Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is in hot water after posting anti-Semitic remarks on social media attributed to Adolf Hitler and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
One post, a photo taken of text, read:
“Hitler said, ‘because the white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel and to keep America’s secret the Jews will blackmail America.
They will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.
The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time, they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel.'”
According to the Philly Voice, research suggests the passage is from the book “Jerusalem” by Dennine Barnett, who attributes the quote to another book, “The Nazis World War II,” by Robert Edwin Herzstein.
Jackson proceeded to share a pair of posts expressing his admiration for Farrakhan, who has been labeled as anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center.
The 33-year-old attempted to backtrack on his comments Tuesday.
“Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way,” he posted on Instagram story along with the highlighted passage that was attributed to Hitler. “I have no hatred in my heart toward no one!! Equality. Equality.”
The wide receiver signed a three-year deal with the team in 2019. Injuries limited him to just three games.
Later Tuesday morning, the Eagles addressed Jackson’s posts:
“We have spoken with DeSean Jackson about his social media posts. Regardless of his intentions, the messages he shared were offensive, harmful, and absolutely appalling. They have no place in our society and are not condoned or supported in any way by the organization. We are disappointed and we reiterated to DeSean the importance of not only apologizing, but also using his platform to take action to promote unity, equality, and respect. We are continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action. We take these matters very seriously and are committed to continuing to have productive and meaningful conversations with DeSean, as well as all of our players and staff, in order to educate, learn and grow.”
