NBA Superstar LeBron James has said some really dumb things in the past. But he’s a basketball player—not a scholar. So his commentary isn’t really noteworthy.
That said, his past comments about blacks being “hunted” in the streets were so crazy I feared his nonsense would be taken seriously. And due to his status, even his nonsense is taken seriously. And his latest comments about the knife attack in Columbus, Ohio put his prejudiced thinking clearly on display—enough is enough already.
As a basketball star and celebrity, James should know better: he should know that spewing prejudiced remarks of incivility—before the facts are known—isn’t just wrong, it’s endangering.
But there’s a bigger problem here:
Lebron seems to be ignoring right and wrong—because he’s only seeing black and white.
Unfortunately, there’s really no way to ignore James’ thinly veiled threat against a Columbus (OH) police officer.
And by the way, let’s put some mainstream media race-based spin on the incident shall we: LeBron offered his prejudiced demands for #ACCOUNTABILITY after an officer—who is WHITE—saved the life of a woman—who is BLACK—by shooting her attacker who was armed with a knife and about to violently stab her.
Ironically, in demanding #ACCOUNTABILITY, James has yet to apologize or otherwise take accountability for his own prejudiced incivility and wrongdoing in threatening a police officer. In fact, rather that demonstrate accountability, he’s doubled-down and offered even more deflective nonsense to hide his outrageous claims and ignorance.
And that’s the worst part: James knows better, or probably ought to know better. After all, he reportedly has ten security guards at his house, including off-duty law enforcement officers.
And he probably knows that despite all the race-based political nonsense, sometimes the only people trying to prevent violence against blacks are white police officers. Police video made it quite clear that this is exactly what happened in a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood on Tuesday.
Indeed, as police video shows, it was a (white) police officer that made the split-second decision to save the life of a (black) victim who was being attacked.
Tragically, suspect Ma’Khia Bryant had a choice. She clearly saw the officer—and clearly ignored him—and began attacking someone with a knife instead of complying.
Ironically, James seems to be ignoring a few things as well. Least of all, he’s ignoring accountability for his prejudiced demand for police #ACCOUNTABILITY.
So maybe it’s time for James to hold himself #ACCOUNTABLE for his own words and actions.
And even more importantly, maybe it’s time for the law enforcement profession to demand accountability from those demanding #ACCOUNTABILITY.
