In a recent interview, billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya offered up his thoughts on the Uyghur genocide in China.
Spoiler alert: his thoughts are … sub-optimal.
Owner of the @warriors🏀 says he doesn’t care about the Uyghurs.
The conversation goes downhill from there.@chamath…
– questions whether a genocide is actually happening
– says the CCP isn’t a dictatorship
– says the US is no better than the CCP pic.twitter.com/qAwi7hUPvo— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) January 17, 2022
Source: https://t.co/UszJxh8XAN
— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) January 17, 2022
Watch (relevant portion starts around the 14:40 mark):
It’s important to point out that Palihapitiya is part-owner of the Golden State Warriors and not sole owner of the team.
That said, as appalling as the NBA’s silence on the Uyghur genocide has been, it’s arguably even more revolting to hear an NBA-affiliated bigwig come right out and explicitly say that he doesn’t give a crap about genocide.
For what it’s worth, Enes Kanter Freedom is the one person in the NBA who’s not afraid to acknowledge the Uyghur genocide — and he’s not afraid to call out Palihapitiya for treating a genuine human rights disaster so callously:
When @NBA says we stand for justice, don’t forget there are those who sell their soul for money & business like @chamath the owner of @warriors,
who says “Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs”When genocides happen, it is people
like this that let it happenShame! pic.twitter.com/27j2GxGhCU
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) January 17, 2022
Recommended
If the NBA were actually deserving of the respect they demand, they’d stop indulging genocide apologists like Chamath Palihapitiya and start taking all their cues from Enes Kanter Freedom. When the history on the Uyghur genocide is written, it’s Kanter Freedom who will be standing on the right side.
Chamath Palihapitiya will be in the dustbin.
Chamath was a founder of Zuckerberg's pro-immigration group FWDus. His family also emigrated to Canada to escape civil war in Sri Lanka. Talk about pulling up the ladder behind you! https://t.co/xA2BGrioON
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 17, 2022
Shameful.
🚨🚨🚨🚨
Disgraceful. https://t.co/TSd41fCc4k
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 17, 2022
This is despicable. https://t.co/jdhmRGGwoA
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) January 17, 2022
It’s all about blood money for these people.
The Golden State Warriors are the most popular team in China, so this idiot refuses to stand up for human rights because he bows down to his CCP overlords. https://t.co/O5KTlHtl4p
— Steven Cheung (@CaliforniaPanda) January 17, 2022
Steve Kerr is drafting up another anti-gun rant in case he's asked about this.https://t.co/7ws9nkglGX
— Chief Impact Officer BT (@back_ttys) January 17, 2022
Evil. This guy is just evil. https://t.co/UMfSUstN66
— Billie Nash (@BillieNash53) January 17, 2022
Chamath runs a fund called "Social Capital" whose mission statement is "to advance humanity by solving the world’s hardest problems." https://t.co/xWh7gsS2x6
— Foster (@foster_type) January 17, 2022
Clearly genocide is not one of the world's hardest problems 😶 https://t.co/1LGDBAimBN pic.twitter.com/6tYS2xOuKw
— AM (@alewgmi) January 17, 2022
Not to Chamath, anyway.
We can’t believe we’re saying it, but right on, Tommy Vietor.
He literally says “nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs.” Pretty disturbing to see someone be this casually cruel and dismissive. At least he’s upfront, I guess. https://t.co/9mEC7t771o
— Sarah McLaughlin (@sarahemclaugh) January 17, 2022
As a huge @warriors fan this is infuriating — saying that US is no better than the genocidal human rights violating CCP is outrageous. And that’s just one part of this mess. @chamath do some reading and apologize. https://t.co/q8BOdVkVV4
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) January 17, 2022
Not everyone gets to ignore the #UyghurGenocide @chamath of @warriors. Before you speak, consider the victims of these atrocities like my sister, imprisoned for 41 months w/no word. Ignoring human suffering doesn't make you brave. It makes you privileged & selfish! https://t.co/TdU43JyVs0
— Rushan Abbas (@RushanAbbas) January 17, 2022
I hereby terminate me being a fan of the @warriors. This is despicable and disheartening. He’s welcome to hold those views, but I’m also welcome to no longer support the team and call him out for his stupidity and despicable words. History won’t be kind to him… https://t.co/8rWutKB2Nr
— John M (@realJohnHM) January 17, 2022
Genocide apology. This is the kind of stuff that should actually get you canceled. https://t.co/AEISnM7BAR
— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) January 17, 2022
And Chamath Palihapitiya’s name is only one that should be on the list.
While a true statement by the CEO of @warriors that “nobody cares about what’s happening to the #Uyghurs” is indeed horrifying. But as he stated it’s an ugly truth. Sadly many executives share his sentiment bc of China’s overwhelming economic influence.
— Rayhan E. Asat (@RayhanAsat) January 17, 2022
Looking at you, Elon Musk. Among others.
I care about the Uyghurs, @chamath. Just because you and @elonmusk are comfortable playing ball with a genocidal regime and don't care about the Uyghurs doesn't mean that "nobody cares." This craven defense of China is disgusting—almost as bad as the pride you take in it. https://t.co/xdHEUaf6vC
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) January 17, 2022