During a recent post-game press conference, LeBron James made a valid point concerning the controversial Jerry Jones photo from 1957. The picture featured a 14 or 15-year-old Jones with a group of white students who were preventing black students from entering North Little Rock High school during integration. Jones says that he was simply an onlooker in the background, a “curious kid”. Many have condemned Jones as a racist for being there. They have even brought his life achievements into a different perspective, questioning his legitimacy.
LeBron asked a rhetorical question to the media bout the now-infamous Jerry Jones picture. He wondered why nobody in the press has asked him about that yet they asked him about the Kyrie Irving drama relentlessly. This is a valid point to make especially since LeBron was recently asked why he is no longer a Dallas Cowboys fan. His response was that they do not support the practice of “kneeling” and he does. He was asked the question during a live taping of his “The Shop” podcast which was during an NFL halftime game on the NFL Network. A great follow-up to the Cowboys line of questioning would have been about the owner being featured in a picture that has racial implications. That question never materialized.
The only issue with the point that LeBron James made is that when the Kyrie Irving drama happened, he essentially threw his former teammate under the bus. The only thing that Irving is “guilty” of is posting a picture of the “Hebrews To Negroes” documentary/book. He did not post the picture with any additional comment at all. The media immediately latched on to this as a show of anti-semitism because of the book’s contents.
In subsequent press conferences, Kyrie said that he was simply trying to learn more about his own heritage and that he is not a racist person. LeBron made a statement saying that Kyrie hurt a lot of people with his actions and that he doesn’t stand for hate. LeBron also shelved an episode of his podcast that featured Kyrie. The “black community” gave LeBron a ton of backlash over this and that may be what has inspired his recent defense of Kyrie.
SOURCES:
Jerry Jones was pictured at a demonstration where white students blocked black students in the 1950s
Jerry Jones has never hired a Black head coach. He could lead change. – Washington Post
Jerry Jones Praises LeBron James After 1957 Photo Criticism
