Barkley: There's a lot of people at fault. The cops have made some mistakes. Black people have made some mistakes. Until we stop...We have to sit back and be honest with each other. The cops have made some mistakes. That don't give us the right to riot and shoot cops. We need the cops, especially in the black community. We as black people, we've got to do better. We never get mad when black people kill each other, which that always has bothered me. It's always bothered me. And then, somebody is gonna scream like, ‘Well, you can't change the subject.' Well, first of all, I've never changed the subject. I've always said that, ‘We as black people, if you want respect, you have to give each other respect.' You can't demand respect from white people and the cops if we don't respect each other.
We got to do better as black people. The cops have made some mistakes, but there's a lot of blame to go around. But I'm not going to get on TV and yell like all these other idiots. I'm willing to sit down with anybody and have constructive criticism. I always tell myself as a black man: 'Am I part of the problem or part of the solution?' If I'm out doing illegal stuff, stupid stuff, I'm part of the problem. If I'm helping young black kids go to college like I'm trying to do, if I'm giving money to causes to help young men, I know I'm part of the solution. I'm not perfect, I'm not trying to be perfect, but you have to ask yourself: 'Are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution?'
I respect and admire what cops do. My bodyguard is a cop, a black cop. We talk about situations all the time. One of the problems with this stuff is the media—all these people are Monday morning quarterbacks. Do you know what they are, Dan? They're Monday morning quarterbacks, because they don't have the stones to play on Sunday. Everybody says what I would do or what I should do. I think some of these cops are panicking under pressure. I had a real in-depth conversation with my bodyguard about the gun thing in Minnesota. You know, Dan, I'm a gun guy, and he always warns me. He says, ‘Do not put your ID where your gun is.' He says, ‘What I think...' He says, ‘Whether we think the cop is right or wrong...' First of all, everything is happening in fast motion. Everybody gets to sit back and see what happens. He says, ‘What I think happened is that guy said, Can I have your ID?' And then the next thing he said is, ‘I have a gun,' and he reaches. And I think the cop just panicked.
