Race Relations, LeBron James, and Black Protectionism

Yesterday I went about my day as normal and looked at ESPN. The news was typical, College and NFL talk, the MLB Playoff races, and as usual LeBron James and his new team the Miami Heat. In case you ddi not already know former Cleveland Cavalier superstar basketball player LeBron James abandoned his team to join fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami over the summer in hopes of winning a championship. He announced his decision on an hour long ESPN television special known as "The Decision", which many people and I found to be repulsive, uncourteous, and completely unnecessary (although I am satisfied he gave the proceeds earned by the special to charity). As a result of his decision to leave his hometown of Cleveland, which worshipped and deified him, LeBron has been taking negative backlash throughout the basketball fan community, especially in the city he once played for.

However, I saw an article mentioned on SportsCenter written by an ESPN sportswriter named Vincent Thomas. It is titled LeBron James and Black Protectionism. The concept of "Black Protectionism" is intriguing because for the most part it is valid. LeBron is one of the most hated athletes after Kobe, Tiger Woods, Chad Ochocinco, T.O, and Michael Vick (note what's in common with these guys) according his Q Score. However, a further in depth study reveals that blacks remained for the most part neutral in their stance against LeBron while non-blacks scores revealed a higher level of disdain against the former King. Vincent Thomas argues that the African American people has historically been supportive of black athletes because they are role models within the Black community. He further explains that while black people will feel angry against LeBron for his decision, they do not feel total resentment against him.

For the most part this argument of Black Protectionism is true and while I cannot and will not speak on behalf of the African American community, I personally feel the same way Thomas does and most of the black people I know does too. Take for example the case with Michael Vick, who after he got convicted of dog fighting and served jail, became vilified by the media. I personally was disgusted by this revelation but I did not hate Mike Vick and no black friend or person I knew and talked to hated him either. In fact, we felt sorry for him and we wanted him to have a change of character as well as a second chance in his career after he served his time. It's the same with Tiger Woods; we were disgusted by his adulterous affairs but I and the black people I knew did not hate or vilify the golfer. We also wanted him to continue his successful career while hoping he had changed.

Ultimately, vilification comes down to the name and the talent: LeBron is the most talented basketball player in the NBA. Had this been another talented player like Chris Bosh (his fellow teammate) or Carlos Boozer, they would not have received as much negative attention simply because they are not better or more marketable than LeBron. However, as LeBron continues to receive disdain and hatred by the non-black populace, racist intent or otherwise, the Black community will continue to stand by James' side as he continues an illustrious career in South Beach.