In the post-Jordan sports scene, American athletes don’t take a stand on anything remotely political. There aren’t any Muhammad Alis or Jim Browns out there, going hard in public for social causes and racial injustice. The modern-day athlete, to borrow a phrase from Walt Clyde Frazier, is all about “winnin & grinnin” all the way to the bank.
That’s why I tip my hat to the NBA’s Miami Heat for the political statement they made today. Lebron James tweeted the above photo with the caption: “#WeAreTrayvonMartin #Hoodies #Stereotyped #WeWantJustice.” The entire team wore hoodies in support of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed young black man killed by racist neighborhood watchdog George Zimmerman.
17-year old Trayvon was wearing a hoodie (which in addition to being black, allegedly made him look “suspicious”) when he was killed by Zimmerman, who is nothing more than a paranoid, overzealous vigilante. Trayvon, a straight-A student returning from the store after buying candy to eat during the NBA All-Star game, was guilty of nothing more than strolling through the neighborhood. Of course, since African-Americans are viewed as a sub-human species, Zimmerman was never charged with a crime or even questioned by police. I’m not going to go into further detail ‘cuz you’re probably well-informed about this tragic crime by now… plus, I’ll only get angrier.
Shout out to the Miami Heat. I’m a die-hard Knicks fan and the Heat are our sworn enemies but I’m proud of them for taking a stand. In a time where commercials and endorsements are a professional athlete’s lifeblood, it’s refreshing to see a few of them publicly speak out for the communities from which they came.
Salute.
I definitely support eveyone who is supporting the trayvon martin case. This is another situation where a white person got away with murder. There are things like this happening everyday and we need to shine a spotlight on all the situations like this to let people know that we are more than 3/11th of a man!! We have rights! They can’t get away with shit like this!!
I agree. But let’s be clear, Zimmerman is Hispanic. Maybe he’s mixed with white… or maybe he’s one of those Latino ppl who can pass for white & claims they’re white depending on the occasion.
In the eyes of the courts, though, the guilty party is whoever’s darker. That’s the scale they use. Hispanic or not, Zimmerman is lighter than Trayvon Martin, so most likely he walks.
I am so frustrated, I don’t where to start, but i will say this, maybe now African Americans, Blacks or whatever we are called today, will understand it is REAL IN THE FIELD. I know we can buy a house at a subprime percentage rate and buy oversized cheaply designed rims for our overpriced and underutilized gas guzzling SUVs. But, we are not equal at all. As long as we are trying to achieve this fake a@@ American dream, our youth will continue to be slaughtered in the streets while we look flossy driving down the pothole-filed streets of our foreclosed neighborhood o our unequal paying job. I know am over exaggerating some aspects, but this image of us needs to change and change now.
Nah, you ain’t over-exaggerating, that’s real spit right there. I agree.
At the same time, I think that the first thing that we as black folks gotta do is respect ourselves. If we don’t value our own lives, ain’t nobody else gonna value them either. The killing in our own neighborhoods gotta end before anyone else sees us as being worth a damn. Niggas gotta stop pissin in the elevators at their building, stop hangin on the corners mean-muggin everybody, stop slingin drugs under some old lady’s window & start acting respectably. Then, maybe we’ll get the respect we deserve from outsiders.