Former NFL Star Isn’t Down with Black Lives Matter’s Radical Agenda
Jose Nino
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Many in the leftist commentary space have gushed about the NBA’s plans to paint “Black Lives Matter” on it courts once the season returns on July 30, 2020.
This was done in reaction to the death of George Floyd and NBA players’ demands “that equality and social justice be a central part” of the professional basketball league.
But Fox Sports 1 commentator Marcellus Wiley believed that this is “not a good idea.” According to The Blaze, Wiley delivered a speech explaining his reasoning behind not backing BLM.
“There’s a problem when you start to go down this road of freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and how much social space is allowed for those who don’t support in that same space,” Wiley remarked. “And that’s where I wonder where this is going to go in terms of identity politics. We know what identity politics does—it divides, and it polarizes. No matter how you want to look at it, that’s just the effect of it no matter how great the intentions are. We all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Wiley read BLM”s mission statement, expressing concerns about the movement’s declaration that one of their principle goals is to “dismantle the patriarchal practice,” and “disrupt the western-described nuclear family structure requirement.”
The former NFL player and Ivy Leaguer opened off by mentioning the statistical implications of single-parent households:
When I know statistics, when I know my reality—forget statistics, I knew this before I went to Columbia [University] and saw these same statistics that I’m going to read to you right now.
He added:
Children from single parent homes versus two parent homes: The children from the single parent homes (this was in 1995 I was reading this) [are] five times more likely to commit suicide. Six times more likely to be in poverty. Nine times more likely to drop out of high school. Ten times more likely to abuse chemical substances. Fourteen times more likely to commit rape, 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home.
I knew that. You know why I knew it? Because a lot of my friends didn’t have family structures that were nuclear like mine, and they found themselves outside of their dreams and goals and aspirations. So when I see that as a mission statement for Black Lives Matter, it makes me scratch my head.
The former NFL player also pointed out that he and Jason Whitlock are able to host a show as black men in an allegedly “white supremacist” society. Despite the constant talk about “oppression” and “systemic racism”, Willey and Whitlock have been able to make names for themselves in the sports commentary space, which Wiley noted below:
When I also see their mission is to eradicate white supremacy. In 2020, white supremacy is the mission. Woo, that’s a lot of digging through minutiae right there. I’m on a show that I’m hosting with another black guy who is hosting with me who replaced another black guy, and that’s just one example of it. So, I understand, I respect your space, I respect what you’re protesting for. But will you respect others who don’t support that same protest?
The points that Wiley raised about the family structure is crucial. Since the welfare state was established, Black America has witnessed a total decline in its social stability.
It’s not “white privilege” but rather public policy that has caused this mess. The quicker America figures this out and gets reforms implemented that scale back the welfare state, the easier it will be to allay racial tensions and allow for African Americans to positively contribute to American society and build social institutions that promote pro-social behavior for years to come.
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