LeBron James spent Wednesday discussing the deep issues with racism that continue to exist in America after someone spray painted the N-word on the front gate of his Los Angeles home. James offered an incredibly powerful statement when he addressed the vandalism at the NBA Finals media day, explaining that no matter how famous you are or how much money you have racism is inescapable.
James’ words were eloquent, poignant, and heartfelt – speaking to a serious issue that plagues the country and hit home for him personally. His message landed with many, but Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock was not one of them. All of the words you would use to describe James’ statement on the matter would not be applicable to Whitlock’s horrendous response on Thursday when he appeared on The Herd and claimed that James couldn’t speak on the issue of race because he was rich.
This came just over 24 hours after a heinous slur was graffitied across the gate of LeBron’s home.
"Racism is an issue in America, but it's primarily an issue for the poor. It's not LeBron James' issue." – @WhitlockJason pic.twitter.com/6IqMTxIRg9
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 1, 2017
There was plenty of deserved backlash to Whitlock’s bloviating on the issue of racism and how people like himself, LeBron, and Oprah (which, for Whitlock to put himself in their company is ridiculous all on its own) can’t talk about it because they aren’t truly effected by it. Among those that brought the strongest response was Packers tight end Martellus Bennett, who railed against Whitlock on Twitter in a lengthy rant calling out the absurdity of Whitlock’s statement on the issue — without even having to mention Whitlock’s name.
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870414148613681152
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870414478642425856
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870414572682870784
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870415082429313028
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870415763068289024
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870416354666590208
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870416703498407936
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870416844968132608
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870417223336251396
Whitlock attempted the “you just don’t understand my point” argument in response, but Martellus wasn’t having it.
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/870424101227159552
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870427176054730752
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870427391524515841
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870427685956325376
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870427972108529665
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870436352545959937
For some reason, after all of this, Whitlock didn’t pack it in and tried to double down on his terrible takes one last time.
https://twitter.com/WhitlockJason/status/870467138691006464
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/870472549020336131
