Answers and solutions.
It seems that’s what a lot of people have been seeking since Nipsey Hussle was tragically gunned down in his South Los Angeles neighborhood last month.
Because some of the conversations that have been taking place since then have been about violence in the black community and how to either stop it or lessen it, which former NFL player Reggie Bush talked about on Fox Sports’ “Speak For Yourself.”
Bush said the answer to the problem starts at home, because a lot of black kids don’t grow up with their fathers present.
“My real dad wasn’t in my life,” he explained. “The foundation of why I wanted to be great on the field was because I wanted to make my dad jealous. I had this resentment and this aggression that I grew up with towards my real dad, and as I got older my dad never had his dad in his life.”
Bush then said that his father didn’t meet his own dad until age 53, so there’s a dangerous pattern that exists in many black households.
“So to me we have to get back to the foundation at home with the parenting,” he added. “A lot of my boys and guys I knew in the NFL didn’t have their dad growing up. Football became my father for me.”
Bush certainly wouldn’t be the first child who used athletics to help fill a parenting void, but he said the problem with that approach is, many athletes didn’t grow up with fathers either — so hurt people are learning from other hurt people.
Former NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings spoke afterward and said change needs to come on the inside, and black-on-black violence has to do with people having hardened hearts.
Co-host Jason Whitlock — a noted Black conservative — then agreed with Bush and said that many black families need fixing.
“If you don’t restore the family, it’s hard to correct any problem. It’s hard to produce anything positive,” he stated.
Retired NBA player Stephen Jackson — himself known as a brawler during his time in the league — spoke after that and pointed to poverty as being the problem that leads to black-on-black violence. He also made the point that it’s hard to steer a person or family in the right direction if they’re constantly in need.
But Bush said environment, nor being raised in a tough neighborhood should block positive gain.
“Just because you have a tough upbringing, doesn’t mean you can’t go on to be successful,” he explained.
Afterwards, people seemed to enjoy the discussion and said they found it not only timely but absolutely necessary.
“This whole segment of the show this day made me cry,” someone tweeted. “Thank you guys for keeping it real.”
“I’ve been waiting for our leaders to speak these truths!” wrote someone else. “So happy that men in a position to have an influence are taking a stand.”
