Black man’s burden
5th June 2017 · 0 Comments
By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor
NBA great LeBron James got a reminder last week about what some members of the larger society think about him. The Cleveland Cavaliers standout’s pricey home in the exclusive Brentwood neighborhood where Orenthal James Simpson once resided was hit with a little domestic terrorism by someone who spray-painted the ‘N-word’ on the gate of the $20 million home.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department said the incident occurred Wednesday morning. Interestingly, someone painted over the racial slur before police arrived.
Talk about a slap in the face.
Bron-Bron, as the athlete is affectionately known by fellow athletes, fans and members of the sports media, seemed to take it all in stride, telling reporters “if this is to shed a light on and continuing to keep the conversation going on my behalf then I’m okay with it.
“My family is safe, they’re safe and that’s the most Important thing,” he added. “But it just goes to show you that racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America. You know hate in America, especially for African Americans, is living every day. Even though it’s concealed most of the time, you know people hide their faces and will say things about you and when they see you they smile in your face. It’s alive every single day.”
James, whose primary residence is in Bath, Ohio, might have been caught off-guard if he had not had humble beginnings in a single-parent home in Ohio and had not been openly criticized by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner and some of its fans on social media after announcing his decision to leave Cleveland to play for the Miami Heat several years ago.
He didn’t let any of that stop him from excelling on the basketball court and in the business sector, earning several NBA championships and laying the foundation for a multimillion-dollar empire with his former childhood friends.
Last week he talked about his plans to discuss what happened at the Brentwood home with his sons, who he says are now old enough to process that information and use it as an invaluable teachable moment.
That is a lesson that all Black folks should pay close attention to as racial incidents continue to occur across that nation and Black and Brown men, women and children are targeted by domestic terrorists, law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, lawmakers and the criminal justice system.
We can’t afford to allow our children and grandchildren to step outside of their homes without preparing and providing them with the tools they need to navigate through a complex system of laws, policies and practices that make no apologies for operating under the 19th-century Supreme Court ruling that said Black and Brown people have no rights that whites are bound by law to respect.
Just as we prepare Black and Brown boys for inevitable encounters with law enforcement officers and give them a blueprint for avoiding being gunned down, we need to prepare all Black and Brown children by making certain they understand the history of these Disunited States and how race continues to matter in the 21st century.
Not only does race continue to matter today, it is important to note that no amount of disposable income, educational achievement, professional achievement or anything else can shield any of us from racial hatred and disrespect. Sadly and tragically, it is not even about us. It is about the need for a particular group of people to assert their dominance and superiority over us. The self-esteem of those who oppress us is based upon their ability to continue to subjugate, exploit and marginalize us.
As frustrating and as infuriating as it was to learn that someone felt they needed to put LeBron James in “his place” by spray-painting the N-word on the gate of his Brentwood home, we should never forget that the challenges we face go much deeper than some racial slur aimed at the NBA star and his family. We can never forget the insightful and powerful line by Esther Rolle’s character in the John Singleton film Rosewood in which she observed that “N*gger is just another word for guilty.”
We should also understand that the racial slur on the James family gate pales in comparison to the economic injustice Black and Brown people face every day, to the seemingly never-ending list of innocent and unarmed Black and Brown men, women and children being gunned down like animals by cops as well as the mass incarceration, educational apartheid and unconstitutional prosecution people of color face every day in America.
One thing that has not changed since the Historic Civil Rights Movement is the fact that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
This article originally published in the June 5, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
