I was talking to my son about the failure of Michael Jordan to speak out about issues that were important to Black people and human beings in general.
He also pointed out that Larry Bird, who once described Jordan as “god” in a basketball uniform, would have been more effective if he had spoken out on racism.
Not only did Bird refer to Jordan as god, but religious references were made about him throughout his shallow biopic “The Last Dance.”
Imagine that, Jordan as a god, who came to a people who longed for one so much that they worshiped other peoples’ gods and when they got one, all he did was play basketball, focus exclusively on himself, sell basketball shoes and peddle THE MAN’s goods and services.
But while he was winning in the 1980s and 90s the Black community took quite a few Ls: Rodney King was beaten to an inch of his life as police violence raged on; cheap crack cocaine and easy access to guns undermined entire Black communities; mass incarceration including, three-strike laws, mandatory sentencing laws, juveniles tried as adults guaranteed that large swaths of the Black community would be imprisoned; racist violence raged on as James Byrd was dragged to his death; redlining, gentrification, unemployment and underemployment, poverty and poor housing and discrimination continued to plague us.
