The promo for a series on race in America, to be hosted by Charles Barkley, is set to air on TNT on Tuesday night, October 25. Fans tuning in for the 2016-17 NBA season opener will get a glimpse into the 2017 special, which Barkley says has been in discussion for years, but is being delivered in time to resonate with viewers engaged by an issue that has become a national discourse over the past several months.
"People never talk about race until something bad happens. And then all they do is yell and scream," Barkley, 53, says during the promo. He cites the uprisings in Baltimore and Ferguson as a testament to racial tensions having boiled over in the U.S., after lamenting about race still being an issue five and a half decades after he was born, months apart from the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptiste Church in Alabama. He then specifies that The Race Card will explore matters beyond black and white, to encompass issues of prejudice against Hispanics, Muslims, and even the LGBT community. "I just want to give people a seat at the table and give an honest opinion," he says.
Barkley mentions that the aim of the series will be to bring people together, specifically with the intention of mending relations between the community and the police. The production is sure to draw some questions, as Barkley hasn't been the most uniting voice in relation to the issue of race. In fact, he has been blasted by prominent members of the Black community, and a significant portion of the African-American demographic for statements he's made which were interpreted as myopic and contrary to the interests of Black people. The public will recall Barkley having made headlines when following the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille early in July, he turned the focus of on the community, stating: "we as Black people, we've got to do better." Most recently though, it has appeared that the NBA Hall of Famer has been more willing to speak out against bigotry, with him for example, having come forward to disavow Donald Trump for his polarizing positions during an interview with CNN last week.
Source: complex.com
