“I’m not going to give up what I believe in” – Reading Eagle

Nets star Kyrie Irving doesn’t believe he did anything wrong by posting “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America” ​​on his social media, a move that has been met with a lot of backlash for its anti-Semitic implications, even a public backlash from the Nets owner Joe Tsai.

After the Nets lost their fourth straight game, Irving said he disagreed with the suggestion that he promoted anti-Semitic material.

“I embrace all walks of life and you see it on all my platforms. I talk to all races, all cultures, all religions,” he said. “I will answer this way: the point is not to find out what anti-Semitism or anti-Semitism is. It’s really about learning the roots of words or where they come from and understanding that it’s an African heritage that belongs to humans as well. Africa is in it, whether we want to reject it or not.

“So the claims about anti-Semitism and ‘who are God’s originally chosen people?’, and we get into these religious conversations, and that’s a big no-no. I don’t live like that. I grew up in a melting pot. And I say the melting pot of all races: white, black, red, yellow, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and you see how I live now. I’m not here to stir up controversy so they can push their agenda—I don’t want to say “they” because I don’t identify with any group or race of people—but I am in a unique position to have some influence on my community, and what I post doesn’t mean I endorse everything that’s been said, or everything that’s being done, or (that) I’m advocating for anything. All I do is post things for our people in my community and those who will really be affected. Anyone else who has criticism that clearly wasn’t aimed at them.”

Rolling Stone described the film/book as “adhering to ideas that align with the more extreme factions of black Jewish Israelis who have a long history of misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and especially anti-Semitism.”

Irving denied doing anything wrong by posting the documentary because it is available on Amazon Prime Video.

“Today is 2022. It’s on Amazon’s public platform,” Irving said. “Watch or not – it’s up to you. They post things every day. I’m no different than the next person, so don’t treat me any differently. You guys come here and create this powerful influence that I have [sic] (and say) you can’t post it. Why not? Why not?

“Everyone is teaching everything else. You saw the n—r word that came up on Twitter, right? I don’t hear any noise about it. I don’t hear people disagreeing about what’s going on, this or that. I am not comparing Jews to blacks. I’m not comparing whites to blacks. I don’t do that. This conversation is dismissive and constantly revolves around the rhetoric of who are God’s chosen people? I’m not here to argue about culture, personality or religion and what they believe. That’s what’s here. It is on a public platform. Did I do something illegal?

“Did I do something illegal? Did I offend anyone? Did I hurt anyone? Do I come out and say I hate one particular group of people? So despite​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​,, all the judgment people put out for what I posted – without talking to me – and I respect what Joe (Tsai) said, but there is a lot in common without ego or pride with how proud I am of my African heritage but also living as a free black man here in America knowing the historical challenges for me to get here. So I am.”

Irving also said he disagreed with Alex Jones’ position that the Sandy Hook victims were crisis actors, but he supported a 20-year-old clip he posted Sept. 15 of Jones promoting the New World Order, a conspiracy theory about secrets society in government, which also has its roots in anti-Semitism.

“It was a few weeks ago. I do not support Alex Jones’s position, the story, the court case he did with Sandy Hook or any of the children who felt traumatized or the parents who were traumatized or disrespectful of all the lives that were lost during that tragic event,” he said. “My post was an Alex Jones post in the early ’90s or late ’90s about secret societies in America, the occult—and it’s true. I have not identified myself in any way with the Alex Jones company or anything. Here’s just the posts… and it’s funny, actually kind of fun, because of all the things I posted that day, this was the one post that everyone chose to see. It just goes back to the way our world is and works. I’m not here to complain about it. I just exist.”

As he left the podium, Irving said of the outrage over the post, “I wish we felt the same way about black reproductive rights and all the things that really matter (instead of) what I’m posting.”

Irving said he went home to prepare for the Nets’ game against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, and as part of his normal routine, he wanted to “look at the program or show that it’s an education first, talking about either the history or the finances, the state the world’ because he ‘didn’t get it in school’.

“All I did was get seven hours a day of ideological training and brainwashing about a history that doesn’t belong to me or my ancestors,” he said.

Irving said he Googled the meaning of his name and found that his name “Kiri” translates to “a title given to Christ,” or “Yahweh” in Hebrew. He said he then typed “Yahweh” into Amazon Prime and found a documentary that prompted Nets owner Joe Tsai to publicly denounce him on Twitter.

“History can’t be hidden from anyone and I’m not a divisive person when it comes to religion,” he said before admitting he had watched the documentary. “I watched it. I watched it and read the books. Last year I had a lot of time to read a lot. To read a whole bunch of good and bad about the truth of our world.”

Irving’s comments and explanation came after Tsai tweeted her frustration with the film, which Irving chose to share on her social media.

“I am disappointed that Kyrie appears to be supporting a movie based on a book full of anti-Semitic misinformation,” Tsai wrote. “I want to sit down and make sure he understands that this is painful for all of us and as a person of faith, it is wrong to promote hatred based on race, ethnicity or religion. It’s more than basketball.”

The NBA also condemned Irving’s post in a public statement, although that statement originally misspelled the word anti-Semitism.

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