People often lose their job and reputation for saying something racist or sexist, Free Press columnist Mitch Albom notes.
But Albom, who is Jewish, writes that doesn't seem to be the case with Philadelphia Eagles player DeSean Jackson, who "posted several anti-Semitic messages on Instagram last weekend — including a quote he (wrongly) attributed to Adolf Hitler claiming Jews 'will extort America' and 'have a plan for world domination.'"
The reaction was tepid at best, the Detroit columnist notes:
There was no mass outrage from his industry, and no immediate punishment from his team.
In fact, although they labeled the posts "offensive" and "appalling," it took nearly a week before the Philadelphia Eagles finally announced the consequences for Jackson’s hateful messages: An undisclosed fine.
Think about that. A fine. Meanwhile, despite Jackson repeating the worst form of Jewish stereotyping and citing not only Hitler but Louis Farrakhan, who has called Jews “satanic” and likened them to “termites," only a handful of athletes (several of them Jewish) and some notable media voices criticized him.
Jackson did, however, receive support from other sports stars, including former NBA player Stephen Jackson, who initially said DeSean was “speaking the truth” and claimed Jews “are the richest” and “control the banks," then later said, “I don't support Hitler, I don’t know nothing about Hitler and I could give a [expletive] about Hitler!”
The wide receiver has now apologized:
“My intention was to uplift, unite and encourage our culture with positivity and light. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I unintentionally hurt the Jewish community in the process and for that I am sorry!”
