With his latest commentary on sports, the Reverend Jesse Jackson compares the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers to a slave owner that "sees LeBron James as a runaway slave." And just like that, Jackson is wrong again.
Jul 12, 2010 - Part of me feels like this should be written in comic sans, but since that font's not available on SB Nation, we'll have to go straight for this one. Jesse Jackson needs to shut up.
When? Always. Jesse Jackson should always talk less than he does.
Why? Because he's Jesse Jackson.
Coming on the heels of LeBronnukah and the Historic Festival of Narcissism, you'd have been hard-pressed to imagine a scenario where things could actually devolve further into a buzz of intolerable discourse and inane back-and-forth. How many ways could this possibly become more insufferable?
To quote LeBron James: "It's a very, very small number. And, I probably could count them on my fingers." The short-list, here:
"But he's starting a dialogue!" you say. But see, he's creating a dialogue where his perspective — and the people who may actually share it — automatically operate at a disadvantage.
Because what's Jackson's ultimate goal in commenting on something like Dan Gilbert's letter about LeBron James? What can he do? Get Gilbert in trouble with the Rainbow Coalition? Pressure Stern to fine a billionaire? No, that's not the goal here. As Jason Whitlock explains at Fox Sports:
This is an attention grab by Rev. Jackson. He heard about ESPN’s impressive ratings for "The Decision" and, like a mafia don, wants to wet his beak. Why let Jim Gray and ESPN executives have all the fun exploiting LeBron’s naivete?
There’s enough of LeBron’s carcass for Jesse to feast, too. And Gilbert’s childish letter to Cavaliers fans in the wake of LeBron’s departure gave Jackson the opening he needed to break out his knives and forks.
What's the easiest way to polarize Americans and attract attention? Slavery analogies! So of course Jackson wrote an open letter responding to Gilbert's open letter. From the Rainbow Coalition:
Mr. Dan Gilbert's accusations, expressed in an open letter to LeBron James after his announcement that he will play next year’s NBA season for the Miami Heat, have legal and social implications for the league, its union and the character of LeBron James. By saying that he has gotten a free pass and that people have covered for him way too long, Gilbert suggests that LeBron has done something illegal or illicit.
He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship — between business partners — and LeBron honored his contract.
This isn't breaking new ground for Jackson, of course. He's made a career out of injecting himself into situations where he's got no business interceding, and that's fine. But since this is a sports website, it bears mentioning that just about every time Jackson offers an opinion on sports, it's polarizing, exaggerated and ultimately unfair.
There was the time he accused the NFL owners of colluding against signing Michael Vick. As he said then, "I want teams to explain why they have a quarterback who has less skills but is playing or at least is on the taxi squad, and a guy with more skills can’t get into training camp." Suddenly, Jesse Jackson's an NFL scout?
How about this: NFL teams didn't want to sign a player with declining skills and a dizzying array of protesters and media trailing his every move. Does that make NFL owners racist, or reasonable? And to that end, if Ben Roethlisberger became a free agent tomorrow, would every team in the NFL jump to sign him? Of course not.
"But he's a Pro Bowl quarterback! With two Super Bowl rings! Conspiracy!"
No, actually. Just common sense.
And by drumming up talk of a conspiracy, Jackson merely added to the stigma surrounding Vick.
Then there was the time he wrote to the Green Bay Packers accusing them of racism after firing head coach Ray Rhodes. By all accounts, Rhodes was a very average head coach; his .468 winning percentage in five years in charge with the Eagles and Packers would attest to that. But when the Packers decided to go in a different direction, Jackson saw an opportunity to inject himself into the situation.
Ask yourself: Who does that help? Suddenly, NFL owners have to worry about backlash from the Rainbow Coalition if they hire a black head coach, but then decide to go in a different direction. Does that make them more or less likely to hire an African-American in the future?
Then there's Jackson's latest stunt. Comparing Dan Gilbert to a slave owner lashing out at his runaway slave, LeBron James. Really — just look at that sentence.
There are two problems with Jackson's statement. One stems from his slavery analogy and speaks to this particular discussion (James and Gilbert), and the other concerns Jackson's involvement in the first place, and his place in society. Let's tackle the former issue with a story from my youth.
I was 12 years old, and in the midst of making some presentation to an ethics class, I made the mistake of comparing the experience of early-20th Irish immigrants to slaves. In hindsight, it's one of the more embarrassing things I've ever said. Completely ignorant, and downright offensive. But I said it and had to deal with the consequences. Black friends came up to me for the rest of the week asking how I could ever say something like that. White friends ridiculed me, too. At one point, there was even a rumor going around that my family used to own slaves.
It was awful, but it taught me a lesson. Some things, white people just don't understand. The sheer scope of slavery is beyond most anyone's purview, but especially white people. You could spend a lifetime studying slavery and what it meant to society, but unless you're an African-American, you'll never know what it feels like to have a great-great grandfather that could have been beaten — or much worse — for reading a book.
At 12, I definitely didn't understand slavery, but after my unfortunate analogy in Ethics class, at least I understood that I never would.
So, back to Jackson: The problem with comparing LeBron to a slave is that it automatically restricts the discussion that could (and should) take place surrounding Gilbert's unhinged rant.
By invoking slavery, Jackson took the discussion to a place where the majority of participants are unqualified to comment. How can we disagree with a black man invoking slavery? It's a brilliant rhetorical move by Jackson; anyone who steps up to disagree would be shut down as someone who doesn't understand slavery, nor the dynamic between the master and slave during that horrific era of world history.
Of course, if nobody can credibly dissent, no tangible discussion can take place. Jackson's now the loudest voice in the room, delivering a sermon on slavery that most of his congregation (us) can't talk about with any credibility.
But what if we just want to talk about Dan Gilbert and LeBron James?
Jackson's made that impossible. The discussion's been cast in starkly racial terms now, and once that happens, there's no going back. At that point, because of Jackson's exaggerated analogy — or at least polarizing enough to feel exaggerated — rather than discuss the actual issue, we're all thrust into this weird nexus of politics, history, resentment and shared confusion. That's not a place where a whole lot gets accomplished.
And are white people supposed to apologize for not wanting to engage in a discussion surrounding a slavery analogy? It's just not very productive for anybody.
And that's why this really sucks.
There's real room to discuss this situation in racial terms, but it requires nuance that Jackson's incapable of, and after he weighs in with some sensationalist nonsense, nuance becomes impossible.
But why did Jackson make the slavery analogy? Not to dwarf conversation, but for the same reason he says anything that's controversial. Because without extreme racial pandering, Jesse Jackson rarely has a place at the table. No public pulpit from which to deliver his bombastic sermons. No way to show the public he's still fighting the civil rights fight, even if it's coming out sideways these days, and doing more harm than good.
Then, when we condemn Jackson, it validates him. It allows him to point to his dwindling group of acolytes and and say, "Look at this! The struggle continues ... They still won't recognize our voice!"
But the problem is that we do recognize his voice, and he's distracting us from a more meaningful, inclusive conversation. The sort of stuff that actually leads to change.
Rather than say there's a conspiracy among owners to freeze out Michael Vick, why not just ask whether a superstar Caucasian would have faced the same scrutiny from the media and NFL disciplinarians?
Rather than complain about Ray Rhodes — who got two separate opportunities to lead a team — getting fired because of racism, why not point to a case like Leslie Frazier, and actually help him get hired?
Rather than call Dan Gilbert a slave master, why not just ask America whether Gilbert would have written a similar letter to a white superstar?
Those are the sorts of open-ended questions that engage everyone and get the conversations started. There are no easy answers, but those are the sort of questions that should be asked when we talk about race, and the dynamics of power among pro sports, and even society, in general. Those are the sorts of questions that get us somewhere. The sort of questions that make a difference, and get people of different backgrounds talking about the same issues that have plagued this country for centuries.
But Jackson doesn't want to ask those sort of questions, because he doesn't necessarily have the answer. Because he can't control the dialogue. But most of all, because those questions don't get everyone talking about Jesse Jackson.
So, it's fine for Jesse to comment on sports. But when he does, we ought to keep our eye on the ball.
56 comments
Comments
Dan Gilbert
INTERPRETATION: This is what Dan Gilbert meant to say in his open letter http://clicky.me/rSI
by Silk32 on Jul 12, 2010 4:42 PM EDT reply actions
Jesse Jackson.....
Jesse Who ????/
by NetFan48 on Jul 12, 2010 4:53 PM EDT reply actions
Jesse Jackson the former presidential candidate.
Amazing how when the conversation turns to race or slavery, the mass majority of americans (white) do everything they can to avoid that convo. This is article is one of the best i have read in a long time, but it exposes america’s long history of displaying a clear unwillingness to have the conversation. When can we all just be americans? I guess thats only for the olympics or after a national disaster. Race, racism, and slavery have long been a rope around america’s neck, and it can only be removed by having an open conversation, not so much on the history of slavery or racism, buts its long term impact on on society today…
by Mega4 on Jul 13, 2010 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Great article
by nilwnah on Jul 12, 2010 4:54 PM EDT reply actions
Open letter was to Fans of "Cleveland." not LeBron...
if you can’t get that right…it makes you look ill-informed.
That said…Jackson is a race-baiting affirmative action pimp. He will never be more than that.
I'm Polish...what's your excuse?
by Juannieboy on Jul 12, 2010 5:09 PM EDT reply actions
Why does he have to be a pimp?
By calling him a pimp you are calling him a racially devisive term which is similar to the dangers that the author is cautioning us of.
by AtlBlzr on Jul 12, 2010 5:53 PM EDT reply actions
i would be willing to bet
that pimping is far more practiced and widespread in white cultures (worldwide) than black cultures.
-everything can’t fing be PC’d to death
by dawgaddict on Jul 12, 2010 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions
That is by far the most ridiculous statement I have read in a long time. How could you even quantify that? He is my bet, I bet pimping is equally practiced amongst all racial lines. Please refrain from making comments that are inflammatory just to cause sh**. Thank you and enjoy your SB Nation.
by McGateway on Jul 13, 2010 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
the point i was making
involves the unspoken agreement there seems to be that pimpin is singularly a black societal concern.
folk don’t own pimpin, they just represent it more popularly in the US today.
calling someone a pimp is NOT racially divisive bc it’s not specifically a black thang.
thanks for the righteous anger, Mmmckay?
by dawgaddict on Jul 13, 2010 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Good interpretation.
Although, I don’t think the questions you ask would get us anywhere but avoided as well, I do agree that this was a gross overexaggeration.
Unfortunately the legend of MJ has long surpassed the reality of MJ. -Jevon O
by Marty Mart on Jul 12, 2010 5:54 PM EDT reply actions
Jackson comments and the proper question
You mention that a question to ask would be whether Gilbert would write this letter to a white superstar. I think the real question (and what Jackson doesn’t seem to get about this particular situation) is whether he’d do it to a white superstar from that area. Part of the explosion was because LeBron was a local product and that made the ties so much tighter, and thus the emotions so much greater.
Sign up for a free account on Niners Nation!.
by David Fucillo on Jul 12, 2010 6:24 PM EDT reply actions
i agree, he was a hometown body and quite possibly one of the best athletes ever....
that definately makes what Gilbert said more understandable. To look at this situation with a scope of reality, did lebron do anything wrong? No. Was Gilbert hurt that his only chance of winning a Championship for a now horrible Cleveland sports town is gone? Yes Did he wear his emotions on his sleeve and probably spit off comments he shouldn’t have as an ownser? Yes. Should he probably apologize to Lebron, I would say so. Does Jackson need to throw away the race card and maybe take some responsibility for his comments too. Yes. Lets face it people life sucks, im putting myself in debt roughly $60,000 in student loans to try and be something, which could take the rest of my life to pay off. We are talking about an athlete here thats could be a billionaire shortly. I think he can fight his own battles.
by ku-chiefs-fan on Jul 12, 2010 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Look. We live in hyperbolic times ...
Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, etc. Pretty much everybody’s yelling racist, race-baiter, reverse racism, race card these days. Not just black people. Not just Jesse Jackson. There are people who say the President is racist. Some people think the entire state of Arizona is racist for the Guide to Racial Profiling bill they just passed. Everyday, all day people say the most egregious things about people. I don’t get why Jesse Jackson can’t. Gilbert can say LeBron is a coward and Benedict Arnold but Jesse Jackson can’t compare it to slavery? Gilbert can namecall but Jesse can’t because … race freaks everybody out? Get over yourselves, people.
So until we shout everybody down Imus-style (for his nappy head hoes comment), then dude has a right to express his opinion. Gilbert made an ass of himself. Jesse is allowed that right too.
I get some people are tired of race. Or being called racist. But some of us are tired of people always complaining about it. Yeah somebody talked about race. Yeah people accuse other people of racism sometimes. Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes they’re wrong. Why are you catching the vapors? If it’s not true, get over it. Do you clutch your pearls when someone uses the term “poverty pimp” or “race hustler”?
Nobody gets to decide who has the “right” to talk about race and who doesn’t. Anybody can. Shoot, Rush Limbaugh thought he was qualified to call McNabb overrated cause he was black. That was just as dumb. But nobody said he didn’t have the right to say it.
I’m just tired of this “everybody always yells racism” moanfest. No they don’t. They really don’t. You wanna create better dialogues about race? You wanna stop people from accusing people of racism? Don’t act like a five-year-old whenever somebody brings it up. Don’t moan so much about the accusation of racism that you miss the complexities of the argument that race is a subjective component in our lives. Sometimes it’s all about how people see things, as opposed to does Gilbert actually use the N-word and wear Nazi boots.
Jim Brown I think has a better take on this. He didn’t agree with Jesse Jackson but spoke to the uneasiness of Gilbert’s statement. I think Gilbert’s comments and the Cleveland fanbase’s reaction to Lebron’s decision to leave left a weird taste in a lot of people’s mouth, particularly some black people. Not all. But some. I don’t agree with how he left or the Decision. But you’ve been kissing this dude’s arse for seven years and all the sudden he’s Satan? All the sudden he’s a coward and he quit on you? But you would’ve been kissing his feet again if he stayed? Just didn’t sit right with me. Don’t know if it’s totally a race thing but I wouldn’t doubt if it was a component of it. I know the Lakers had Kobe, but when Shaq left in 2004, nobody reacted like this. The vitrol is just plain weird. Seems if he’s such an arrogant jerk you’d be glad he left. I get you suck and most of your teams are snakebitten but that has nothing to do with LeBron and everything to do with the ownership of said franchises.
I just don’t get how we got to the point where we’re applauding an owner acting like a jackass and fans burning jerseys in the street. But Jesse Jackson. OMG Jesse Jackson! That’s who really needs to be condemned.
Very odd, indeed.
"They need security in the world, Craig!"
by Tuna Helper on Jul 12, 2010 7:21 PM EDT reply actions
ummm
Jesse Jackson was the one who yelled racism, so your argument is totally invalid.
Or…
Jesse Jackson can yell racism but no one else can?
by adamcawa on Jul 13, 2010 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Not what he said ...
Gotta read. It’ll help.
That’s not what he said.
Find me the statement where he calls Gilbert a racist.
I’ll wait.
"They need security in the world, Craig!"
by Tuna Helper on Jul 14, 2010 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions
Jesse Jackson, as Andrew pointed out, immediately calls people racist just so he can be heard. He ignores the larger facts staring him in the face and creates an issue where there isn’t one.
Maybe it’s because I’m white but I never read anything Gilbert said as racist or having anything to do with slavery. I saw a city and a grown man act like 6-year-olds throwing a tantrum and a young man taking his mundane acts a bit to far. Now I see Jesse Jackson being Jesse Jackson. Let’s face it if there are no racial undertones anywhere Jesse Jackson is irrelevant, which is why he injects those undertones where they don’t fit.
by evenflow58 on Jul 14, 2010 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions
He can express his opinion....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/13/obama-hitler-tea-party-billboard_n_645203.html
Everybody else does. (I post this link not because it’s about sports, but to make the point people use overheated rhetoric about a lot of things. Jesse should be allowed to as well.)
No one really has explained to me why it’s wrong to give his opinion. Just because you don’t agree with the slavery analogy, I don’t get why he has to agree with you.
I probably wouldn’t have phrased it that way. But I understand where he’s coming from. So many different people inject race, lies and all kind of unseemingly things into discussions. I don’t get why he — specifically — needs to be silenced.
I just think it’s part of this larger narrative of “pity me cause someone accused me of racism” whinefest. I am so very, very tired of that argument.
"They need security in the world, Craig!"
by Tuna Helper on Jul 14, 2010 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions
This whole thing is a disaster
At no point does the columnist say that “everyone always yells racism,” presumably because he recognizes that they don’t. They really don’t. But Jesse Jackson does. He really does. And all day today on Detroit sports radio, I heard people from across the cultural spectrum laughing their asses off at the foolishness of all of Jackson’s comments. Just like they laughed their asses of at the Dan Gilbert’s foolishness. Just like they laughed their asses of at ESPN, and LeBron, and on and on. I’ll admit I don’t know what other regions think of this debacle, but there have been a lot of spontaneous cultural bridges built on mutual disdain of all the players involved in this fiasco.
This whole thing was a damned shame, all around. Nobody comes out of this looking any better. Not LeBron, not Gilbert & the Cavs, not ESPN, not us for giving it all this attention, not even the good folks at Vitamin Water. The whole thing is a train wreck and it is really past the point of no return for all involved. Everyone’s going to remember LeBron’s stupid infomercial. Everyone’s going to remember ESPN kissing his ass. Everyone’s going to remember Dan Gilbert losing his shit in Comic Sans. This whole thing’s going down in sports infamy.
Sure there are people who I’m sure hate Jesse Jackson because he’s black. Straight up, anyone should be able to recognize that fact. But another fact is that anyone who willingly and publicly throws their hat into this three-ring circus of stupidity is an idiot, and Jesse Jackson is no exception.
by EdDames on Jul 12, 2010 9:55 PM EDT reply actions
+1000000
Right on and well said!
Opus smart , lascivio magis , intereo gauisus...
by 27Tango on Jul 12, 2010 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions
+100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
I concur with both EdDames and 27Tango
One thing i can do...................is FINGER ROLL.
by gunnin' gervin on Jul 12, 2010 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Man, i'm as liberal as the next, but Jackson is so off base it's pathetic.
There is no point to even having a long discussion about this. Jackson should never have said anything and should not say anything else (except maybe “I’m wrong and sorry for wasting everyone’s time.”).
by mmmmm on Jul 12, 2010 11:27 PM EDT reply actions
Jesse!?!?!
Me as a black male, hates when shit like this occurs because it makes validating when real discrimination happens. Jesse is reaching with his comments and he needs to realize the more he does things like this, the more it makes him look less creditable. Even though at this state he pretty much is looked at as an idiot by many.
One thing i can do...................is FINGER ROLL.
by gunnin' gervin on Jul 12, 2010 11:49 PM EDT reply actions
Jesse RIght in what he said but wrong man to say it , MAybe minister louis farrakhan
real discrimination happens. what , see it funny when not even blacks don’t know when they are discriminated against I"m black too and what that guy wrote was stupid and meant much more then he wrote , what u don’t think hes racist ,u really are that stupid, i bet most owners are, that’s why he got mad thinking he had control over a man cause of money huh < F u Gilbert your garbage and will never win NOw and for ever more , and for stupid people who don’t understand shit , slaver is a job too idiots that’s why people have unions
by Real raptors fan on Jul 13, 2010 12:52 AM EDT reply actions
How would those comments have been any different if the player was white? I am white and just to make sure I was not out of line I asked my african american professor if he saw racist remarks here. He said it reminded him of a nasty breakup with a lot of emotion envolved, but he did not bring up race. He saw a guy hurt and venting through an e-mail. He also said it is sad that race is brought into disputes so quickly. He said its frustrating to see Mr. Jackson provoke the situation futher, and that he is doing african american people as a whole a real diservice.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 7:27 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Rec’d!
by darkcorvus70 on Jul 13, 2010 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
the fact he bitch about the whole thingand he knew it was going to happen is stupid
but saying cause my black friend didn’t feel discriminated doesn’t mean a thing to me , i’m black and i felt like the man had more to say and didn’t say it . He knew what was happening and what was going to happen its all because James didn’t go with the fellow and had nothing to do with out right racism but a control over a person , then went off on the man like u really care about the man, he showed he didn’t , lover my ass, no gm goes off like that cause someone doesn’t wonna sign with u , then u call him a quitter and he got u there ever time wow , i never heard of a white player getting diss like that from a owner and the NBA Owner as well wow , hes stupid and if you were black u would know there more to the story , Uncle tom isn’t an opportunist he jus heard and felt what every black person heard , thats there more to the story then what he wrote , he jus didn’t say the word , which i know he used when there no blacks around , com on what u know about being black anyways to talk about disservice when the whole world was rebuilt on racism . i my self never been truly in slaved but i read history and feel my people pain and still see it every day in news or media and u still can’t see a thing ,
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 3:43 AM EDT up reply actions
‘saying cause my black friend didn’t feel discriminated doesn’t mean a thing to me’
I said my college professor who teaches and specializes in diversity, and cross racial interaction, not just a random person. Just cause you were offened, doesn’t mean every person was.
‘i never heard of a white player getting diss like that from a owner’
We have never seen this kind of spectacle made out of free agency. Have you ever heard of ANY player white or African American of this level leave his team, in that manner? I would totally agree with you if a white superstar left the Cavs last year and Gilbert said nothing at all, and freaked out on Lebron this year.
‘hes stupid and if you were black u would know there more to the story’
Your right I do not know what hearing those statements in a African American person’s shoes feels like. I am speaking to the words on the paper, now if you read futher into those statements and were offended due to your personal experiences, then thats totally different then his comments being racist. IMO
’ thats there more to the story then what he wrote , he jus didn’t say the word , which i know he used when there no blacks around’
LOL I got to say that is freaking amazing. You know for a fact what Dan Gilbert says when no African American is around. You reveal your own ignorance with that statement. Where do you get off making riduclious claims like that. If you have something to say then fine but when you make fictional claims like this, no one will take you seriously.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 14, 2010 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
You should really think about what you want to say, and HOW, before you say it. Otherwise, you end up with a garbled mess, like the one you just posted.
by darkcorvus70 on Jul 13, 2010 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
While I agree that Jesse Jackson is an opportunist
and this is another example. But i think there is something to be said about the discourse and rhetoric around Gilbert’s words that Jackson is addressing.
If Gilbert feels disrespected because Lebron didn’t give the Cavs warning so they could pursue other free agents, then he should have said that. Instead, he used words like ‘betrayal’ and ‘disloyalty’ in ways that echo feelings of ownership over Lebron, as if Lebron OWED him something and that Gilbert himself had provided him with whatever privileges and skills he ever had. Perhaps I am exaggerating. And perhaps its the lebron “is a local” thing that hurts so much, too.
But its hard to abstract how Lebron was Gilbert’s meal ticket (as he was for the rest of that region of the rust belt) and how this might matter to why the ‘slavery’ argument maybe worth talking about. I’m not saying dan gilbert and all white people who own businesses run them like ‘slave owners.’ that’s ridiculous to think. but what i am suggesting is that the rhetoric of slavery — as a capitalist exploitative system centered around publicly humiliating runaway slaves — survives perhaps in some shape or another.
That is, Lebron, as the news has been saying repeatedly the last week now, has singlehandedly revived Cleveland’s downtown. For these reasons, Gilbert needs Lebron for economic purposes, not just seemingly abstracted ideas of the “loyal hometown hero.” Granted this may be part of it. But Jackson’s argument about the relationship between loyalty and capitalism as it relates to Lebron is disturbing, to me at least, by how seemingly paternalistic Gilbert seems in a way that a “slave owner” has been described to feel in historical texts about slavery.
I am not saying Gilbert is a racist. Neither am I saying he is a “slave owner.” But I am suggesting that it’s possible that Gilbert’s anger resembles the vestiges of racism that still continues in our society at the structural level of capitalism. I don’t believe racism is an individual issues so i don’t have hate for him in any way. Rather, I personally care more that we talk about what are the reasons for why people like Gilbert may end up saying these types of things.
I’m not condoning Lebron’s behavior for putting on “the decision,” which I thought was extremely boring and corny. But I do think Jackson’s comments, as random and possibly ridiculous as they were, require us to be uncomfortable about the silences I believe are not spoken about when it comes to racism in the United States. Jackson’s previous statements as listed above give audiences plenty of reasons to ignore him. I had no idea how crazy some of them are. But I think in this instance, Jackson gives us tangible words to work with. He may not be right, but I believe there is plenty to still talk about with what he is saying, as dumb as it might be.
by brian chung on Jul 13, 2010 4:25 AM EDT reply actions
Lets not make this anything more then it is, a guy trying to make a living
He saw an opportunity to bring race into a situation and he did. I do not see how race has anything to do with his comments. Gilbet was upset and he did the equivalent of “drunk dialing” just on a computer. He feels he was treated wrong by Lebron and he was venting. I think those comments should not be coming out of a NBA team owners mouth, but the comments would of been no different then if the player was white, or spanish. Its sad really that race always crawls back into any conflict where the two parties involved are different races.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 7:10 AM EDT reply actions
If this were Larry Bird...
No owner in America would have disparaged him anywhere nearly as unhumanistically as Dan Gilbert for exercising his legal will which he signalled since last Summer he may do. This is a clear example why racism will always be a problem in America. Because when anyone points it out as a possible motivation, most of white America goes ballistic as if slavery never occurred and if it did, shhh, don’t remind me that my ancestors were inhumane(& some may still live in me) and can’t face the possibility that their pious, sanctamoniousness, that granted, created what is probably the greatest Democracy on the planet on our backs, by the way, while blacks that won’t to stay black, recieve the cold shoulder, labelled as dangerous and is “going to get back at us any chance they get” at schools and jobs and all types of other settings across this great country. We shouldn’t have to smile everytime whites are around or act as white as we possibly can in order to fit in and get an equal education or equal treatment, but that’s how most blacks have to be in order to get ahead or just get in a door. If whites would only just consider for 2 seconds that some parts of their behavior is possibly racist and check their selves, we as blacks, wouldn’t have to bring it up or “play the race card” because the racism you mostly practice is subconcious, at least the mainstream average non-black. Until we get to the point where we can check ourselves and you can check yourselves (but u gotta take the blinders off, don’t be afraid) and just consider, say "why are we not talking to the new black guy on the job or at school just because he’s not kissing up to us and see that’s a racist way to be, or “he’s not tryin’ to be like us”, that’s racist too. And its not just whites, its done by asians, latinas, and others as well because many of them come here wanting to be just like you and wonder why many of us don’t wanna be a “wannabe”. Let’s get out of this "blacks need to get to the back of the bus mentality or they should be happy and smilin’ & grinnin’ just for the opportunity… NO I DON’T!!! I’ve paid way more than my dues & my ancestors paid way more. Slave ships would dock here half full because anybody that got sick or couldn’t take it anymore was thrown off the boat or jumped, but we never hear anybody talking about the African Slave Holocaust, that had to be hundreds of thousands and probably in the millions all total(counting the ones that fought back and were killed… I’m off the point, but as bad as things are in America, we should take it as a chance to get better when someone screams racism, probably cause they’ve been dealing with it all their lives and are ready to jump off the boat… again. If you’re tired of hearing it and we’re tired of sayin’ it, then we have to be able to have open and honest dialogue. People will walk out of the same church and act like they don’t want anyone to know they know too many blacks, or even socialize with blacks that wanna stay black.
by GRickey on Jul 13, 2010 9:15 AM EDT up reply actions
WOW
I don’t even understand how we go from talking about one mans comments to broad generalizations and gross sterotypes. You speak like I said slavery never happened and racism doesn’t excist. I simply said call these comments a lot of things, but not racist. If Larry Bird didn’t talk to his owner since the previous season, and made him find out if he was about to lose his star player and 100 milion dollars from his team’s value by watching a
ridiculous TV show, I guarantee you would of got the same garbage out of Gilbert’s mouth and thats what it was emotional garbage. But somehow since I do not believe race played a role in his comments, you heard shhh slavery didn’t excist. How does one have anything to do with the other? I am talking about a specific incident, you are generalizing a nationful of race related occurrences going back to the slave ships?? I am second generation Irish, my parents are off the boat in 1939. You keep saying my ancestors when all of mine trace back to Ireland and Scotland. I love how your mind works, I say I don’t believe his comments had a racial undertone and you fault me for slavery and oppression? I understand this is a sensitive issue for you, but if you would like to have a non emotional conversation futher I would be more then happy to more of your view points, as long as you would be open to mine.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
If This Were Larry Bird (Not To Disrespect Larry Bird)...
I realized that I was going off the point. That is why I broke it off. But, the bottom line(s) I would offer is that we all have a certain amount of racism lingering, and usually festering right under the surface of our emotions, and that many times, it boils over in subtle ways that we ‘do’ sometimes realize, but, in most good Americans, we don’t realize it and it ends up, if it goes unchecked, hurting members of another persuasion. I feel that if we recognize & admit this, then we should be able to realize also that there is a variable amount of racism in all inter-racial issues and interactions. Not to an extreme level, but just enough to give us pause to say to ourselves, “is my embedded, conditioned racism affecting my interaction and relationships with other races?” We can come up with that answer most of the times on our own just by asking the question, but there are times when you, or I, can’t answer that question fully or unbiasly without asking that other person of another race, without some intimidating or unsincere manner, because the idea is to ask with the idea that you’re turning that mirror on yourself, and, if that person can feel your sincerity, then they can be sincere in communicating how they truly feel. A lot of what I call “white denial”, if you will, is a product of , say blacks wanting to get ahead so badly that they will not tell or show there true feelings or hurt because they want to fit in and be a part of the whole so badly that they surpress these hurts or feelings of being mistreated and sacrifice their own identities in the end. Most times when they do, they are labelled as racist or “not a team player”, and they are left out altogether. Not to say that anyone should be coddled, but we must encourage, on both sides, true communications.
The next point I’d like to make is when I feel that racism is allowed to fester and be spread, is when we hear hatred of other races being spoken in one’s own presence and we say nothing, do nothing, and hope that if I just don’t buy into it and say nothing, it’ll be o.k. But, that is how everyone that is in earshot of this and does not speak up against it, become subcinsciously de-sensitized to this type of rhetoric and behavior, and believe me that if you let this continually flow in, eventually, we will start acting in line with what we’ve heard and did not stand up against. Remember the saying “The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing.”?(Churchill?)? Of course, you don’t wanna challenge someone or a group where bodily harm may ensue against you, but in those situations where you can make an upstanding intellectual point and shine that mirror own ‘them’ so they can see themselves, they (or you or I) will hopefully start their own uplifting from this archaic tomb of ignorance as we all must do and then take that mirror back to where they got that rhetoric from in the first place. I still have hope that there’s enough of us in this country that can take this stand, on both sides of the color line, that we can make a large dent in this enigma that threatens to tear this country apart and give the bigots on both sides the power they need to bring this country to its knees again like we were in the 60’s and before. The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t an end all, be all solution to racism. It was a starting point for us to begin the healing that slavery and bigotry perpurtrated on all of us.
by GRickey on Jul 14, 2010 5:07 AM EDT up reply actions
GRickey
I agree with the most of your post. I like idea of discussion between races in general. I hate how race is the 800lb gorilla in the room, when it should be a topic that we revisit often. You say "we all have a certain amount of racism lingering" I just don’t think I can agree with that. I will say there a lot of racists and many forms of racism, and sometimes it is not obvious and can be subtle. I just don’t feel comfortable with "all people", I can say many but not all. To me sometimes ignorance can be confused with racism. Racism has to be a conscience decision to hate IMO. While if you do or say something that offends another race and it was unintentional ,most likely it could be ignorance. So if you offend somebody by accident while not intending to, while those comments or actions were discriminatory and offensive, you didn’t stop before and intend to offend them because of their skin color or that they are different. Now I can understand if all this could fall under your definition of racism, but it doesn’t under mine. We have to learn to hate or judge based on things other then merits. I am also speaking from one side of the discussion I could never understand this topic through the eyes of a black person. I honestly believe that 99 percent of black (lets just speak to black and white cause that is what we are) people at least once in their lives (probably more) were judged or discriminated based solely on their skin color. I could never understand that. When issues like these come up for black people, racism has to be on the list of possible options when interpreting what someone meant by their comments because that happens in real life for them.
The thing I hate about this part is I am scared we can’t change a lot of it. I don’t see how we could ever completely kill racism or discrimination but we can make people aware of their ignorance. The people that I don’t believe to be down in their heart haters that are "stupid to race", if you let them know that they were offending someone of a different race they would stop immediately and never do it again. People like the KKK will never change IMO, and it’s sad because think about the KKK member that has a two year old kid. That kid will be raised to hate and look at people different. So that type of hate will never change, talking to those people is useless IMO. But the kid in a way is an innocent bystander , until he is brainwashed to hate and then he gets older to teach the same hate. So the people that are racist out of pure ignorance are the people we can change an educate IMO. Can say much more but this is way long so I will cut it off.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 15, 2010 4:51 AM EDT up reply actions
If it were Larry Bird, In Cleveland, in 2010...
You betya Gilbert would have made this same comment. If Larry Bird were the #1 or #2 player in the league, and played for a team for 7 years, was offered $$$$ by Cleveland, and Gilbert was the owner. I would bet money the same thing would have been said.
by jim2 on Jul 13, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions
yep... i agree... this issue haz ZERO to do with race and everything to do with a cry-baby owner and a narcissistic, self-promoting asshole
by Superelkman on Jul 13, 2010 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Indeed. There’s the added insult of LeBron being from the area, talking about how he loves northeast Ohio, his loyalty, and so on, and then doing this.
by darkcorvus70 on Jul 13, 2010 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions
nah and your a lair
7 year he gave the team, no matter if he lived in the city the city still is a racist city , jus ask any blacks in the ghetto . or u go grow up there where he lived with a single mom working hard everyday doing her best to make ends meet , u jus love what he did for the city not what u could do for him, your all shady for these stupid comment against the man that’s plain to see
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 3:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Nobody is saying the comments were made because he left the Cavs, it was the way he did so. L. James and Gilbert were closer then the typical owner player relationship. Gilbert let James’s friends work for the team and they could do whatever they wanted. James stopped talking to Gilbert after the playoffs were over and he wouldn’t call Gilbert back. Like you said he was on the team for 7 years, and in those years they became close. Lebron made Gilbert watch the decision to find out if he was leaving the team. You don’t think Gilbert deserved better then that? So when I heard those comments were made I thought of a man who felt betrayed by a friend, more then I heard an owner of a professional team talking about one of his players. Those comments were wrong and borderline abusive, but I didn’t hear them as racial.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 15, 2010 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions
For once I kind of agree with Whitlock
Dan Gilbert invited this kind of nonsense with his own crazy, childish rant. That doesn’t excuse Jesse Jackson’s silly comparisons… but he and Gilbert and just fighting crazy with crazy here.
Follow Bleeding Green Nation on Twitter & Facebook
by Jason Brewer on Jul 13, 2010 11:34 AM EDT reply actions
LOL Thats a real god way to put it
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
*good
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Actually if you take race out of the equation
He make a very good point. In terms of slavery the analogy makes sense but because race is still such a big issue in this country and because of rev. jackson’s reputation thats the first place that we go.
by 84raider on Jul 13, 2010 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah its a well written piece. It is the part about where he is talking about coach Randy Rhodes that we have talked about in one of my classes, and argued from all sides. Taking the example with afraid to hire an African American coach for fear that if it doesn’t work out and you go in a different direction thee will most likely backlash that he may have been fired cause of the color of their skin. It just makes you think.
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 13, 2010 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions
yup thinking shady
wow Shady shady shady really stupd comment like they really care if they fired a black coach
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 3:57 AM EDT up reply actions
That is what the article said. Did you even read the story or did you just start posting nonsense??
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 14, 2010 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
no the fact u think u can't fired a black person and well think its racial motivated
it stupid to ask a question like that unless its is racial motivated
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions
I didn't any question
The story talked about it, I commented on it. I recommend you read the story then you would understand what I am talking about
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 15, 2010 2:24 AM EDT up reply actions
ask the question fool is there a comparisons
Yes YES YES YES YES if u think no your dum then and u can’t see a thing
Control + Not in control = Hater and shit talker
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Jesse Jackson is a blowhard.
That is all.
"There are no "Kobe Lovers", just people who are right." - Gil Meriken
by SoCalGal on Jul 13, 2010 2:03 PM EDT reply actions
As a black man I hve to say you are giving Jackson too much credict.
I understand that Jackson was there to witness MLK’s horrible assassination. So I won’t go as far as likening him to a Mafia Don or bashing him as much as I would like. I think it’s more of a simple psychosis from a stubborn old man.
I want to thank you Andrew; if you read every comment for appreciating the scope of slavery and its affect on America as a whole but I don’t believe there was much of a discussion to be had on Gilbert’s rant and if there is then we should all be free to ignore Jesse’s ridiculousness and have it.
by Kaanyr Vhok on Jul 14, 2010 1:56 PM EDT reply actions
this is one black brother who's know nothing about his own people
Narcissism u people are a joke like u dont live it everyday talking bad about a man that jus plays basketball for a living , u clearly show me that if there was a black owner oh there isn’t and he think he can’t control u anymore that he has the right to diss u in the media , yea right , nothing LBJ did was wrong , but how people reacted is plain to see a user mentality, he jus plays basketball who cares u don’t love him, u dont care about him u never did,
Jesse was right on the button but like a lot of black like ksanyr vhok , who doesn’t know anything about his history of people which out date everybody , even Europe it self still think like an western European person, u think your better so u hate on people , in every sharpe or form , i dont expect any white person to understand , unless they have peace in there heart and know what The owner said and some people of Cleavland even some blacks that burn a jersey and speak devil hate about a man wow but some black dont care when others spot it like waldo
by Real raptors fan on Jul 14, 2010 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions
You don’t make much sense I am sorry to say. Just because he disagrees with you, he knows nothing about his own race? Why do you make such generalizations about a whole race of people?
Since the face been revealed the game got real
by BL3ACH on Jul 15, 2010 2:31 AM EDT up reply actions
I know this country’s history relatively well
I’m also pretty damn militant. Still I see Jackson’s comments as more of an insult to the real descendants of slaves than anything else. The Cleveland love affair with LeBron was a questionable animal in its own right. Still as you admitted this obviously transcends race. I was a fan of LeBron and I wasn’t a Cavs fan yet I still come away from this feeling that LeBron was wrong to dump his team like that and make a TV show out of it. I cant blame anyone for burning his jersey but then again I’m militant. If it takes burning a flag to get the cameras on you then that’s what it takes. Burning the jersey was a message and I cant blame the messengers.
by Kaanyr Vhok on Jul 22, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
He means he shows no understanding of his people pre-Slavery
He was obviously emotional and it was a little cryptic, but, if you look behind the curtain, RSF is on point. He is making the point that the brother does not know that we, Africans, who were the original Egyptians, once ruled the world way before Cleopatra betrayed the New Kingdom Kemetians(the original name of Egypt, interpreted as “Land of the Blacks”, by getting involved with Alexander and giving him the secrets overthrowing first Southern Kemet then on to Northern Kemet. That’s where all the critical sciences came from(Farming, Agriculture,astronomy,mathematics,medicine(why the staff of the AMA is a rapped with snakes , which were Kemetian, and the like were hidden away as the Dead Sea Scrolls, because they knew the knowledge would eventually be used to control the world. Alexander took as many scrolls as he could find and began proclaiming these sciences as Greek, and they spread throughout Europe, Asia, & the Arabs later raided the tombs & pyramids and detroyed everything else they couldn’t understand, they destroyed. That is why we’re on the verge of annialating ourselves. The Masons seek to achieve 33& 1/3 degrees, but the ancient Kemetians, especially the Pharoahs & the High Priests were able to attain 360 degrees of knowledge. o if he were armed with such knowledge and deeper, K Vokk wouldn’t spew
such nonesense when someone stands up and tells the truth. That’s why you all are taught to beware of the Black man, for if he returns to his roots, the original knowledge of himself, he may once again control his own destiny. Just about every major technological advancement coinsides with Europeans cracking another secret of the scrolls. I don’t say these things to hate, but to turn a light on and do some digging to find out for yourself, but you must be willing to tudy the works of Africentric authors, then compare, unbiasly, if possible, two vastly different interpretations of the same material. After all, the walls of the pyramid show the Pharoahs depicted as the Blackest of the Black, melanin, preserved by mummification, allows them to cross over to the other side!
by GRickey on Jul 16, 2010 6:58 AM EDT reply actions
That has nothing at all to do with LeBron James
I see some possible loopholes in that historic synopsis but lets just say it was accurate and I agreed with it 100% what does that have to do with likening Gilbert to a slave master?
by Kaanyr Vhok on Jul 22, 2010 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed