Jason Whitlock is doubling down on his disparaging comments about single Black mothers and the death of Tyre Nichols, even after he was publicly slammed by Ciara.
Nichols was brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers during a traffic stop in early January. The 29-year-old man was critically injured and passed away three days after the incident.
The officers, who were identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith, were terminated from the department. Additionally, they were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression. Two more officers were disciplined, and the Memphis Fire Department fired three of its employees. The case remains under investigation by the Department of Justice.
On Jan. 27, Whitlock appeared on the Fox News program “Tucker Carlson Tonight” where he discussed the tragedy — the same day that bodycam footage of the assault was released to the public and prompted protests in several cities across the country.
The Black male commentator did not deny that there was a racial component to the controversial story; however, where he pointed the finger of blame stirred outrage. “This is a story about young Black men and their inability to treat each other in a humane way,” said Whitlock.
“It was a group of young Black men, five on one. It looked like gang violence to me. It looked like what young Black men do when they’re supervised by a single Black woman, and that’s what they got going on in the Memphis Police Department,” he continued. Whitlock went on to declare that chaos among the law enforcement agency erupted during the encounter with Nichols because the department is led by a Black woman, Police Chief Cerelyn J. Davis.
The “Jump” singer called Whitlock out over his inflammatory remarks the following day on Twitter. She tweeted, “As a black man to get on national tv and say something like this is irresponsible. A lot of amazing kids have come from single mothers. For you to also undermine single black women in the midst of this tragedy is so sad. This woman just lost her son! Do better!”
Whitlock responded and expressed no intention of walking back his comments. “Appreciate the feedback, Ciara. But at some point, we are going to have to deal with the negative impact of baby-mama culture. It’s destructive and unsustainable. Come up out of the denial. Denial won’t fix the problem. Thanks.”
The “Fearless with Jason Whitlock” host again was met with pushback and criticism from social media users online.
“Soooo i googled him lol and he was raised by a single mother when his father left? Whew the delusion.”
“Being a black man bashing black women won’t fix the problem either. How ab therapy for the black community, for black men that keep systematically creating broken homes…”
“Now why he ain’t speak to men about ‘baby-mama culture’? Cuz the ‘leader’ procreating and leaving/not acting right creates single parent homes.”
“You mean absent father culture.”
