Whether he is qualified to speak or not on matters involving police doesn't seem to matter to Charles Barkley.
The NBA Hall of Famer continues to speak his mind, at the risk of alienating himself against the entire African-American community.
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Barkley kept the topic of Ferguson very much alive on Thursday when he responded to Smith's open letter that was a response to Barkley's original comments about the verdict handed to Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
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He also added another salvo in the form of comments about Eric Garner, an African-American who died at the hand of another police officer, Daniel Pantaleo.
Before having a live discussion with Smith, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal on the Thursday edition of "Inside the NBA," Barkley went on Radio Station 97.5 The Fanatic and told radio host Mike Missanelli:
"Well, Mike, every time something bad happens in the black community, we can't bring up slavery. I totally disagree with that. And you know, rioting doesn't accomplish anything. And you know, to criticize me for using the word 'scumbag' or crooks or anything, I'm not going to get into the hyperbole over one word. But I did not like the fact that he brought up slavery. That is ridiculous to bring up slavery; there's not a slave alive who knows anything about Michael Brown or Ferguson, Mo. I think that was disingenuous.
"Listen man, I know that I'm black and I'm always going to be. I know anytime I disagree with black people I'm going to be a sell-out or an Uncle Tom. But I'm gonna try to always be fair, I'm going to judge everyone on their own merits. And like I said, as a black man I do understand that racism exists. It does exist. It always has and always will. And there are black racists also. I was taken aback by the slavery comment.
(Smith) called me and asked if he could write the letter and I said 'sure.' I'm not offended that people disagree with - as long as we're having an open dialogue. We should be having an open dialogue about the cops, the black community. We clearly have to do better; we gotta do a better job of policing ourselves. I don't blame all my ills on white folks; that's just ridiculous."
Barkley, who explained his comments on CNN, also weighed in on the Garner case just before a grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo on murder charges after the choke hold he put on Garner wound up choking Garner to death after he was stopped for selling unlicensed cigarettes.
"I don't think that was a homicide. I think the cops were trying to arrest him and they got a little aggressive," Barkley said of the July arrest that led to Garner's death. "I think excessive force - something like that - but to go straight to murder?
"When the cops are trying to arrest you, if you fight back, things go wrong. I don't think they were trying to kill Mr. Garner. He was a big man and they were trying to get him down."
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