(TheIndependentStar.com) – Racism doesn’t apply only to one race. All it takes is someone making statements or taking action against another person due to his or her ethnicity. It is common, though, for people in minority communities to get a pass if they express racism toward white people, which seems to be what happened with Jalen Rose.
On June 24, 2021, during his Jalen & Jacoby podcast, ESPN host Jalen Rose said Kevin Love, a white player on the US Olympic basketball team, was chosen simply because of his skin tone.
Jalen Rose apologizes to 'the game' after 'tokenism' remark, still doesn't believe Kevin Love should make teamhttps://t.co/GhLtZyje52
— Augie (@kushflavrdjager) June 28, 2021
He called the selection “tokenism” and said the player, who is a top star for the Cleveland Cavaliers, didn’t deserve a spot on the team. Rose also made accusations that there is resistance to the idea of sending an all-black team to the Olympics.
After outrage over his racist statements, the podcaster issued a half-hearted apology in an Instagram video. His message was to the game, which he felt he disrespected, and not Love. He said he felt the opposition over his statement was character assassination, and he still believes Love didn’t deserve to make the team as he did not have a “stellar season” and was not “the best player on his team.”
The statistics tell a slightly different story. Love was among the top five players on his team and recorded the third-highest number of rebounds. He also went to the Olympics in 2012 as part of the gold-medal-winning USA team.
Rose must also be unaware that the US sent an all-black team to the Olympics in 2016. The facts make it seem like he is simply angry that a white man is on the team. Imagine if the situation was reversed and someone spoke out against putting black players on the team. There’s no doubt this story would be getting far more attention than it is.
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