Stephen Jackson of Killer 3s looks on against Tri State during week seven of the BIG3 three on three basketball league at TD Garden on August 3, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Image by Maddie Meyer/BIG3/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink July 8, 2020

Former NBA basketball player Stephen Jackson defended Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson (no relation) after the football player posted an Instagram image of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan sharing a quote supposedly from Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Stephen Jackson, who was a friend of George Floyd, has emerged as a leader in the public movement against racism and police brutality.

DeSean Jackson issued an apology after receiving pushback from his team and from Jewish community leaders for sharing a quote saying that Jews “will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they are.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

But Stephen Jackson said he had nothing to apologize for.

“He was trying to educate himself, educate people, and he’s speaking the truth. Right? He’s speaking the truth,” Stephen Jackson said in a video posted to Instagram. “You know he don’t hate nobody, but he’s speaking the truth of the facts that he knows and trying to educate others.”

Stephen Jackson later deleted the video and posted a text image on Instagram saying: “Your races pain doesn’t hurt more than the next races pain. Don’t act like your hardships or more devastating than ours.” He then followed it up with another Instagram video in which he promoted another anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, claiming that the Rothschilds “own all the banks.”

Major sports figures and Jewish leaders criticized Jackson Wednesday, saying that his statements were problematic and undermined his efforts.

.@stephenasmith strongly disagrees with Stephen Jackson’s comments defending DeSean Jackson, saying it is a distraction from greater issues in the black community. pic.twitter.com/9pjznEDf1g

— First Take (@FirstTake) July 8, 2020

It is so deeply disturbing that Stephen Jackson is perpetuating this harmful, age-old #antisemitic conspiracy in defense of DeSean Jackson also engaging in #antisemitism. As someone who has been a leader in the protests against #racism, this is especially upsetting. https://t.co/8uUn4wNrpT

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) July 8, 2020

Stephen Jackson spreading this insanely bigoted, anti-Semitic conspiracy shit is such a gift to the awful people who despise the legitimate causes he fights for.

— Pablo S. Torre (@PabloTorre) July 8, 2020

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount