Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson apologized for sharing a fabricated Adolf Hitler quote and other anti-Semitic writings to his Instagram story and now an NFL star wants to help educate him on the topic. New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is Jewish, offered to take Jackson on a trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., in a video posted on social media Thursday. Then on Friday morning, Edelman tweeted that he had spoken with Jackson and they were making plans "to use our experiences to educate one another and grow together. Stay tuned."
Before explaining the offer on Thursday, Edelman addressed his feelings on the situation involving Jackson.
Compassion, empathy and love.
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) July 9, 2020
✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻
Link to full video: https://t.co/pNkLg9s44V pic.twitter.com/LspyPKzCC3
"There's no room for anti-Semitism in this world. Even though we're talking about anti-Semitism, I don't want to distract from how important the Black Lives Matter movement is and how we need to stay behind it," Edelman said. "I think the Black and Jewish communities have a lot of similarities. One unfortunate similarity is that they are both attacked by the ignorant and the hateful."
Edelman, while noting he respects what Jackson is capable of doing on the football field, then admitted that the Instagram posts were "ugly things."
"It's really hard to see the challenges a community can face when you're not part of it, so what we need to do is: We need to listen, we need to learn, we need to act. We need to have those uncomfortable conversations, if we're gonna have real change," Edelman went on to say. "So to that end, DeSean, let's do a deal: How about we go to D.C. and I take you to the Holocaust Museum, and then you take me to the Museum of African-American History and Culture. Afterward, we grab some burgers and we have those uncomfortable conversations. This world needs a little more love, compassion and empathy."
In the video, Edelman also touched on his Jewish heritage and revealed that he heard an anti-Semitic comment hurled toward him during an NFL game in 2011.
"I'm proud of my Jewish heritage; for me, it's not just about religion," Edelman said. "It's about community and culture as well. I'm unusual, because I didn't identify as Jewish until later in my life. Whenever I encountered hatred, it never really felt like it was aimed at me. It was only after I was part of this community that I learned how destructive hate is. Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred. It's rooted in ignorance and fear. I remember experiencing a little bit of this hate in 2011 when I was called a k--- on the football field."
Jackson originally posted two different pictures with positive remarks about Louis Farrakhan -- who has been identified as anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center -- as well as pictures on his story feed of a quote he attributed to Hitler, in which "white Jews" are accused of trying to "blackmail America."
Jackson apologized for the posts on Tuesday and it's unclear if the team will look to impose any type of discipline on him.