• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK WOMEN COME FIRST

Every day we're serving Black women deeply. Come get a plate of goodness! Sign up for daily content and exclusive offers you'll love!

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and that you have read our Privacy Policy
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Op-Ed

Charles Barkley Has Been Cracking Sexist ‘Jokes’ For A While, Will He Ever Stop?
By Michael Arceneaux · Updated November 4, 2020

What’s so funny about a man hitting a woman? It’s not my kind of humor, but apparently, if you’re Charles Barkley, that sort of a material is a smooth cackle. On Tuesday, Axios reporter Alexi McCammond took to Twitter to share that the NBA legend and sportscaster told her, “I don’t hit women, but if I did, I would hit you.” When McCammond objected to a quip from a man much less one of Barkley’s stature and girth about hitting her, he informed her that she “couldn’t take a joke.” 

What sparked Barkley’s ire? Well, based on his recent assertion that the NBA should ignore “jackasses” and “idiots” criticizing their initial decision to mute criticism of China’s human rights record, one assumes he doesn’t enjoy being challenged. Or maybe it depends on who is challenging him.

According to McCammond, “it was all because he came in talking about how he loves Deval Patrick and once someone from Pete‘s [Buttigieg] campaign came around he said he loved Pete and I reminded him he previously said he was a Deval fan.” 

Here’s a pic (albeit dark and blurry) if you need more. pic.twitter.com/Ad32cMemiv

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 20, 2019

It did not take long for Barkley by way of his employer, Turner Sports, to offer an apology: “My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable.  It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize.”

The apology hit all of the right notes, but McCammond did not acquiesce, rightly noting the severity of intimate partner violence in America. Sadly, it did not take long for the small-minded and/or misogynistic to somehow fault her. Under the original tweet describing Barkley’s remarks, there are far too many decrying McCammond for not being able to take a joke and for “playing victim.” 

Some have since gone on to uncover inappropriate remarks McCammond herself made on Twitter. It appears that several years ago, McCammond used to make a lot of racist jokes about Asians on the platform. After being called on it, McCammond tweeted on Wednesday: “Today I was reminded of some past insensitive tweets, and I am deeply sorry to anyone I offended. I have since deleted those tweets as they do not reflect my views or who I am today.”

I know we live in a media climate that dictates we must always look at issues in terms of “both sides do it,” but I refuse to be that big of a dummy. I implore others to join the movement. Two things can be true: Charles Barkley can be dead wrong for joking about hitting a woman and Alexi McCammond can be equally as wrong for trafficking in racism under the guise of humor. 

With that out of the way, we can turn our focus back to Barkley. I’m glad the sensible people at Turner Sports got Barkley to apologize, but that doesn’t blind anyone to this latest “joke” being part of a bigger pattern.

In 1990, Barkley, then a star forward for the 76ers, was quoted saying after winning over the underdog New Jersey Nets that “this is a game that if you lose, you go home and beat your wife and kids. Did you see my wife jumping up and down at the end of the game? That’s because she knew I wasn’t going to beat her.”

When asked by the reporter if he wanted to reconsider that statement, he said, “Nah, print it.” 

Barkley once told a room full of people at a NABJ panel in 2017 in New Orleans that Black women shouldn’t report sexual harassment/assault until they’re in power positions at the work place. https://t.co/nHDjF36SJ1

— Carron J. Phillips (@carronJphillips) November 20, 2019

He was “joking” then, too. A year later, he was fined $10,000 for spitting on a fan — an eight-year-old girl. Are you laughing yet?
For those ready to reply with “Why are you bringing up someone’s mistakes from the MC Hammer era?” it doesn’t get any better.

Barkley has a little bit of a history of this kind of stuff. In 1997, Barkley said on female referees, "I just hope they don’t have women officials. It’s the principle of the thing. I wouldn’t want a man doing a W.N.B.A. game." https://t.co/rm3fwo0H58

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) November 20, 2019

Reason being nearly three decades later, Barkley is still joking about “sexual harassment” and slamming the Warriors’ style of playing as “little girly basketball.” Then there are those comments he made about the women of San Antonio. I actually Charles Barkley can be funny at times. I once described him as “that Black uncle you find amusing but limit conversations with at family gatherings to select topics such as sports, Gap Band songs and brown liquor.” But, like many certain types of Black men, his racial and gender politics offer little to laugh about. 

Charles Barkley is 56-years-old. Old enough to know better. Old enough to do better. 

I don’t know what happens in Barkley’s private life, but he has a very long history of sexism. Enough for me to conclude that while Barkley might not have really wanted to hit her, he surely wanted to instill that violent imagery into her mind. And men who employ aggression in this manner are responsible for normalizing gender violence. Now more than ever is that dangerous because of the impact it has on impressionable minds. 

Just this week, I visited an area high school in order to offer a lecture on a form of masculinity just like the one Barkley and his ilk espouse. One that has rigid binaries that never deviate. One rooted in what many might describe as “traditional,” but are in actuality, merely repressive and archaic. What I told the students, but specifically, those young boys, is that life shouldn’t be lived in binaries, but even if you elect to, part of being a real man is not simply being comfortable in your own skin, but allowing people space to safely be whoever they are. And be the kind of man who can respect a woman’s agency and be kind to all.

Barkley is literally the kind of man I fear so many boys might become. Barkley will continue to enjoy his platform for the foreseeable future, but if he can’t evolve, maybe he shouldn’t for much longer.

TOPICS:  Charles Barkley sexism
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now