“LeBron James Is A Bigot” titles Jason Whitlock’s phenomenal and courageous essay last month. Provocative? Yes. True? Evidence is sure piling up.
After being a fan through about 2008, I’ve exposed “The King’s” cowardice and self-interest for years, including via a strong column in May.
But Whitlock knocked it out of the park. Here’s one key excerpt:
“LeBron James has more than 40 million followers on Twitter. Doesn’t he have a moral responsibility to be informed and measured before commenting on a controversy that could inspire civil unrest? What’s the harm in waiting 48 hours, 72 hours or a week? Is James intentionally being used as an agent of chaos? His logic is consistent with the logic of white bigots. James uses occasional anecdotes to make sweeping negative generalizations about white police officers.
‘And y’all wonder why we say what we say about police!’
James’ Twitter feed reads like a transcript from a KKK rally. Can’t you hear the Grand Wizard of the Klan shouting to his followers in the aftermath of O.J. Simpson?
‘And y’all wonder why we say what we say about black people!’
LeBron James foolishly thinks he’s overseeing the police. He’s overseeing the black KKK. He’s promoting racism. He’s demonizing a group of white people based on the behavior of a few. Bigots, regardless of color, have a common trait. Ignorance. Ignorance fuels their ego. Information is their enemy. They avoid it at all costs. Negative anecdotes frame their worldview. Bigotry has subdued and detained LeBron James.”
Following the heinous ambush of two Los Angeles deputies Sept. 12, Sheriff Alex Villanueva challenged James, who plays basketball in L.A., to “step up to the plate” and match the reward for the gunman’s capture, like Whitlock has.
James speaks ignorantly and capriciously on most matters, yet hasn’t responded and won’t.
Even though he knows nothing about the organization’s fundamentally un-American roots, James is the face of Black Lives Matter in sports. He recently caused the NBA playoffs, which no one is watching, to be delayed by encouraging a walk out before his ilk quickly caved.
The dwindling BLM supporters argue that “silence equals violence,” meaning either you’re vocal about those shot by police or you condone it. Is it unfair to treat James’ silence about the shooting the same way?
James is the most famous athlete in America. No one said he can’t say what he wants; that is a disingenuous straw man claim. But freedom of speech isn’t protected on a case-by-case basis. It becomes a slippery slope when it actually requires some sacrifice. James won’t sacrifice.
Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Shaquille O’Neal, Tiger Woods and many star athletes wisely avoid ideological politics and incendiary rhetoric during long careers.
Since James won’t, he could’ve used his platform last year to condemn Chinese totalitarians — a rogue group from which a rogue NBA happily takes billions — abusing human rights in Hong Kong, but balked and audaciously said free speech is harmful. His wallet is more important than the safety of brave protesters or Muslims in re-education camps.
James kowtowed to tyrants who released a global virus that’s wiped out nearly a million people. Like an illiterate coward, he then played the victim. Valorous activists called out his hypocrisy; privileged media members predictably covered for their king.
After an NBA executive expressed support for pro-American Hongkongers, Peking James said it’s dangerous. Please. The likelihood of China physically hurting this repugnant billionaire with armed security is zero. Then again, BLM and Communist China are intertwined.
Even sympathetic voices confessed James failed, noting “What he finally said was disappointing for a man who is ‘more than an athlete’ and built much of his brand on social justice and awareness.”
You may also forget James concocted a racial hoax in 2017. His cult quickly discarded the story once it fell apart because there was no “racist graffiti” on James’ mansion, yet he held a press conference to compare his situation to Emmett Till’s lynching. Rather than exposing this sham, grovelers “sat up and listened closely” to a brainwashed athlete lecture America.
Instead of creating an anti-police environment by spreading toxic narratives that America — the least racist nation in human history — is “systemically racist,” why can’t James and fellow uneducated millionaires relay a positive message about our country as a land of opportunity? Instead of divisive lies that fuel racial tension and civil mayhem, why not be honest? Why not visit Chicago, where more Black lives are often lost in a weekend through gang warfare than via police shootings in an entire year?
Why not — eh, forget it, LeBron James doesn’t care.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
