violent rant on YouTube calling for the killing of police officers and white people. I’m not going to spend much time addressing his stupidity, Noble is clearly a disturbed man.

Someone posing as Sherman going by the user name RSherman25 replied  with an anti-#blacklivesmatters rant.

“I worked myself up from Compton High School to a scholarship at Standford University and I did it myself. I take pride in what I have accomplished both as a black man, and an athlete. I could have stayed in LA and banged and used drugs and thought that it was all the white man’s fault. But that would be a lie. We are who we want to be, that is what is great about America. We are all born with the same chances in life…white or black…YOU choose to be a woman-abusing racist loudmouth. I would love to debate you on national TV. And if you condone senseless black shootings of whites and police officers, you better make that a debate on Springer, so I can bitchslap your ignorant ass!

You are what is keeping and making the black race look bad. Wake up fool. Do not glorify this half a man, he has worked for nothing. He chose to keep himself where he is, not the white people. It is time to take responsibility for your own actions, and not act like a stinking fool. Kids and young black men and women look at this site, and believe that they are abused. That is a bold-faced lie. It is out of the mouths of cheap thugs like you that are hurting our young and taking away the chances they have to make themselves a productive part of society. Brothers and sisters: the only slavery in America now is the one you put yourself into. Rise up like Doctor King as taught us, and be a real human being. We are all in this together, white and black. Peace to all, and I hope this stupid fake hate stops real soon. We are all brothers and sisters. Do not be fooled by the tyranny of evil men like this. Lift yourself up, educate yourselves, and work hard for a good life. No one owes you anything. Stand proud as a person of color, and do something meaningful with your life. I did and I am the best at what I do! Peace out, R Sherman.”

The real Richard Sherman said that he did not write that rant, and he went on to explain his position concerning the BLM movement. Here’s what he said,

“Before we get started, I’m gonna address the — because there was some article written. You know, you guys have seen it. Talking about King Noble and all this. I did not write that article. A lot of people had sent it to me over the weekend, but I thought this would be the best place to address it. There were some points in that article, or in that post, that were relevant and I could agree with. But there were also some obviously ignorant points in there. I don’t think any time’s a time to call out for an all-out war against police or any race of people. I thought that was an ignorant statement. But as a black man, I do understand that black lives matter. You know, I stand for that, I believe in that wholeheartedly.

But I also think that there’s a way to go about things, and there’s a way to do things. And I think the issue at hand needs to be addressed internally, and before we move on, because from personal experience, you know, you have living in the hood, living in the inner city, you deal with things, you deal with people dying. Dealt with a best friend getting killed … it was two 35-year-old black men. Wasn’t no police officer involved, wasn’t anybody else involved, and I didn’t hear anybody shouting “black lives matter” then … and I think that’s the point we need to get to is that we need to deal with our own internal issues before we move forward and start pointing fingers and start attacking other people. We need to solidify ourselves as people and deal with our issues, because I think as long as we have black-on-black crime and, you know, one black man killing another … if black lives matter, then it should matter all the time. You should never let somebody get killed — that’s somebody’s son, that’s somebody’s brother, that’s somebody’s friend. So you should always keep that in mind.

And there’s a lot of dealings with police officers right now, I don’t think all cops are bad. You know, I think there’s some great cops out there, who do everything in their power to uphold the badge and uphold the honor and protect the people in society. But there are bad cops, and I think that also needs to be addressed. I think the police officers we have right now — you know, some of it is being brought to light, because of video cameras, everybody has a camera phone. But these are things a lot of us have dealt with our whole lives. And I think right now is a perfect time to deal with it. The climate we’re in … everybody’s being more accepting, you know, so I think the ignorance should stop. I think people realize that, at the end of the day, we’re all human beings. So, you know, before we’re black, white, Asian, Polynesian, Latino — we’re humans. So, it’s up to us to stop it. Thank you.”

This statement received mostly predictable responses. Conservatives praised the real Sherman, although not quite as much as they praised the fake Richard Sherman. I found the backslapping conservatives gave Sherman kind of funny, seeing conservatives had labeled Sherman a “Thug” for a very long time. Sherman is a college educated man, who should exemplify everything conservatives claim black people should be, except he doesn’t act like Steve Urkle.  And because he doesn’t fit the Ben Carson mold, he’s called a “thug” by conservatives. Conservatives have a long history of making black men they generally dislike into conservative darlings just to annoy liberals. Bill Cosby and Chris Rock are perfect examples of this.

Liberals denounced Sherman’s statements as being misguided and insensitive. Stating that Sherman is now in the “But What About Black On Black Violence?” camp. Former NBA hall of fame player Charles Barkley had also joined this camp last year. Barkley even used the phrase, “…as I often tell my white friends..” before explaining why he felt blacks are their own worst enemy.

Personally, I don’t put Sherman in the same camp  as Barkley. There’s a huge difference between brow beating the black community and legitimate concern for “black on black” violence. I would say to Mr. Sherman to really sit and think about how the problems within the black community reached this point. I would tell him that it wasn’t by accident or as a result of a “lack of moral character” within the black community. This was by implicit design by those outside of the black community.

I think Sherman had good intentions and honestly wants to see his people succeed. I’m also frustrated by the lack of progress and the glorification of ignorance and violence within the black community. However, I understand that these problems didn’t just happen overnight, nor will they be solved overnight.

#Blacklivesmatter is an organization focused only on police brutality and the mass incarceration of black people in America. It takes aim at the justice system and it’s unequal treatment of blacks as compared to whites. The BLM movement is focused just as the “Pro-life” movement is focused only on abortions. Pro-life organizations don’t need to address adults murdering adults or the death penalty. There are specific organizations that focus on these things. So, when someone says the BLM movement should also focus on other issues, they miss the point. I must confess I was one of those people. But now I get it.

Here’s a video on this story.