Charles Barkley Stops March Madness To Talk Treatment Of Immigrants
Charles Barkley Interrupts March Madness To Criticize “Really Sad” Treatment Of Immigrants
Amid all the craziness of March Madness’ Elite Eight games, Charles Barkley decided it was bigger than sports.
The NBA legend, turned Inside The NBA commentator, was previewing the UConn-Duke game when CBS aired a piece on UConn forward Alex Karaban. It focused on Karaban’s upbringing and his parents’ immigration from Eastern Europe. His mother, Olga, came to Massachusetts from Ukraine with her parents and grandparents in 1996, while his father, Alexei, immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus in 2001.
Barkley dropped the sports talk for a bit as he tried to be “careful” with his words while speaking on the “really touchy subject” of immigration.
“I love that kid and his family, but the way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace,” Barkley said. “I think there’s a difference between amazing immigrants and criminal immigrants. I think what’s going on in our country, what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad.”
Chuck continues by saying that Karaban’s comeuppance should be celebrated, but also sheds light on the way the country has treated some of its other immigrants lately.
“And that’s a great immigrant story. We have a lot of great immigrant stories out there that their stories need to be told, but some of the stuff that’s happening to immigrants in our country right now is really unfortunate, and it’s really unfair. But immigrants built this country, and we should admire them and respect them.”
Barkley didn’t make any specific mentions of mistreated immigrants, but he’s likely referring to Trump’s mass deportation policies that have led to countless ICE raids throughout the country, which have led to two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, being killed.
“It’s just sad, man. It’s scary. It’s sad. I don’t know how… It’s going to end bad – it’s already ended badly twice,” Barkley said at the time. “Somebody’s gotta step up and be adults. Two people have died for no reason, and it’s just sad.”
See social media reacting to Barkley’s use of his platform to speak on the issues below.
