Charles Barkley Speaks About Russell Wilson and "Unintelligent" Black People

Russell Wilson isn't "black enough." That's what several Seahawks players reportedly told Bleacher Report recently. And the idea of Wilson not being "black enough" has caused quite a bit of controversy since the BR story was released.

Over the weekend, Wilson downplayed the report and said that he "doesn't even know what that means" when asked about it. And his teammate Richard Sherman accused BR of making up the report altogether. But Charles Barkley had a much different take on it when he did a radio interview in Philadelphia and said that believes that the BR piece speaks to a much larger problem that exists within the African-American community.

"There are a lot of black people who are unintelligent, who don't have success," Barkley said. "It's best to knock a successful black person down 'cause they're intelligent, they speak well, they do well in school, and they're successful. It's crabs in a barrel…We're the only ethnic group that says, 'Hey, if you go to jail, it gives you street cred.'…Unfortunately, as I tell my white friends, we as black people, we're never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When you're black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It's a dirty, dark secret. I'm glad it's coming out."

Barkley didn't stop there, either. He also said that he feels that some African-American people are "brainwashed."

"For some reason, we're brainwashed to think if you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough," he said. "If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person. It's a dirty, dark secret. I hate to bring white people into our crap, but as a black person, we all go through it when you're successful."

You can listen to everything Barkley had to say here:

Barkley's comments have obviously added another layer of controversy to the controversy that already existed. And since his radio interview, there has been a lot of reaction to it. We've included some Twitter reactions—both positive and negative—to Barkley's comments below. Scroll down to see them.

What do you think about what Barkley had to say in light of the Bleacher Report story?

[via CNN]