Posted on August 30, 2018

Jim Brown: Black Community ‘Has a Responsibility’ to Look Inward, Not Blame Trump

Jessica Chasmar, Washington Times, August 28, 2018

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In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” the former Browns running back called Mr. Trump an “exceptional” president who genuinely cares about the country, but that he isn’t responsible for the black community’s troubles.

“We should look at ourselves first before we look at the president,” Mr. Brown, 82, said. “The black community … has a responsibility regardless of what the president does. And if you have a homicide rate within your black community, then it’s not the president that’s created a homicide rate, it’s the black community itself that needs to address it.”

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“The advancement of black people in this country is based upon white people who risked their lives just to do the right thing to make the playing field equal and balanced,” he said. “How many black athletes are millionaires because of those white fans that go to those games?”

Mr. Brown faced backlash last week after he criticized NFL national anthem kneelers and revealed that he was “really pulling for the president,” who has repeatedly criticized kneeling athletes.

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Mr. Brown on Tuesday repeated his criticism of athletes who protest the national anthem.

“We should never denigrate our flag and our national anthem,” he said. “We should always be Americans first and we should work our butts off to do the right thing and make it a better country.”