Charles Barkley has never been one to keep quiet. During his playing career and especially during his time as a TV personality if it is possible to have an opinion on something Barkley has one and is more than willing to share it. Barkley went on CNBC's "Closing Bell" to talk about the George Zimmerman verdict, the media and race relations in America.
Host Maria Bartiromo asked the NBA Hall of Famer what he thought about the Zimmerman verdict to open up the interview. Barkley told Bartiromo that he agreed with the verdict and then explained himself.
"I feel sorry that young kid got killed, but they didn't have enough evidence to charge him," Barkley said. "Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong, and I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid. But if you looked at the case and you don't make it - there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic that night."
Barkley then went on to talk about the role that he believes race played in the shooting and more specifically the way that the media has been using race in the coverage of the case.
"I feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media, because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it," Barkley said. "There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form. There are a lot of black people who are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism they act like only white people are racist."
Throughout the interview Barkley expresses sympathy for Martin's parents despite agreeing that Zimmerman did not commit a crime. Repeatedly Barkley talked about how the media doesn't have "clean hands" when it comes to portraying race, speaking harshly about the bias in coverage.
"It gives every white person and black person who is racist a platform to vent their ignorance," Barkley said. "That's the thing that bothered me the most because I watched this trial closely, and I watched all these people on television talking about it. A lot of these people have a hidden agenda."
"The bias, it definitely comes out," Barkley continued. "It was a bad situation. We all lost. And I feel bad for his parents. You don't ever want to see anybody lose a kid."
A full transcript of the interview is available at Newsbusters.
