Tuesday, Fox Sports 1 “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe reacted to Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant’s Instagram post Monday that said black people are holding each other back.
Sharpe called Bryant’s comments a “disservice” to black people.
“Dez, I can’t get ahead if someone is constantly keeping me behind. Dez, we are not in position. We don’t own TV stations, we don’t own radio stations. For the most part, we are not CEOs of Fortune 500 companies so we can’t shift the dynamic of the hiring and firing practices that can lift the race of people up. Do you understand what has transpired, and people thought because we had a two-term black president, President Obama, that 400 years of racism would be eradicated in eight years,” Sharpe argued.
Sharpe went on to say Bryant is “horrifically wrong” in his belief and should do some more research to understand what black people are “actually up against.”
“Dez, next time you speak up, make sure you read up and understand what we are actually up against,” Sharpe later said. “I am not saying that you should have any ill will to everybody that’s treated you wrong. I judge a man by how a man treats me, not his race, by that man. And I commend you because you say you have been profiled but you don’t have ill will only against those that profiled you.”
He continued, “But, Dez, you are wrong as this. You do a disservice to a lot of African-Americans in this country when you say we need to take more accountability when we are not in position to do a whole lot because of what’s been placed upon us for the last 400 years.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent