DeSean Jackson Hitler Quote Instagram Post

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Overview

DeSean Jackson Hitler Quote Instagram Post refers to the public response to an Instagram Story by professional football player DeSean Young. The post featured a photograph of a quote attributed to the genocidal dictator Adolf Hitler; though, evidence that Hitler said the quote is dubious. Jackson, following a backlash, apologized for the post, stating that he never meant for it be perceived as an endorsement of Hitler or anti-Semitic sentiments.

Background

On July 5th, 2020, Philadephia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posted a photograph from what some believe to be the book Jerusalem by Dennine Barnett. Several passages were highlighted.^[1] They 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.

The 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.

He later commented on the posts, adding to his Instagram Story: "Anyone who feels I have hate towards the Jewish community took my post the wrong way I have no hatred in my heart towards no one!! Equality Equality."

Finally, he posted the quote again, crossing out everything except the text, "They will extort America, their plan for world domination won't work if the Negroes know who they were" (Instagram Story posts below).

Of the quote's origin, the Philadelphia Voice states that it is unclear whether or not Hitler said these words. They write, "Research suggests the screenshotted passage is from the book Jerusalem by Dennine Barnett, as the font in Jackson's post matches text in that book. But Barnett attributes the quote to a book by historian Robert Edwin Herzstein, The Nazis World War II, published in July 1980."

Developments

Online Reaction

Many responded negatively to Jackson's posts, calling him anti-Semitic. On July 6th, the Twitter^[2] account @StopAntisemites tweeted Jackson's posts, tagging the owners of the Philadelphia Eagles, with the caption, "Hey @jeff_lurie and @HowieRoseman – you guys cool with your wide receiver (Desean Jackson) quoting Hitler and proclaiming he was right?" The tweet received more than 1,000 likes and 775 retweets in less than two days (shown below, left).

Many within the conservative media criticized the NFL and so-called cancel culture for not taking more significant action against Jackson, citing other controversies. Greg Price, a social media associate at The Daily Caller, wrote,^[3] "Gotta love how we live in a world where Mike Gundy loses $1 million for wearing an OAN shirt and DeSean Jackson will probably only get a slap on the wrists for promoting Farrakhan and quotes he thinks are from Hitler. The woke cancel mob plays by a ridiculous set of rules." The post received more than 6,200 likes and 1,500 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

ESPN's Senior Fantasy Football Analyst Matthew Berry tweeted,^[4] "Has any current NFL player come out yet denouncing DeSean Jackson? I haven't seen anyone but maybe I missed someone. You are either against all hate or you are not. It's not a pick and choose proposition." The tweet received more than 35,000 likes and 7,600 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

NFL Response

On July 7th, the verified Twitter^[5] account for the Philadelphia Eagles posted a statement on the Jackson's Instagram Story. They wrote, "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." The post received more than 10,000 likes, 4,200 comments and 3,500 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Jackson's Apology

On July 7th, Jackson posted a video apology for the quote on Instagram. He included the caption, "I post a lot of things that are sent to me. I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn't realize what this passage was saying. Hitler has caused terrible pain to Jewish people like the pain African-Americans have suffered. We should be together fighting anti-Semitism and racism. This was a mistake to post this and I truly apologize for posting it and sorry for any hurt I have caused." The post received more than 413,000 views and 40,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Jackson also posted an apology on Twitter,^[6] He wrote, "I want to apologize to the Jewish community, Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, Doug Pederson, the Eagle organization and our fans for the insensitive and ill-informed posts that I shared on my social media." The post received more than 11,000 likes and 2,200 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).