Many celebrities are out playing themselves by defending Justin Bieber repeat racist offenses, the Rev. Al Sharpton is from the old school and he doesn’t find that type of behavior easily excusable.
Sharpton called the pop star’s recent video where he joked about joining the KKK, “troubling.”
“I think the teachable moment out of this is none of us can use the n-word,” the reverend said when stopped by TMZ in the streets of NYC. “You gotta stop this. [We] give people a level of feeling that something is funny that is not funny; people that don’t intend to offend–offend!”
On June 1, a video of a 14-year-old Bieber surfaced where he was recorded making a joke about Black people and chainsaws while making a play on the n-word. The Canadian singer swiftly apologized and blamed it on his youthful ignorance. Fair enough, until yet another video of an equally adolescent Biebz surfaced yesterday with him twisting the words to Usher’s “One Less Lonely Girl” exposing his intent to join the KKK.
A yet-again remorseful Bieber apologized via his Instagram account with a host of Bible verses. Sharpton maintains his position isn’t to condemn the singer but to show how he and others can learn from such terrible mistakes.
“He should use this to say to people, like I’ve had to and others in life, ‘Hey! This is why we gotta stop doing this,” explained Sharpton. “The danger is that you offend people. Even if my friends think it’s alright, it’s not alright.”
Bieber can count on famous pals such as Lil Wayne, Floyd Mayweather and Whoopi Goldberg who have come to his defenses in wake of the repeated scandals.
Watch all of Al Sharpton’s points in the video below.
