Racist Graffiti at LeBron's LA Home
I wish I could put money on this being a fake "hate crime."
Just knowing LA...and knowing where LeBron's home probably is...(I'm guess Brentwood, but I don't know)...the racists in the 10 million and up zip codes don't tend to be the graffiting types.
My bet is on fake hate crime first and dumb teenager second.
2 comments:
had the same first thought on this - feels like a fake - this kind of stuff has just happened so much of late. i can already hear the protests and accusations from others in writing my skepticism - "of course, that's what a white guy would say" etc etc. we won't know the full story - I tried to google pics of it cause I was interested in seeing what was written and nothing came up. whether it's a fake or not it doesn't take away from LeBron feeling hurt by it and who wouldn't it but turning it into this grand statement about how the country is still crazy racist is just ill conceived. Look at this ridiculousness from the Ringer:
LeBron James Already Won
Jason Concepcion: LeBron James has already won. That sounds trite in the face of a 113–91 Golden State knockout, with Kevin Durant putting up 38 points, including six first-half cupcake dunks, eight rebounds, and eight assists (and LeBron countering with 28 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, eight turnovers, and an L). But that’s facts.
I’m not talking about the seven straight Finals appearances (unprecedented in the modern era) or his three rings or the serious and sober comparisons to Michael Jordan or the way he carries himself in defeat or even the fact that he has Rihanna stanning for him from the front row in her auxiliary cultural capacity as next-gen Jimmy Goldstein. Well, maybe it’s a little about that.
James has already won because no other active American athlete has his combination of talent, platform, gravitas, and thoughtfulness. And all those things together are why LeBron James is remarkable and necessary. On Wednesday, James’s Los Angeles home was vandalized with racist slurs. At the press conference before Game 1, LeBron was asked about the incident.
“As I sit here on the eve of one of the greatest sporting events that we have in sports, race and what’s going on comes again, and on my behalf and on my family’s behalf,” James said. “But I look at it as, if this can shed light and continue to keep the conversation going on my behalf, then I’m OK with it. … It just goes to show that racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America. Hate in America, especially for African Americans, is with them every day. Even though it’s concealed most of the time, people hide their faces, say things about you. When they see you, they smile in your face. It’s alive every single day.”
“Stick to sports” is a ubiquitous refrain whenever athletes step out of the cloistered and comfortable sphere of the arena and epistemological pregame/postgame soundbite softballs. The obvious problem is that life, in all of its complexity and ugliness, never heeds the request. When that happens, the modern athlete is presented with a Gordian knot of tough choices. Speak out on issues and they get criticized or even potentially ostracized. Sit out the debate, or couch comments in lawyerly dodges and “gotta hear both sides”–style platitudes, and they get roasted again. It can be a no-win situation. But LeBron James has already won.
The thing with race discussion is that no one says anything remotely interesting about it. so at the risk of adding more dumbness to the conversation: This presumption that vast numbers of people hate african americans is insane. At least in california. at worst, non-african americans may be negligent, insensitive, or subconsciously racist. but hate? you really think? i mean, this is paranoia, right?
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