This guy claims to be LBJ's dad. What do you think??????
BUCKEYES KICK OFF AT 3:30 SATURDAY!
ALL MADDEN FANS, THE NEW UPDATE IS AVAILABLE NOW THAT FIXES A LOT OF THE GAMES PROBLEMS!
ESPN columnist: 'Black protectionism' insulating LeBron
Sick of these guys always bringing race into question whenever one of their own falls on his face. Prince James is receiving everything he deserves for how he handled the situation in Cleveland. So, cry all you guys want. He is hated!
By now you've heard of LeBron James is the sixth-most hated athlete in the nation. His new Q-score rating -- that statistic from the fun folks at the Q Score Company that gauges an athlete's popularity -- is in the dumpster. LeBron's stats, as taken soon after The Decision on ESPN, fell like a safe ... everywhere, that is, except in the black community. In his column today on ESPN.com, Vincent Thomas examines this, throws around the term "black protectionism," and asks the very valid question: Why aren't Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger among America's top 10 most hated athletes? Yeah, why aren't they? Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco are in there, but not Roethlisberger? Doesn't that strike you as just a tad racist?
Thomas:
You've probably heard about his plummeting Q rating (the industry standard for measuring an athlete's familiarity and appeal). According to The Q Scores Co., for non-blacks, LeBron's positive Q rating went from 18 percent in January to 10 percent in September and, more telling, his negative Q rating went from 24 percent to 44. Nearly half of the non-blacks in this country don't like the dude. Meanwhile, LeBron's positive Q rating among blacks went from 52 percent in January to 39 -- a noticeable drop -- but his negative Q rating barely budged, going from 14 percent to 15. Among African-Americans, says The Q Scores Co. executive vice president Henry Schafer, the shift in opinion was mostly to neutral.
The general, expressed sentiment of African-Americans has been, "I may not have agreed with how LeBron carried the whole free-agency thing, but I'm not gonna hate the man." The more America shuns LeBron, the more Black America retreats to his corner. In fact, as America hates LeBron more and more, Black America's collective hug embraces LeBron tighter and tighter. It's called black protectionism.
Thomas goes on to give other examples of black athletes who are or were disliked by Americans as a whole, yet embraced by the black community. Here, I think he trips himself. He lumps Michael Vick, Mike Tyson, Hank Aaron and Jack Johnson together, and they don't really go together. First, you can't compare eras; America was a very different country in the early 20th century, and even in 1973, than it is now. Vick and Tyson are generally loathed because of what they did, not who they are. Aaron was hated by some because of naked racism, mainly in the south; he was threatening a white man's hallowed home run record. Even his haters would admit that he actually did nothing wrong.
Also, that infamous photo of Cavs fans burning the LeBron jersey? One of those dudes is black.
The term "black protectionism" has been around for a while. Thomas:
Katheryn Russell-Brown coined the term in the immediate aftermath of the O.J. Simpson trial. She remembers watching the split-screen reactions of Simpson's not guilty verdict, seeing what she recalls as white-hot rage from white people and unbridled jubilation from black people. In her book, "Protecting Our Own: Race, Crime, and African Americans," she defines black protectionism as, "the response by large numbers of the black community to allegations that a famous black person has engaged in a criminal act or ethical violation. The response is protective in that it denies, excuses or minimizes the charges."
This is conditioned behavior. Black male history in this country began with the slave trade, lynchings, wrongful deaths and wrongful imprisonments. The experience has bred a skepticism. "Why do you hate this black man?" And it has bred a defense mechanism. "Leave this black man alone." There also remains a success gap in America, even as more African-Americans succeed. The ones who make it often get cub treatment from the "mama bear" of the community.
Kobe Bryant has had trouble rehabilitating his Q rating, as former rape allegations seemingly will dog him until the day he dies. LeBron, IMO, will have an easier go of it. One or two titles in Miami, and he'll be popular again. But why is he so universally hated now, and Favre is not? That's the interesting question.
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