Justice

Former NBA Star Has Brilliant Message to White Man's Racist Remark

June 1st 2016

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson overheard racist remarks while he was working out at the gym, and he decided to speak out about it.

In an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, Jackson retold a story about a man who allegedly made an uncalled for racist comment about tennis star Serena Williams.

According to Jackson, he overheard an older white man reportedly compare tennis star Serena Williams to the Harambe, the 450-pound gorilla that was recently killed at a Cincinnati Zoo, after a four-year-old fell into its enclosure.

"So I just got out of my workout — I was at the gym, right?" Jackson said in the Instagram video. "And some older white man was talking about the gorilla that got shot at the zoo, right? And I'm just sitting up working out, paying no attention. And the older white man says, 'What? They shot Serena? Oh, Serena got shot?' and started laughing."

That struck a nerve with Jackson.

Williams' appearance has been the subject of criticism and body-shaming throughout her career — with people commenting that her body is "masculine." At the same time, the comment hearkens back to a historic racist trope comparing Black people to apeswhich still happens in this day and age.

After moments of contemplating if he should say something, Jackson claims he finally confronted the man about the remark. The man reportedly apologized and tried to explain he was only joking, according to Jackson.

But the damage was already done.

"Ain't no joke," Jackson said in the Instagram video. "Serena don't look like a gorilla, and none of us do. With that being said, that shit ain't cool; I had to address it. I'm far from being racist because I love everybody, but I felt like I had to say something. That shit ain't cool and that's what's wrong with the world today. But you never know who's listening."

You can watch the Jackson's Instagram video post here:

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