The United States of America has had racial issues since its inception, but with the recent police-involved shootings and the current political climate, racial tensions are coming to a head. TNT has decided to bring the topics of “race, class, and cultural differences” to the forefront, introducing a new television show appropriately titled The Race Card, with none other than Charles Barkley as host, the Washington Post reports.
TNT released a press release detailing what the retired NBA star’s exact role will be on the show:
“Barkley wants to bust up the echo chamber mentality that so often has people retreating to corners of the like-minded, where views are reinforced and ideas are distorted into angry, unexamined groupthink conclusions.
Each week, Barkley will take on the rapidly calcifying positions around today’s hot-button topics. He will seek out the sharpest and most varied viewpoints from today’s cultural leaders and tastemakers. He will then challenge and probe those ideas, even trying them out on himself.”
Barkley seems excited to be at the center of the program. The sports analyst released a statement discussing his feelings on why he thinks the show will be important:
“We as Americans never discuss the issue of race in this country and how it impacts everything in our lives until something bad happens. I see this project as a way to talk about race, class and cultural differences and challenge everyone’s status quo.”
As most know, Barkley usually doesn’t hold back on giving his honest opinion on the issues. Just last month he said that “black people have got to do better” in reference to the police-involved shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.
Of course, those on Twitter weighed in following the show’s announcement:
https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/759940894996914176
https://twitter.com/russbengtson/status/759940565525991424
https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/759956314462138368
https://twitter.com/stereowilliams/status/759937065454886912
A discussion on race hosted by Charles Barkley??! pic.twitter.com/Vx9nYKxNyg
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 31, 2016
Barkley will be one of the The Race Card‘s executive producers. TNT ordered six, hour-long episodes of the show, which will premiere in 2017.
(Via the Washington Post)
