Stephen Curry is here to expound on how famous Black figures experience racism in America. During an NBC Sports produced roundtable titled “Race and Sports in America: Conversations,” the Golden State Warriors star spoke candidly about race and how the racism faced by Black celebrities are often seen as “anomalies.”
During the discussion, which included several generations of athletes, including Charles Barkley, Ozzie Smith, and Jimmy Rollins, Curry spoke openly about racism and how it exists in different forms for different people and the microaggressions that endorse stereotypical views about Black people.
“The preconceived notions of how they view rich, successful Black people as anomalies and our intelligence and our well-spokenness, that’s always the first thing you hear,” Curry explained. “If somebody knows how to be articulate, if they know how to come into a room, that’s the subtle racism and prejudice that kind of starts to add on to something.”
The 32-year-old explained the difficulty with incidents like those, saying, “If another white person hears that comment, they’re going to think the same thing. And it’s not going to trickle down to anybody else, and be able to create opportunities for somebody else to get that in that room and prove their value, prove their worth.”
Curry went further on to explain that Black people simply want to be treated equally and the importance of talking about race. “It’s just shifting perspectives and, and again, holding everybody accountable whether it’s a private conversation, whether it’s a tweet, whether it’s a video,” Curry explained. He added, “whatever it is, to do the right thing, no pun intended, but to see everybody as equal, and that’s all we’re asking for.”
Barkley chimed in, pointing out the sharp difference in the way that Black people of higher income are treated compared to their poorer counterparts and expressed his uneasiness with how those less fortunate than him are treated. “The notion that rich and famous Black people are treated like regular Black people, that’s not right,” the NBA legend said. “We get treated great. But I always worry about how we treat poor Black people.” Check out the full conversation below.
The athletes’ conversation comes on the heels of the NBA agreeing to allow players to wear social justice messages on their jerseys when the season returns in Orlando, Florida, later this month.
According to a Newsweek report, players will be allowed to wear a social justice message in place of their names for the first four days of reopening. After that, players will be allowed to wear their phrases still. However, their names must be present underneath. The NBA, along with the NBA Players Association, have agreed on a list of 29 slogans, which include Black Lives Matter, I Can’t Breathe, Power to the People, Anti-Racist, and more.
