Former NFL player and now ESPN personality Marcellus Wiley blamed slavery as part of the reason for black-on-black violence while speaking during ESPN’s town hall called “An Undefeated Conversation: Athletes, Responsibility and Violence” Thursday.
ESPN’s Jemele Hill asked Wiley why he believes African-Americans are killing each other at such a high rate.
He replied, “The problems are complex. Some of them are deep systemic problems. You can go back to slavery, go back to some of the discrimination which affected the confidence, broken homes, the loss of fathers in the home, the lack of fathers in the community. Then some of the things that have surfaced right now, a lot of times you can see reputation. you can see the pressure being negative, peer pressure that’s influencing these kids, and it’s a really complex issue.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.