LeBron James went after the media for its flagrant hypocrisy of asking athletes about Kyrie Irving’s antisemitism but failing to ask them about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’s appearance at a segregation rally as a teen.
Jones, 80, was photographed standing among a group of White supremacists who blocked the entry of Black students into their high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
Jones acknowledged that the 14-year-old boy circled in red was indeed him. However, Jones quickly dismissed the episode as a case of curiosity rather than hatred of the Black students.
Wow, so Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was one of the bullies trying to stop his Black classmates from desegregating Central High in Little Rock in 1957. https://t.co/IZm9DuTUhM pic.twitter.com/G4o7H2G9qp
— Joshua Clark Davis (@JoshClarkDavis) November 23, 2022
Following the Lakers’ drubbing over the Portland Trail Blazers, 128-109, on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, James slammed reporters for their blatant double standard. He demanded to know why reporters failed to ask him questions about the Jerry Jones photo, and compared it to the bombardment of questions he got about Irving.
“I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question about the Jerry Jones photo, but when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask questions about that,” said James to the assemblage of reporters.
“I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question about the Jerry Jones photo, but when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask questions about that.” – LeBron James asks reporters about the 1957 desegregation mob photo pic.twitter.com/uC9vcvcZKc
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 1, 2022
“When I watched Kyrie talk and he says I know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we’re talking about my people and the things that we’ve been through and the Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America,” James continued. “When we do something wrong, or something that people don’t agree with, it’s on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, and asked about every single day.”
James is among a group of influential athletes and leaders who are astounded that the notorious Jones photo has been buried but that Irving was dragged through the mud and forced to apologize for reposting an antisemitic movie. Irving also received a substantial suspension with no pay and was ordered to contribute to anti-hate organizations.
