When your argument is loosely-based on anger towards a person or entity — and not in any way constructive towards the conversation — it’s easy to fall into the trap of labeling that person or entity as racist. This is why athletes, and sports in general, are losing their superhuman grip on American society.
NBA Champion and Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry spoke out against President Trump in the wake of the war of words between newly-signed Los Angeles Lakers’ star player LeBron James and Trump. Curry intimated that Trump’s words are based in the fear of “black men with a voice in power.”
“That rhetoric is all based in some longstanding racism in terms of black men with a voice in power,” Curry told Mercury News’ Logan Murdock in response to a Trump tweet that questioned James’ intelligence. “Unfortunately, that’s being revealed more and more as the days go on.”
Here’s the Trump tweet about James in question:
Look, was that the nicest thing to say about someone? Probably not. But we know by now that the president is one of the biggest trolls on Twitter. Most times it seems as if Trump tweets certain things just to see what kind of reaction he’ll get.
The other side of that coin is that Trump’s tweet about James can’t really be classified as racist. I mean, the guy references how he wants to be like all-time NBA great Michael Jordan. If Trump were so racist, why would he say that he liked a different black man from the one he previously talked about? Who has ever been more powerful in the business world of sports - as a player - than Michael Jordan? Obviously, the phrase is a play on the old Gatorade campaign featuring Jordan that had the mind-consuming jingle line of, “I wanna be like Mike.”
To be fair, Jordan did make a statement giving his support to James, according to NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett. However, Jordan didn't bring race into the equation.
Here's Bennett's tweet with Jordan's comment:
Both James and Curry have said unflattering things about Trump in the past. But, no one misconstrued their comments as being racist against white people. So why is it racist when Trump talks trash right back at whomever he’s talking to? Simply because the person he’s talking about happens to be black? That’s kind of a stretch.
Honestly, I don’t think either Curry or James are bad people. They both do a lot of worthwhile charity work. It might just be a case of being in the spotlight so long that common sense now eludes them.
There’s actual racism that still exists in the world, but liberals and those on the far-Left have labeled so many things and people as racist that it has taken the meaningful use of the word away.
H/T: Bleacher Report