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American Morning

Interview with Charles Barkley

Aired December 17, 2002 - 09:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Sixteen NBA seasons, never won a title, but Sir Charles Barkley, won one of basketball's elite, outstanding on the court, outspoken off the court. Barkley never shy about offering his opinion on just about everything. You can ask him about that, too. Sports to politics to race relations in America. The title of his book on shelves now, "Pure Barkley, I May Be wrong, But I Doubt It."
Sir Charles, our guest in New York City. Good to see you.

CHARLES BARKLEY, FMR. PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: You had to start with the championship thing right off the bat.

HEMMER: That hurts you?

BARKLEY: You know, I'm supposed to be sensitive. People tell me, my life is not complete because I never won a championship.

HEMMER: How do you feel about that?

BARKLEY: I cry about it every day.

HEMMER: Come on.

BARKLEY: No, I don't even think about it.

HEMMER: Not at all?

BARKLEY: I do not. Basketball was never going to be what I'm judged by. I've always known I was going to go into this arena, an Basketball was just a tool for me to get to where I'm going.

HEMMER: What arena is that?

BARKLEY: I guess to try to make a difference. I've been blessed. You win tons championships and make a ton of money don't mean anything any other day. That's a blessing, but if you're in a position of power where you're on television, if you don't try to make a difference, it becomes irrelevant.

HEMMER: What difference are you trying to make right now. What's your concentration? What's your focus?

BARKLEY: My charity work has always been my focus. I think that I have been blessed. I've been sent to help poor people, and I try to do it through my foundation.

HEMMER: That's what you believe?

BARKLEY: I do believe that. I do. And what I've been doing for the last few years, I'm giving a million dollars to my high school, a million dollars to my college, a million dollars to another school to help poor people go to college, because without education, you cannot be successful.

And what I'm doing right now is, I think my hometown is really run down and beat up, so I'm buying 10 houses to remodel and just to give the kids a great environment to live it in, but I've always known that, that basketball was my tool. It was never going to be the final...

HEMMER: You talking about Alabama, right?

BARKLEY: Yes.

HEMMER: Which town?

BARKLEY: Leeds.

HEMMER: How many people are in Leeds, Alabama?

BARKLEY: I don't know, because everybody keeps leaving. It's unfortunate.

HEMMER: Including you.

BARKLEY: You know what, it's unfortunate, it is really run down now, and I've got to make a difference there. That's my goal.

HEMMER: I want to pick up a few things there. Politics. Are you really that interested in it, or can you put them to rest. Do you want to run for office?

BARKLEY: Not really.

HEMMER: Not at all?

BARKLEY: Not at all.

HEMMER: Can we take it off the list and never ask you again?

BARKLEY: I'm undecided. The governor only makes $80,000 a year. I can't support my gambling habit on 80 grand a year, number one. But you know what, I think it would be fun to do because I can get on television every day for a couple of years and beat kids over the head to tell them how much education, pride and self-esteem. Those are my big buzz words.

HEMMER: I think they'd listen to you, too, as soon as you walk in the room.

BARKLEY: Because they're parents are doing such a poor job. They're thirsting for somebody who believes in them and wants to help them, because parents suck today. HEMMER: Flat out.

BARKLEY: They do.

HEMMER: S-U-C-K.

BARKLEY: They blame everything on athletes and famous people. But the reason these kids are bad is because they're parents...

HEMMER: Giving the time and attention that it takes getting into a relationship where they have a lot more responsibility to raise kids and a lot tougher...

BARKLEY: I don't care what your job is, there's no greater responsibility than your kids. I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent. That's number one thing -- I got one daughter. She's 13. She's the greatest thing in my life, but I told her, I'm not her friend, I'm her father, and there's a big difference. I can't be her friend. Hopefully, one day when she's older I'll be her friend.

HEMMER: How's she turning out?

BARKLEY: She's doing well. She's a straight-A student, she's a good person, but I still have a long way to go. She's only 13.

HEMMER: Let's move to some topics real quick. I'm paraphrasing some words you use, OK, correct me if I'm wrong. You said -- quote -- "We treat each other like crap," talking blacks and blacks in America. "We will never be successful until we start treating each other better." That's a lot.

BARKLEY: That's the truth.

HEMMER: What do you mean?

BARKLEY: We don't treat each other with common decency, until we address -- like it's easy to say white people treat us bad, because racism does exists, always has and always will. But until we as black people have a common courtesy, stop, number one, black-on-black crime.

HEMMER: Why does that not want exist today?

BARKLEY: I don't know. Why we treat each other bad? I think we have been beat down for so long, we develop a lack of self-esteem and a lack of pride and until we address our own problem, which is, number one, black-on-black crime, teenage pregnancies and single-parent homes, until we address those problems -- it's easy just to say white America has suppressed us, and I'm not stupid enough to believe that has not happened, but we just don't have the common respect and decency for each other. We treat each other like crap.

HEMMER: Another thing you've indicated, within the black community, there was a lot of jealousy and resentment toward successful black men. Do you feel that? BARKLEY: Oh yes, I think all my famous friends. That's one's of the things the book was very personal to me in that aspect, because I have got a lot of famous friends who are black, who have a ton of money, and there's always this kind of you never fit in a certain place. You never are going to fit totally into white America, but you get such a resentment from some black, and it's frustrating, it's very frustrating.

HEMMER: Trent Lott, his comments this week, interview last night, five time apology. Your position, what?

BARKLEY: First of all, he's apologized. And I'm not concerned about the statement. I'm concerned about his voting record and realistically, this is like the third or fourth time he's...

HEMMER: You're from the South then.

BARKLEY: He's speaking for the south.

HEMMER: How is the voting record there?

BARKLEY: First of all, the South if the South. The South has always been racist. Like when I go to Alabama or anywhere in the South, I feel like I'm in 1972, and it's unfortunate. One of the things I talk about in the book, black and whites, we are not natural enemies. Somebody has to corrupt your mind and your soul to make you racist. I use the analogy in the book, if you put a little black kid and a white kid together, they get along great. Somebody comes along ignorant and puts something in your mind to make you feel resentment to other races. It is 100 percent wrong, no ifs, ands or buts.

HEMMER: Quickly here, Augusta National, female members in or out?

BARKLEY: They don't need to be there. Golf is what it is. Always been exclusionary. They had a right to as a private club to have who they want to. It is wrong, but as a private club, they have the right to.

HEMMER: Got it.

Pete Rose, in or out Hall of Fame?

BARKLEY: That's a tough one for me, because Pete's a friend of mine, but gambling is a cardinal sin. I wish we could move on, because I like Pete a lot, and it's not fair for me to make that decision. It should be the guys who play baseball for a living. It's their sport. They have to protect it. Like I feel like I'm a protector of basketball, but it's the baseball player's decision.

HEMMER: We've got to run. When was the last time you were called the "round mound of rebound."

BARKLEY: I'm just a fat mound now. I'd love to get back to the round mound -- I'm the fat mound now.

HEMMER: Great to see you.

BARKLEY: Thank you.

HEMMER: "I May be Wrong, But I Doubt It." Charles Barkley, thanks for stopping by.

BARKLEY: No problem.

HEMMER: It's about time, by the way, our company pace your paycheck. Stop by again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 17, 2002 - 09:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Sixteen NBA seasons, never won a title, but Sir Charles Barkley, won one of basketball's elite, outstanding on the court, outspoken off the court. Barkley never shy about offering his opinion on just about everything. You can ask him about that, too. Sports to politics to race relations in America. The title of his book on shelves now, "Pure Barkley, I May Be wrong, But I Doubt It."
Sir Charles, our guest in New York City. Good to see you.

CHARLES BARKLEY, FMR. PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: You had to start with the championship thing right off the bat.

HEMMER: That hurts you?

BARKLEY: You know, I'm supposed to be sensitive. People tell me, my life is not complete because I never won a championship.

HEMMER: How do you feel about that?

BARKLEY: I cry about it every day.

HEMMER: Come on.

BARKLEY: No, I don't even think about it.

HEMMER: Not at all?

BARKLEY: I do not. Basketball was never going to be what I'm judged by. I've always known I was going to go into this arena, an Basketball was just a tool for me to get to where I'm going.

HEMMER: What arena is that?

BARKLEY: I guess to try to make a difference. I've been blessed. You win tons championships and make a ton of money don't mean anything any other day. That's a blessing, but if you're in a position of power where you're on television, if you don't try to make a difference, it becomes irrelevant.

HEMMER: What difference are you trying to make right now. What's your concentration? What's your focus?

BARKLEY: My charity work has always been my focus. I think that I have been blessed. I've been sent to help poor people, and I try to do it through my foundation.

HEMMER: That's what you believe?

BARKLEY: I do believe that. I do. And what I've been doing for the last few years, I'm giving a million dollars to my high school, a million dollars to my college, a million dollars to another school to help poor people go to college, because without education, you cannot be successful.

And what I'm doing right now is, I think my hometown is really run down and beat up, so I'm buying 10 houses to remodel and just to give the kids a great environment to live it in, but I've always known that, that basketball was my tool. It was never going to be the final...

HEMMER: You talking about Alabama, right?

BARKLEY: Yes.

HEMMER: Which town?

BARKLEY: Leeds.

HEMMER: How many people are in Leeds, Alabama?

BARKLEY: I don't know, because everybody keeps leaving. It's unfortunate.

HEMMER: Including you.

BARKLEY: You know what, it's unfortunate, it is really run down now, and I've got to make a difference there. That's my goal.

HEMMER: I want to pick up a few things there. Politics. Are you really that interested in it, or can you put them to rest. Do you want to run for office?

BARKLEY: Not really.

HEMMER: Not at all?

BARKLEY: Not at all.

HEMMER: Can we take it off the list and never ask you again?

BARKLEY: I'm undecided. The governor only makes $80,000 a year. I can't support my gambling habit on 80 grand a year, number one. But you know what, I think it would be fun to do because I can get on television every day for a couple of years and beat kids over the head to tell them how much education, pride and self-esteem. Those are my big buzz words.

HEMMER: I think they'd listen to you, too, as soon as you walk in the room.

BARKLEY: Because they're parents are doing such a poor job. They're thirsting for somebody who believes in them and wants to help them, because parents suck today. HEMMER: Flat out.

BARKLEY: They do.

HEMMER: S-U-C-K.

BARKLEY: They blame everything on athletes and famous people. But the reason these kids are bad is because they're parents...

HEMMER: Giving the time and attention that it takes getting into a relationship where they have a lot more responsibility to raise kids and a lot tougher...

BARKLEY: I don't care what your job is, there's no greater responsibility than your kids. I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent. That's number one thing -- I got one daughter. She's 13. She's the greatest thing in my life, but I told her, I'm not her friend, I'm her father, and there's a big difference. I can't be her friend. Hopefully, one day when she's older I'll be her friend.

HEMMER: How's she turning out?

BARKLEY: She's doing well. She's a straight-A student, she's a good person, but I still have a long way to go. She's only 13.

HEMMER: Let's move to some topics real quick. I'm paraphrasing some words you use, OK, correct me if I'm wrong. You said -- quote -- "We treat each other like crap," talking blacks and blacks in America. "We will never be successful until we start treating each other better." That's a lot.

BARKLEY: That's the truth.

HEMMER: What do you mean?

BARKLEY: We don't treat each other with common decency, until we address -- like it's easy to say white people treat us bad, because racism does exists, always has and always will. But until we as black people have a common courtesy, stop, number one, black-on-black crime.

HEMMER: Why does that not want exist today?

BARKLEY: I don't know. Why we treat each other bad? I think we have been beat down for so long, we develop a lack of self-esteem and a lack of pride and until we address our own problem, which is, number one, black-on-black crime, teenage pregnancies and single-parent homes, until we address those problems -- it's easy just to say white America has suppressed us, and I'm not stupid enough to believe that has not happened, but we just don't have the common respect and decency for each other. We treat each other like crap.

HEMMER: Another thing you've indicated, within the black community, there was a lot of jealousy and resentment toward successful black men. Do you feel that? BARKLEY: Oh yes, I think all my famous friends. That's one's of the things the book was very personal to me in that aspect, because I have got a lot of famous friends who are black, who have a ton of money, and there's always this kind of you never fit in a certain place. You never are going to fit totally into white America, but you get such a resentment from some black, and it's frustrating, it's very frustrating.

HEMMER: Trent Lott, his comments this week, interview last night, five time apology. Your position, what?

BARKLEY: First of all, he's apologized. And I'm not concerned about the statement. I'm concerned about his voting record and realistically, this is like the third or fourth time he's...

HEMMER: You're from the South then.

BARKLEY: He's speaking for the south.

HEMMER: How is the voting record there?

BARKLEY: First of all, the South if the South. The South has always been racist. Like when I go to Alabama or anywhere in the South, I feel like I'm in 1972, and it's unfortunate. One of the things I talk about in the book, black and whites, we are not natural enemies. Somebody has to corrupt your mind and your soul to make you racist. I use the analogy in the book, if you put a little black kid and a white kid together, they get along great. Somebody comes along ignorant and puts something in your mind to make you feel resentment to other races. It is 100 percent wrong, no ifs, ands or buts.

HEMMER: Quickly here, Augusta National, female members in or out?

BARKLEY: They don't need to be there. Golf is what it is. Always been exclusionary. They had a right to as a private club to have who they want to. It is wrong, but as a private club, they have the right to.

HEMMER: Got it.

Pete Rose, in or out Hall of Fame?

BARKLEY: That's a tough one for me, because Pete's a friend of mine, but gambling is a cardinal sin. I wish we could move on, because I like Pete a lot, and it's not fair for me to make that decision. It should be the guys who play baseball for a living. It's their sport. They have to protect it. Like I feel like I'm a protector of basketball, but it's the baseball player's decision.

HEMMER: We've got to run. When was the last time you were called the "round mound of rebound."

BARKLEY: I'm just a fat mound now. I'd love to get back to the round mound -- I'm the fat mound now.

HEMMER: Great to see you.

BARKLEY: Thank you.

HEMMER: "I May be Wrong, But I Doubt It." Charles Barkley, thanks for stopping by.

BARKLEY: No problem.

HEMMER: It's about time, by the way, our company pace your paycheck. Stop by again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com