Five years ago, LeBron James claimed a vandal spray-painted the N-word on the gate of his Brentwood, California, mansion.
At the time of the alleged incident, James and his family primarily resided in Cleveland, and James was in Oakland participating in the NBA Finals. James’ employees removed and painted over the racist graffiti before police arrived and could investigate.
Nevertheless, when discussing the “crime” from the NBA’s highest platform, James analogized what he and his family experienced to the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for whistling at a white woman.
“It just goes to show that racism will always be a part of the world, a part of America,” James said at the 2017 NBA Finals. “And hate in America, especially for African-Americans, is living every day. And even though that it’s concealed most of the time, even though people hide their faces and will say things about you, and when they see you they smile in your face. It’s alive every single day.
“I think back to Emmett Till’s mom, actually. It’s kind of one of the first things I thought of. The reason that she had an open casket is because she wanted to show the world what her son went through as far as a hate crime and being black in America. No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is tough.”
Spray-painted graffiti that LeBron James and his family never personally saw made LeBron think of the pain Mamie Till felt over the murder of her teenage son.
James, in my opinion, was lying. The hate he whined about was a hoax intended to garner sympathy and elevate his brand as a social justice warrior. I believed that in 2017, and I believe it even more today, analyzing his reaction to the murder of Ethan Liming in the parking lot of James’ celebrated, Akron, Ohio, I Promise School.
Liming and his family have far more in common with Emmett and Mamie Till than LeBron James ever will.
Two weeks ago today, three men beat Liming, a 17-year-old honor-roll student, to death near an outdoor basketball court at I Promise School. Liming is white. His accused assailants are black.
