When
you look at those photos from the
1950s and 1960s of Black students
integrating a school, you’ll
undoubtedly see some white people —
young people and adults alike —
harassing, bullying and terrorizing
those Black children. One of those
white boys was Jerry Jones, now the
owner of the Dallas Cowboys. A teenage
Jones appeared in a 1957 photo with
his fellow white boys at a
desegregation protest blocking Black
students from integrating North Little
Rock High School in Arkansas.
And LeBron James wants to know why
the media refused to ask him about that.
“I
got one question for you guys before you
guys leave,” James said recently after
the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland
Trail Blazers.
“I
was thinking when I was on my way over
here, I was wondering why I haven’t
gotten a question from you guys about
the Jerry Jones photo. But when the
Kyrie [Irving] thing was going on, you
guys were quick to ask us questions
about that.”
LeBron
was
referring to the NBA’s suspension of
Irving for
posting about a movie with antisemitic
content based on the Ronald Dalton
book, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up
Black America!”
This
came as Kanye West, or Ye as he is now
known, had a well-earned comeuppance
after praising Hitler, claiming the
Jewish conspiracy was coming for him
and breaking bread with a
Holocaust denier. All
kinds of companies such as Adidas, Gap, Foot Locker and
others ended their contracts with
Kanye West, and with good reason.
However, Black people warned you about
Kanye and his anti-Black statements
for years. After all, he claimed
slavery was a choice, made scurrilous
allegations about George Floyd and
recently palled around with Candace
Owens, both sporting “White Lives
Matter” T-shirts in Paris.
Black
celebrities, athletes and high-profile
individuals must apologize for
whatever they or other Black people
have said and done. In fact, some
Black figures face consequences for
doing nothing bad, but rather for
doing good. Colin Kaepernick was
ceremoniously shut out of the NFL for
his pre-game ritual of kneeling during
the national anthem — against police
brutality and in support of Black
lives. That potent but silent and
respectful show of political protest
was unsettling to white NFL owners and
brass — and Trump — who felt
Kaepernick was un-American,
unpatriotic, and who went against the
white, all-American, apple pie media
image the NFL portrayed for white
fans. This, in a league of mostly Black players and
mostly white owners and coaches.
One of those NFL owners who spoke
out against kneeling was Jerry Jones, who
said that whoever “disrespects the flag”
won’t be allowed to play for him. Jones, who
is influential in the league and has not
hired a Black head coach, is an example of
white men, especially rich, old white men
with stature who are not held accountable
for their troubling past. Not only do they
face little-to-no consequences for what they
did, but they also fail to redeem themselves
and they use their influence to make life
difficult for us today. White teens who
harassed Black kids during the civil rights
movement are now adults who use their money
and power in the 2020s to keep Black people
down, poisoning our environment with white
supremacy in the present day.
And
what abou t Brett Favre?
Another example of allegations of
wrongdoing without being held
accountable, Favre, a former NFL star,
is accused of being involved in a
scheme that funneled millions in
welfare funds to build a volleyball arena at
the University of Southern
Mississippi, where his daughter
attends and plays volleyball. There is
a lawsuit to recoup funds in what has
become the largest public fraud
case in
the history of Mississippi, which
happens to be the poorest and
Blackest
state. Favre may very well face a
penalty — or not — but the public
really doesn’t care a whole lot when a
white figure is involved. Where is the
public shaming and lost product
endorsements for a wealthy white man
who reportedly stole money from the
poor?
This
is way bigger than Jerry Jones and
Brett Favre. As we wait to see whether
former President Trump and other
leaders will face accountability for
their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection,
we must ask why hundreds of foot
soldiers in that coup attempt face
prison, yet the masterminds continue
to walk among us, even continue to
hold high-level government jobs,
collect government paychecks and manage federal money? Why
do allegations of criminality in high
places require congressional
commissions and special counsels to
decide whether the criminality of
overthrowing the government deserves
criminal prosecution?
And
why didn’t the Obama administration
prosecute anyone responsible for the 2008 Wall Street
financial crisis and
the subprime mortgage scandal that
created historic losses in
Black wealth?
In America, influential white men
pay no price for their racism and criminal
behavior, as they use their influence to
keep Black people down. And when the media
fails to call it out, the news fades away.
This
commentary
is also posted on The Grio
