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Antonio Jackson
Staff Writer
Kyrie Irving, a Brooklyn Nets point guard and eleven-year NBA veteran, posted a link to “Hebrew to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” on his Twitter with no context. It is a 2018 documentary that is powered by antisemitic speech.
This took place during the Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, controversy, where he received backlash for also spreading antisemitic views during an interview on YouTube. This resulted in a domino effect, causing Irving to gain a similar pushback from the Jewish community. When asked about the post during a postgame interview, he explains where and how he found the documentary.
“My name translates into the Hebrew language as Yahweh. So, I went on to Amazon Prime, I was like ‘You know what? Let me see if there are any documentaries on Yahweh.’ I went into the search bar, typed in Yahweh, that’s came up. I shared it on my platform and that was my night.”
Irving explains that sharing the link was not about spreading hate, but to spread awareness about the origins of his people.
“In terms of the backlash, we’re in 2022, history is not supposed to be hidden from anybody and I’m not a divisive person when it comes to religion. I embrace all walks of life, you see it on all my platforms, I talk to all races, all cultures, all religions. My response would be it’s not about educating yourself on what semitism, what antisemitism is. It’s really about learning the root words of where these come from and understanding that this is an African heritage that is also belonging to the people,” Irving said in the interview.
Irving has since refused to issue an apology for his statements and declined the demand of the Brooklyn Nets to officially denounce any antisemitic beliefs he might have. As a result, team owner Joseph C. Tsai and the organization released an official statement stating that they will be suspending Irving until he meets their requirements.
According to the website Bounding into Sports, the Brooklyn Nets issued six demands that are to be met before Irving can return to the court. 1) He must apologize and condemn the documentary, 2) donate $500,000 to anti-hate causes, 3) participate in sensitivity training, participate in antisemitic training, 4) meet with ADL/Jewish leaders, and 6) to meet with the team owner to demonstrate understanding.
Students at Jackson State University were able give their own opinion on whether the demands were reasonable or over the top. Pierce Branch, a freshman English major from Gulfport, Miss. expressed that a few tasks were sensible while others were questionable.
“Some tasks seem to be reasonable such as sensitivity, but I fail to see how donating $500,000 would be beneficial in the fight against antisemitism,” said Branch.
Scottie Stewart, Jr., a junior creative writing major from Jackson, Miss., had a opposite position, stating that what is happening to Irving is unjustified, and provided his own opinion on how Irving should handle the controversy.
“I definitely think the NBA and the Jewish community is being too harsh on Kyrie, all for posting a documentary. I think Kyrie should just deliver a simple apology letter to the Jewish community, expressing that he is not against Jewish people. He didn’t say antisemitic remarks himself, so he shouldn’t be getting lambasted like he’s Hitler,” said Steward.
Irving has since issued an apology on Instagram but has yet to meet the other five demands the Brooklyn Nets and is still suspended from play for the team until further notice.
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