Kyrie Irving Defends Antisemitic Movie and Conspiracy Theory
“I cannot stand that hatred. It is so hateful,” the Cleveland Cavaliers player explained to his hometown Indiana Pacers about Antisemitic propaganda on social media last week. “My brother is so sick of that hatred,” added Kyrie with a laugh. Kyrie and his teammate, Kyle O’Quinn, were talking to reporters after the 76ers and Orlando Magic met for the Eastern Conference semi-finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Washington D.C. The Cavs were hoping to advance to the Western Conference finals after losing to the Golden State Warriors in four games, including a three-game sweep.
Now, after a tense second half in which the Magic fought hard, were down by 26 points, and then came within two points of their eventual title-game defeat, Kyrie and O’Quinn offered some perspective on the situation and its implications.
“The hatred and the lack of respect that people have for each other — it makes everyone feel bad even when things go well — is definitely one of the things that’s got to end,” Kyrie said. “And I’m sure a lot of what happened yesterday — to be fair, a lot of what happened yesterday was the result of some bad things in the past. I’m sure if it could turn back time then [the hatred] would stop. But that’s not the reality of what’s going on, man.”
The player is right. The bigotry that permeates our national character has had a significant impact on the political and social landscape for many years now, but we only think we see it and feel it on a day-to-day basis. The real reality is that these so-called “hate crimes” are a product of our nation’s obsession with equality.
This is a fact of American life. We are the only country to have ever, and hopefully will ever, experience the extremes of human behavior that we see in Antisemites, Antisemitic Neo-Conservatives, and Anti-Semitic Political activists. We have to realize that these people are the extreme outliers in our society that are so far outside the normal parameters that we refuse to notice their existence in our midst.
