Sharpton Condemns 'Racist' Knockout Game

While the mainstream media were dismissing the seriousness of the deadly “knockout game,” Rev. Al Sharpton called it “racist” and “outrageous” and said such actions should not and will not be tolerated. 

Days after condemning the “knockout game,” which has been perpetrated mostly by black youths against victims who have been mostly white, Jewish, or of Asian descent, the MSNBC host and president of the National Action Network wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post and called the game an “alarming trend that is spurring outrageous incidents across the country. It is deplorable, reprehensible and inexcusable.”

“It is insane thuggery, and it is unequivocally wrong. These kids are targeting innocent people, and in many cases specifically targeting Jewish folks,” he said. “We would not be silent if it were the other way around, and we will not be silent now. This behavior is racist, period. And we will not tolerate it.”

Though the mainstream press like the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times were downplaying the

Sharpton said “silence is akin to tacit acceptance” and vowed to meet with leaders because he “cannot watch this travesty unfold.”

“In my own life, I faced many challenges growing up. But as I watched my single mother scrub floors in order to support us, never once did I resort to violence or the type of thuggery we have witnessed in these cases. There simply is no excuse for it,” Sharpton wrote. “Knocking out unsuspecting defenseless people, like that 78-year-old woman in Brooklyn, is the greatest form of cowardice.” 

“Each and every one of us should be disgusted and outraged by this,” he declared. “The only way we can continue on a path towards progress is when we raise our voices whenever and wherever injustice takes place.”