Former NBA player and current commentator Charles Barkley blasted the “fools on TV” who are pushing the leftist “defund the police” movement, saying that black people need police “when we have crime in our neighborhoods.”
“We have to really be careful on these, you know, I hear these fools on TV talking about ‘defund the police’ and things like that,” Barkley said. “We need police reform and prison reform and things like that because you know who ain’t going to defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods.”
“So, that notion they keep saying that, I’m like wait a minute, we’re just going [sic], who are black people supposed to call, Ghostbusters, when we have crime in our neighborhoods?” Barkley continued. “We need police reform, but like I said, white people and especially rich white people, they’re always going to have cops. So, we need to stop that defund and abolish the cops crap.”
WATCH:
Charles Barkley says defunding police is a ridiculous idea. “Who are black people supposed to call? The Ghostbusters?” pic.twitter.com/LlJQfLzxUq
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 25, 2020
Contrary to narratives promoted by those on the political left, the overwhelming majority of those in the black community want either the same amount or more policing in their neighborhoods, not less.
Newsweek reported:
A Gallup poll conducted from June 23 to July 6 surveying more than 36,000 U.S. adults found that 61 percent of Black Americans said they’d like police to spend the same amount of time in their community, while 20 percent answered they’d like to see more police, totaling 81 percent. Just 19 percent of those polled said they wanted police to spend less time in their area.
Black Americans’ responses to the question were nearly on par with the national average, in which 67 percent of all U.S. adults said they wanted police presence to remain the same and 19 percent said they wanted it to increase.
The poll came as violent riots and protests broke out across the U.S. in the days following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The New York Post Editorial Board noted that it was “easy to understand why” minorities overwhelmingly want the same amount or more policing in their neighborhood.
“Minority groups are the overwhelming victims of crime. Take away cops and they’re the ones who’ll suffer most. In the city, 88 percent of murder and non-negligent manslaughter victims were black or Hispanic last year — as were 74 percent of rape victims,” The Post wrote. “People want better policing, the poll also shows — with respect and diligence. But that’s not ‘defunding,’ as Democrats across the country have proposed.”
“It doesn’t take a criminologist to see that fewer cops — and fewer resources for them — mean less safety, more crime and more victims,” The Post added. “Americans clearly know that. Why not Dems?”