NEW YORK - Al Sharpton on Saturday vowed to lead protests against Madison Square Garden unless New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas apologizes for suggesting that whites and blacks should be held to different standards when it comes to using a certain derogatory term for women.
“If, in fact, that's what Mr. Thomas said, he's wrong,” the activist minister said at the weekly Harlem gathering of his National Action Network.
In a videotaped deposition introduced at his sexual harassment trial, Thomas said: “A white man calling a black female 'bitch,' that is wrong with me. I am not accepting that. That's a problem for me.” But he added that he wouldn't be as angry if the same words came from a black man.
“I'm sorry to say. I do make a distinction,” Thomas said.
Sharpton said the action network would organize picket lines around Madison Square Garden during Knicks home games unless Thomas apologized - or proved he had not made the comments.
Sharpton said Thomas phoned him Saturday to discuss his concerns, and in the phone call said his words had been misinterpreted.
The deposition tape was played to a jury during a three-week civil trial that ended Tuesday in Manhattan. A jury ordered the owners of the Knicks to pay $11.6 million to a former team executive, Anucha Browne Sanders, after finding she endured two years of insults and unwanted advances from Thomas.
The Garden fired Sanders from her job as the team's vice president of marketing after she complained about Thomas's behavior.
Sharpton said that during their conversation on Saturday, Thomas complained that his videotaped deposition had been “spliced” in a way that took his comments out of context.
“Mr. Thomas said to me that he never said that - he in fact said that the tape of his deposition had been spliced,” Sharpton told the Harlem gathering. “I said, 'Why have you not made that clear?' He said, 'Well, I've not been able to make it clear.”'
Barry Watkins, a spokesman for Madison Square Garden, confirmed that Thomas had phoned the minister on Saturday.
Watkins said the coach would address the issue personally in a news conference on Saturday at the Knicks' training camp in Charleston, S.C.
In a videotaped deposition introduced at his sexual harassment trial, Thomas said: “A white man calling a black female 'bitch,' that is wrong with me. I am not accepting that. That's a problem for me.” But he added that he wouldn't be as angry if the same words came from a black man.
“I'm sorry to say. I do make a distinction,” Thomas said.
Sharpton said the action network would organize picket lines around Madison Square Garden during Knicks home games unless Thomas apologized - or proved he had not made the comments.
Sharpton said Thomas phoned him Saturday to discuss his concerns, and in the phone call said his words had been misinterpreted.
The deposition tape was played to a jury during a three-week civil trial that ended Tuesday in Manhattan. A jury ordered the owners of the Knicks to pay $11.6 million to a former team executive, Anucha Browne Sanders, after finding she endured two years of insults and unwanted advances from Thomas.
The Garden fired Sanders from her job as the team's vice president of marketing after she complained about Thomas's behavior.
Sharpton said that during their conversation on Saturday, Thomas complained that his videotaped deposition had been “spliced” in a way that took his comments out of context.
“Mr. Thomas said to me that he never said that - he in fact said that the tape of his deposition had been spliced,” Sharpton told the Harlem gathering. “I said, 'Why have you not made that clear?' He said, 'Well, I've not been able to make it clear.”'
Barry Watkins, a spokesman for Madison Square Garden, confirmed that Thomas had phoned the minister on Saturday.
Watkins said the coach would address the issue personally in a news conference on Saturday at the Knicks' training camp in Charleston, S.C.
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