Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Lebron James: "Being Black in America Is Tough!"

Lebron James
The New York Times reported  that Los Angeles police were called to the home of Lebron James Wednesday morning after someone had written a racial epithet on James' home.

A few hours later, James faced reporters at a news conference declaring the difficulty faced by black people in the U.S., whether they're rich or poor:

“Hate in America, especially for African-Americans, is living every day,” he said. 

James said that when he was first notified of the incident, he was reminded of the mother of Emmett Till, who insisted that her son, who was lynched in 1955, have an open coffin at his funeral, so people could not ignore the brutality of the killing.

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is tough,” James said. 

“And we’ve got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African-Americans until we feel equal.”
Bill Russell
A half century ago, I was fascinated by the articulate superstar Bill Russell. When he became player-coach with the media peppering him with questions, it was the same man among boys scenario that played out on the court. Russell was the mental health professional guiding the media through their neuroses. What was not known at the time was that Russell returned home from games to find smeared feces, racial epithets and other racist bullshit on the walls of his Boston home. For years Russell kept silence on this abuse, enduring it, but never giving his enemies the satisfaction of knowing they had hurt him. 

Lebron and Russell have dealt with racism differently, each in their own way.

Regrettably, after half a hundred years, things have not changed much.

2 comments:

  1. Blacks need to move on out of their ancestors past with slavery. Knock that chip off of their shoulders and focus on all of the strides their ancestors and others have made to afford them many opportunities that people from the past would be grateful for. It is time for everyone to quit giving these people something because they feel entitled to it because of SLAVERY !! I say move fuck on get the fuck over it and quit acting like spoiled brats because people that they have never laid eyes on were bound by slavery. It is a fact if history Get the FUCK over it!! Quit acting like a bunch of heathens!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Blacks need to move on out of their ancestors past with slavery. Knock that chip off of their shoulders and focus on all of the strides their ancestors and others have made to afford them many opportunities that people from the past would be grateful for. It is time for everyone to quit giving these people something because they feel entitled to it because of SLAVERY !! I say move fuck on get the fuck over it and quit acting like spoiled brats because people that they have never laid eyes on were bound by slavery. It is a fact if history Get the FUCK over it!! Quit acting like a bunch of heathens!!

    ReplyDelete