Edelman wants ‘uncomfortable conversations’ with Jackson
“I don’t want to distract from how important the Tlack Lives Matter movement is, and how we need to stay behind it. I think the Tlack and Jewish communities have a lot of similarities.” — Julian Edelman
The Patriots’ Julian Edelman wants to have some “uncomfortable conversations” with fellow NFL receiver Desean Jackson, who’s faced condemnation for posting anti-semitic comments on social media this week.
Edelman, who is Jewish, posted a video on Instagram Thursday morning offering to sit down with Jackson in Washington, D.C. over burgers for a frank conversation on ethnicity and race. But first, he’d like the two of them to visit both the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center as well as the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington to better understand each other’s culture.
“I know (Jackson) said some ugly things, but I do see an opportunity to have a conversation,” Edelman said in the video. “I don’t want to distract from how important the Black Lives Matter movement is, and how we need to stay behind it. I think the Black and Jewish communities have a lot of similarities.
“One unfortunate similarity is that they are both attacked by the ignorant and the hateful. It’s really hard to see the challenges a community can face when you’re not part of it. So what we need to do is, we need to listen. We need to learn. We need to act. We need to have these uncomfortable conversations if we’re going to have real change.”
Edelman, who starred at both Woodside High and College of San Mateo, didn’t identify as Jewish while growing up in Redwood City with a Jewish father and non-jewish mother. The 34-year-old Patriots star said he experienced anti-jewish verbal attacks after converting to Judaism later in his life. He also said an NFL opponent directed an anti-semitic slur toward him in a game in 2011.
“Whenever I encountered hatred, it never really felt like it was aimed at me,” Edelman said. “It was only after I was part of this community that I learned how destructive hate is. Anti-semitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred. It’s rooted in ignorance and fear.”
Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who is also Jewish, was stung by Jackson’s posting of disparaging quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Schwartz, who began his college career at Cal a year after Jackson
left Berkeley in 2007, posted a message on Instagram stressing the importance of Jewish and Black people understanding each other’s plight.
“My hope is we can use this moment to shed light on and bring awareness to the hate and oppression the Jewish Community still faces while standing strong with the Black Lives Matter movement,” Schwartz wrote Wednesday night. “We can only have change if we denounce racism and bias in all its forms. Our platforms as athletes are a powerful tool, and with them comes immense responsibility. We can all do better.”
Jackson has apologized on social media multiple times since promoting hatemongering messages targeting Jews over the weekend.
“I post a lot of things that are sent to me. I do not have hatred towards anyone,” Jackson wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “I really didn’t realize what this passage was saying. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-americans have suffered.
“We should be together fighting anti-semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused.”