New England Patriots star Julian Edelman has invited Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson on a field trip to Washington, D.C.
In the aftermath of Jackson's (since-deleted) anti-Semitic social media posts earlier this week, Edelman has extended an invite for Jackson to join him at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
"I've been getting hit up by everyone asking me about this DeSean Jackson post," Edelman said in a video posted to Instagram Thursday morning. "And I wanted to take some time before I responded because it's a complicated issue, and I wanted to be thoughtful."
Edelman, who is of Jewish heritage, said he didn't identify as Jewish until later in his life. He said he has encountered anti-Semitism during his career with the Patriots, namely an incident in 2011 in which he was called an anti-Semitic slur.
He empathized with Jackson in regards to the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement, noting the unfortunate realities each community deals with in regards to ignorance and hatred.
"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. It's really hard to see the challenges that community can face when you're not part of it."
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
Edelman suggested that after they visit the Holocaust Museum, he and Jackson could go to the Museum of African-American History and Culture.
Jackson's posts included a message attributed to Adolf Hitler, as well as admiration for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. He has since apologized.
Both Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman are Jewish.
