Los Angeles Lakers’ star LeBron James has spoken out about
social injustice for years. He is held underneath a microscope as one of the greatest
basketball players in the world, but he is quick to remind us he is a human
being first and foremost.
LeBron has constantly used his platform to shine a light on
the evils and indignities of this world and has been a steady voice against
racism while simultaneously promoting equality and change.
His opinions on societal issues and politics once drew the
ire of Fox News’ host Laura Ingraham who told her viewers that nobody cared
about his opinion and that he needed to “shut up and dribble.”
On Wednesday, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees conflated
Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protest of kneeling during the national anthem to
“disrespect for the flag,” and by extension, the military.
Although Brees’ is entitled to his opinion on the national
anthem and his personal feelings about the military and our troops, by invoking
the flag and the military in his answer, which has nothing to do with
Kaepernick’s anthem protest, he is not only misunderstanding the original
point, but blatantly disregarding its original intent: to peacefully bring
awareness to the injustice of police brutality against black Americans.
As I myself experienced on social media recently, there’s a large
portion of America who agrees with Brees thinking. Despite the fact that
misinterpreting someone’s intent to fit your own agenda is a slippery slope to
say the least.
Nonetheless, Brees received immediate backlash from many players across the NFL, including his own teammates like Michael Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and Alvin Kamara. Saints’ safety Malcom Jenkins was even brought to tears after hearing Brees’ comments and explained in a heartfelt video on his social media why he was so hurt by them.
Later Wednesday evening, Ingraham was back on Fox News, this
time to speak about the Brees incident. In a moment that characterizes the
literal definition of hypocrisy, Ingraham defended Brees and his right to have
an opinion on the subject of kneeling during the national anthem.
James was one of the first to respond to Ingraham’s segment
on Thursday morning, and rightfully so. In a Twitter post, James re-quoted the
video above and said:
“If you still haven’t figured out why the protesting is
going on. Why we’re acting as we are is because we are simply F-N tired of this
treatment right here! Can we break it down for you any simpler than this right
here? And to my people don’t worry I won’t stop until I see change.”
Later Thursday evening, James took it a step further,
releasing a video on his Instagram and on his “Uninterrupted” Twitter
handle of Ingraham’s words repurposed into a 30-second clip that shows the
evolution of the words “shut up and dribble,” into how police use the
same words to justify brutality to black Americans. It’s a powerful clip, and
one that everyone should see. It’s a perfect example of how to turn a negative
into something positive and profound.
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Source: NBC Los Angeles