For some reason, we're brainwashed to think if you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person.
Charles BarkleyRead
I don't believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.
Interpretation
Role models should primarily be parents rather than athletes.
In this quote, Charles Barkley emphasizes the idea that the influence and guidance that parents provide are more important than that of professional athletes. He argues that while athletes may inspire through their achievements, it is ultimately the responsibility of parents to set a positive example and instill values in their children.
In practice
This quote could be used in a parenting workshop to encourage parents to take an active role in their children's upbringing.
For some reason, we're brainwashed to think if you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person.
Kids are great. That's one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It's a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names.
Kids are born into the situation they're born into, and obviously, they have no control over that. And we, as adults, it's up to us to take care of kids - that's part of your moral responsibility. I always tell people, 'There's two groups we should take care of - old people and young people.'
What I told [my teammates] after the game was I'm just fortunate [for] my 16 years because, this [injury] can happen every single night you go out and play... It can be over in one instant, so you should appreciate everyday.
I don't believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.... It's not like it was when I was growing up. My mom and my grandmother told me how it was going to be. If I didn't like it, they said, Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Parents have to take better control.
I always laugh when people ask me about rebounding techniques. I've got a technique. It's called just go get the damn ball.
Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?
People do not get married planning to divorce. Divorce is the result of a lack of preparation for marriage and the failure to learn the skills of working together as teammates in an intimate relationship.
Turn around, and the people you thought you knew might change. Your little boy might now live half a world away. Your beautiful daughter might be sneaking out at night. Your ex-husband might by dying by degrees. This is the reason that dancers learn, early on, how to spot while doing pirouettes: we all want to be able to find the place where we started.
I'm a mirror. If you're cool with me, I'm cool with you, and the exchange starts. What you see is what you reflect. If you don't like what you see, then you've done something. If I'm standoffish, that's because you are.
If it's very painful for you to criticize your friends - you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue.
When I was in high school I got involved in the fringe theater scene in Chicago, and I met some openly gay people. I could see that it got better, that they were happy and loved and supported. I saw with my own eyes that it got better.
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