This should not be difficult.

It should not be difficult to understand that quoting Hitler in any instance is something that you shouldn’t do, unless you want to come across as anti-semitic.

It should not be difficult to know during these times to not post this sort of hateful rhetoric that just further divides people. 

But that’s what DeSean Jackson did. He decided to post these on his Instagram-

*By the way these are fake quotes. They have been debunked.

To Jackson’s credit he gave a decent apology and has since decided to meet with Jewish leaders in the Philadelphia community, which is a good start.

Let’s back up here a bit. I understand that I am a middle class white Jewish man and really I don’t have much to complain about. I’m living just a fine life with minimal complaints. I also understand that I have privilege along with being a white Jew. And, I understand that Black Lives Matter because they have been systematically oppressed for generations and I will continue to fight for them no matter what.

But understand that anti-semtism hurts. It’s what caused my family and millions of other families to lose their culture, religion, families and much more in a slaughter led by Hitler.

This is a serious subject and I often don’t broach these topics when I write because it sucks to talk/write about these things, but I personally (and I think many more) was upset being on Twitter not seeing many ESPN or big sports media personalities calling out the anti-semitic remarks.

During a time when social media are often levied as platforms for people to put down this sort of divisive rhetoric it seems as if not many people made comments on it.

Bomani Jones, who is a smart and very well-spoken sports media personality, didn’t want to post anything on Twitter about it because according to him “it’s a cesspool”, but he did talk about the subject on his podcast where he advertised on Twitter you could download it and listen.

To Jones credit he did say Jackson was completely wrong, like any sane person would, but why couldn’t you just say on Twitter “ya, you don’t just quote Hitler”? How is that hard? How is that stirring a cesspool? There’s no controversy to that at all. And this is all coming from a guy who’s watched and read Jones stuff since 2010. I’m a big fan, I just had hoped for a bit more.

Jemele Hill, who is now a writer at The Atlantic, hasn’t tweeted a single word about it. She is one of the most influential sports and general voices in the country, but she couldn’t be bothered to speak out against anit-semitism? 

Mina Kimes, an ESPN NFL Analyst, and fellow Seahawks fan, who I follow closely on Twitter because she’s excellent at what she does, kind of died on a weird hill with the Jackson issue. She first went to sort of blaming the internet instead of Jackson. She said her words were taken out of context and she said in a follow up tweet that it was wrong and hateful. I guess I would have gone to “hey just don’t quote HItler” first but that’s just me.

Damien Woody is one of my most trusted offensive line guys on Twitter. He’s like 1 of 8 guys on twitter that I trust when it comes to analyzing the oline. Super smart guy and very entertaining to watch. But guess what on his Twitter, nothing about this. He did have a segment on Get Up that he said he discussed it but I couldn’t find it.

Ed Werder who has been reporting on the NFL since I can remember watching ESPN retweeted a Kevin Seifert article saying that Desean Jackson had at least acknowledged he was anti-semitic, but nothing else.

Oh, and worst of all ESPN basketball analyst Stephen Jackson (and former NBA player) has doubled down on the anti-semitism with some new bullshit such as the Rothschilds running the banks, and other well known anti-semitic conspiracy theories. Many at ESPN are bashing his ridiculous statements, but where were they when Jackson quoted Hitler?

Louis Riddick, Marcus Spears, Dan Orlvosky, and so many more didn’t say anything either. And lets be honest I didn’t check everyones twitter (it might look like it) but just overall many ESPN personalities plus Hill haven’t used their platforms for what’s right.

I do want to say that Elle Duncan and Michael Eaves, both Sportscenter hosts called out the anti-semitism on their twitters holding nothing back. Shoutout to those two for standing up. Former lineman and now a Twitter oline expert (2 of 8 I trust) Geoff Schwarts, who is Jewish, also has been on point on this subject all the way through. (I’ll happily add to this list specifically ESPN people when I see them speaking out and make note of it)

Now I know at this point I’m just complaining so I’ll end this diatribe. I understand that there is more to this issue. Not all Jews treat blacks well either. There is also a religious/political side to this entire thing that stems from a well known anti-semite, homophobe, and just kind of general hateful person Louis Farakkhan, the Nation Leader of Islam. I could write another 1000 words on him but I’ll let you google him and decide for yourself. I think you’ll understand really quickly if you already don’t.

I honestly am not trying to put anyone down in this article/column/blog, I just want people to understand that this sort of stuff hurts, and when people with platforms don’t voice out against this stuff it doesn’t help the situation. I also understand that I might have sounded like I was whining or complaining in this, but this how I feel and many others feel as well. If anyone actually wants to hit me up to discuss these ideas or if anyone has any questions about Judaism I’ll try my best to answer them (to be honest I’m a pretty lousy Jew though so I’ll have to maybe ask around).