Lebron James, Darfur, and Michael Wilbon’s Perspective Lapse
August 1, 2008
This week Lebron James donated $20,000 toward Barack Obama’s cause. The actual dollar amount is less relevant than his public willingness to take a political side – a rarity amongst athletes with over 100 million in corporate endorsements. Of course, this is a departure from Michael Jordan’s infamous “Republicans buy sneakers too” commentary in 1990 when Harvey Gantt ran twice for a North Carolina Senate seat against Jesse Helms and his blatant race-baiting campaign. And while Lebron is rightfully receiving positive attention, some commentary has just gone too far. It is one thing to laud an athlete for their actions, it is quite another to praise their INaction.After giving James kudos for the Obama donation on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Michael Wilbon states:
“Last year Lebron was sort of challenged after his teammate Ira Newble asked him to sign a petition regarding [protesting China’s role in] Darfur and Lebron initially said “no”. I remember talking to Lebron about that and he said that he just wanted to learn more, and I thought it was sort of admirable that Lebron wanted to “learn”. He just didn’t want to lend his name. He said ‘wait a minute: before I do this, let me find out more about it.’ I think Lebron has made few if any missteps when it comes to large issues like this, And I applaud what he has done.”
Of course, Wilbon is referring to the ongoing G-E-N-O-C-I-D-E in Darfur that has already taken 300,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million more (that’s 100 “9-11’s” and 5 Katrina’s in Americanese). Even in his limited soundbite format, Wilbon passed up a wonderful opportunity to educate viewers on what Lebron has since learned since receiving the petition over a year ago. Or perhaps he could have cited all the other NBA players who have stepped up on Darfur (see end paragraph) or July’s recent Darfur Olympic protest involving over 100 athletes. Or most relevantly to James, Wilbon could have informed viewers that protesting China’s role in Darfur might be in direct conflict with Lebron’s $90 million dollar Nike contract, and that Lebron may have thought “wait a minute: before I do this, let me consult my financial advisors”.
Instead, Wilbon founds Lebron ’s extended research at the local library ”admirable”. It is very hard to believe that Wilbon would be unaware of the implication of Lebron’s Nike contract. In sounding like Lebron’s agent or a Nike spokesperson, Wilbon simply missed the big picture. As it would turn out Lebron never did sign that petition, but kinda, sorta, not-really, spoke out in May, and said that he expected to be part of a more definitive joint statement as full Olympic team before the Games start.
This point is not so much about which athletes we should condemn, but which ones we should commend. And perhaps none are more deserving than NBA player Ira Newble (see his video plea) who has been a steadfast organizer in this fight. All-Star Tracy McGrady is also on a mission to build 12 schools in Darfur and Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and many other NBA players have clearly spoken out. To ESPN’s credit, Outside the Lines, writer Shelley Smith, and True Hopp’s Hentry Abbott have all chronicled the development of this story. Perhaps Pardon the Interruption could use its far wider ESPN influence in the run up to the Olympics to affect some real change on this matter. When the Olympics finish, so will the very best opportunity to say Not on Our Watch.
Author’s Endnote: Usually when someone who reaches the famous status of Lebron James there is debate about their obligation to civic responsibility (racial or otherwise). What is often missing from this debate is the expectation of the great white player (i.e., Brett Favre). The take here is that if the Darfur question is good enough for Lebron, it is good enough for any Olympic or non-Olympic athlete of any hue.
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21 Responses to “Lebron James, Darfur, and Michael Wilbon’s Perspective Lapse”
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MODI -
Seeing those races between Helms and Gantt up close, I always thought that MJ set up a bad example for the next generation. When he said that, he gave the ones that wanted to be like Mike an excuse to ignore issues and just make themselves a corporate logo. I am glad to see LeBron step it up, (albeit, I’d rather have seen him REALLY step up for Darfur), but I’d like to see some of his buddies do it too.
Most of the time when you see an athlete step up, they aren’t going to get any press. Etan Thomas of the Wizards speaks out, but unless you are in Washington or patrolling the web, you probably don’t even know who he is. Adam Jones speaks at schools in Tennessee. Silence. Stephon Marbury sells sneakers for $15. A story hear or there, and a Nike hit job about them being made from inferior materials. I think you need to move your “Me First Thugs” from Cosellout over here, MODI to let folks know the good that athletes are doing.
Have you ever asked yourself why so much is being made of China’s role in the Sudan? According to Rick Reilly, the Chinese buy 2/3 of all Sudanese oil. Sudan’s total exports are valued at roughly $6B. They provide Sudan with military support.
But…American venture capital firms have invested nearly $30B in over 3,000 projects in China. Individual investors have plunged another $1.4B in China. Warren Buffett, LeBron’s mentor is deeply invested in Chinese companies working in Sudan.
The Save Darfur.org group has been regularly lambasted for failing to distribute funds to needy people on the ground in Sudan. Instead, the group has served as an AIPAC style American Jewish led information campaign to seed the US campaign to roll out AFRICOM and displace the Chinese from EVERY country in Africa. The US already gets more oil from Africa than from Saudi Arabia. The only viable competitor for African oil and access to territory is China. Hence, the need for folks with great media access to create a media campaign that is ostensibly about genocide - but in fact, focuses on the role of CHINA.
The Chinese are not friends of Africans, but their approach to development and investment has been to trade infrastructure development for natural resources. There are tons of problems with this - including Chinese efforts to BUY large tracts of land in Africa. The Africans should not allow the Chinese to buy land in their respective countries as a condition of trade or otherwise. They’re not in a position to benefit from that exchange.
The Americans are not friends of Africans. The goal of establishing a first ever military command on the continent has been resisted by African states. The US is engaged in a protracted divide and conquer approach in order to gain increased access to oil and to establish military bases to thwart the advances of the Chinese.
Why?
According to the Congressional Research Service: “Given its relatively low savings rate, the U.S. economy depends heavily on capital inflows from countries with high net savings rates (such as China) to help promote growth and fund the federal budget deficit.” That’s on page 1 of the Executive Summary to a May 19, 2008 report to Congress entitled, “China’s Holding of US Securities: Implications for the US Economy.”
In other words, US R&D, infrastructure improvements (rebuilding New Orleans, rebuilding bridges, maintaining schools, keeping gas in cars, etc., etc.) is contingent on the continual appropriation of Chinese savings to the current tune of $922 Billion. That’s a great deal more than the $3-6B at issue with respect to Sudanese oil exports.
Finally, as for the question of who is an Arab and who is an African in Sudan — this is a question of language and culture vs. one of race. Reilly, Save Darfur.org, and millions of American media outlets who lack the integrity to frame this issue correctly have simply glossed over this point. When the International Court issued indictments seeking to arrest and charge Sudanese leaders with crimes against humanity, those warrants were issued for men who would be considered “Black” or “African” ALL OVER THE WORLD. Are they Muslim? - Yep. Do they speak Arabic? - Yep. Are they Arabs? - Yep. Are they Black? - Yep. Are they African? - Yep.
So, this long-standing violence in Sudan is not about what the average American understands as a “racial conflict” or even an “ethnic conflict.” There is much more at the heart of the matter — and neither Farrow, Reilly or Save Darfur.org has framed the issue in a manner that will lead to its timely and effective resolution.
Imagine - Reilly actually had the temerity to say that the Chinese prevented UN peacekeepers from being on the ground in Sudan. Really? Security council vetoes be damned - if the US was actually ready to engage the Chinese in Africa, peace keepers would be on the ground now to facilitate a future engagement.
The vulnerability of the residents of Darfur is a function of long-term regional and continental destabilization combined with the increased value of the land on which folks reside. The US has the financial and military means to resolve this - but there is no commitment because the interests of the US are much larger than Darfur. Check out where Bush went on his last trip to Africa. Check out where China’s President went on his last trip to Africa. This is a much larger game and neither of these global powers is concerned one wit about 300,000 dead Africans in the desert - especially when they’re sitting on top of oil.
Conscientious Americans and people of good will have to dismiss groups like Save Darfur. org whose commitment is to assail the Chinese for doing exactly what Wall Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Silicon Valley prescribe. If economic sanctions are to be truly effective, Americans have to focus as well on the incredible influx of dollars from the US headed to China - not merely on the trickle from China to Sudan.
I always learn something when Temple speaks.
Great comment Temple.
The great game continues. You will recognize the urgency and the vunerability of US imperial power when you recognize that the US is being outflanked systematically. Having the “world’s best military” doesn’t mean squat if your “leadership” is ignorant and incompetant.
Can you say control of Caspian Sea gas to Russia and China boys and girls?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/JG30Ag01.html
How true big man.
Temple, thanks for this post as the knowledge you bring is always greatly appreciated. I have trusted most of the strategies of the Darfur organizations that highlight china divestment as one, but not all of the viable strategies. I did get to briefly meet John Prendergast who along with Don Cheadle wrote Not on Our Watch (BTW, Intro by Obama) http://www.amazon.com/Not-Our-Watch-Mission-Genocide/dp/1401303358 which also informed my thinking (they also tout the power of PERSONAL letter writing to local officials.
Some questions for the Professor:
– There are a myriad of Darfur organizations. You’ve stated that the likes Save Darfur and Mia Farrow’s organization and the shame China strategy is misguided at best. Are there any Darfur organizations that you believe are framing the issue more fairly and properly?
– Obama has been quite outspoken about Darfur the last couple of years, and drops in “ending genocide” in many of his speeches”. Do you believe an Obama presidency will result in the necessary peacekeeping forse that is necessary which of course is penny (not even pennies) on the Iraqi dollar?
– I get the points about the US passing the buck to China. In your opinion, how should the Olympics be used to help the situation in Darfur?
I know that these questions aren’t very simple nor fair, but ask them respectfully and not in any “well, do you have any better ideas” sort of way…
Brotha Modi sorry to highjack your post. But it seems that Pat White has apologized. I guess the college put some pressure on him and also I sure he realized this could hurt his professional career in the NFL or MLB. Cause the last thing they want is surely black athlete.
http://www.wsaz.com/sports/headlines/26155109.html
Those are great questions MODI.
I would begin with an assessment of those groups by contacting the Washington, DC-based group TransAfrica. This group tends to have the analysts and the capacity to drill down and assess where dollars are being properly spent. At this point, I’m not sure that people can be compelled into transparency around their aid. What greatly complicates this mess is that the Sudanese government perceives AID groups as working at the behest of a larger enemy. They are correct, but that only hinders communication and service delivery on the ground.
I believe that Barack Obama is going to press the US’ military agenda in Africa (who better?). The plan is to back China up - to undermine each and every one of their efforts to build infrastructure in Africa - and create bases of operation in the name of combating terrorism and providing humanitarian aid. It’s all bullshit to mask the Extraction Imperative. Oil out, contracted services in; cash out, drugs in; infrastructure out, dependency and debt in. Many African nations know that’s the game and it’s why they’ve sought the assistance of China.
The British, on some level, bear responsibility for what is happening now. Communities and nations often have difficult times producing leaders that change the tide of history. The last Sudanese leader with that resume was killed by the British under the pretense of plotting a revolution against the British Empire. That leader worked tirelessly to step the land-based, scarcity aggressions of nomadic folks from the Northern parts of Sudan. The Brits did this almost 100 years ago - but not every generation produces leaders that can assume power, let alone retain it or extend it. Sometimes killing one great leader can achieve tremendous long-term benefits.
The Olympics and other international events should be used to the extent possible to highlight the most critical concerns of the human family. In the Congo, war is more extensive. There are more casualties and a resolution is likely farther away. The Head of State was assassinated recently. Decades ago, the US and Belgians collaborated to kill Patrice Lumumba. The international media and the advocates for justice in Darfur are silent on the Congo…about as quiet as they were on Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia. What about the people catching hell in the Delta in Nigeria? Darfur is at the center of our consciousness for a reason. The Olympics should not be pimped solely to suit that purpose. The Olympics could be used as a tool to divert resources - in a transparent way - to groups like Kermit Washington’s (check Mizzo’s post) so that millions more people could EAT every day. Volvic’s campaign to donate Water is intriguing…buy 1, give 10. Great idea.
At some point, this entire thing boils down to the introductory paragraph in that report - American consumerism (usually to have more bullshit we do not need) is at the root of the problem. International trade talks just broke down because Western nations refuse to compete fairly and continue to drive down prices for international farmers while driving up the cost of food for hungry children. The same people doing that are talking about how evil the Arabs and Chinese are because of what’s going on in Darfur.
The best approach may be to find the weakest link in the chain. In every sophisticated operation, there is an “invisible” component which is neither protected nor protectable which is subject to seizure, destruction or inoperability. It may be that we can stem US-based investments in a particular product that keeps the wheels turning over there.
The Global Policy Forum has some interesting stuff on that. They reported how estimates of fatalities by SD.org were significantly overstated (not undermining the true scale of the injustice). One of their board members Beverlee Bruce may have some ideas. She’s had a tremendous track record as an activist and frontline supporter for refugees around the world. I’m going to reach out to her - she lives in Harlem. I’ll let you know what she says.
-WIlbon is a Tom and a sniveling coward. He is never to be taken seriously
-Amazing how many black folks who idolize that pathetic piece of shit Michael Jordan don’t know how he sold every black person in North Carolina and their brutalized ancestors out with his “sneakers” comments. Unless he was in my ER, I wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire.
-James is young and can go either way. He’s torn between the prusuit of money for it’s sake and trying to educate himself in order to do the right thing. Let’s hope he’s less and less exposed to the likes of Jordan and Tiger and more to those like Newbie and Nash.
-T3 always dropping knowledge.
Temple, I appreciate the post as always, and I appreciate the reach out to Ms. Bruce. Just like for-profit organizations, you can have effective ones and inneffective ones, and i certainly want to provide the best info.
One thing that’s tragic is the CIA’s infiltration and influence over so-called humanitarian agencies. Some of this came out in the Church hearings in the 1970’s, I believe. It is despicable because it ruins America’s deserved reputation as a nation of charitable, generous people willing to help people in countries that they never will meet. I wish I could call you a conspiracy theorist, Temple3, but based on what happened in the 70’s…history tends to repeat itself.
Kudos to MODI for the column and to T3 for the extensive knowledge dropped in his post. I watched that episode of PTI and Wilbon was negligent in saying whether or not Lebron signed the petition after doing his research or not. I can understand wanting to know about an issue before commenting pro or con but don’t praise the young man for just being prudent. The King has taken some hits this year most notably with the infamous Vogue cover but his backing of Obama’s campaign and even his Vitamin Water commercial as a lawyer show he’s trying to repair his image. I hope that’s his doing and not just his PR staff though.
@KevDog: Damn, bruh, don’t mince words when you talk about Jordan next time. I mean it wasn’t clear to me how you really felt about the guy with your comments. LOL!!
Oh yes, Wilbon is a true tool.
HD
I’ve been working on being less angular, more direct…..
Harvey:
Just a quickie…Those Vitamin Water commercials are phukkked. Check ‘em out. They’re all predicated on positioning people in ABSURD positions. They’re a great deal like the Coon-commercials that Barkley did back in the day — “UNCIVILIZED.”
From the Vitamin Water perspective, what could more absurd that LeBron is a phukkin’ courtroom?? Uh, maybe Brian Urlacher and Big Papi playing Ping Pong or Tracy McGrady jousting. If I were LeBron’s agent, I could NEVER quit my job as Bend Over Bitch on Cell Block A. Them muhphukkas are either dumber than a box of rox or simply riding the EXPLOITATION EXPRESS.
T3
I’ll give you that the commercials are tongue-in-cheek but I found it interesting that Lebron came across as a cerebral type in a suit. Like I said in my post, I hope that was a decision he made himself to do the ad and not just damage control from his handlers over that magazine cover. Kev said the guy is young and could go either way but I’m interested in seeing if he takes more substantive steps but only time will tell on that one.
50 Cent must be trying to repair his image as well.
Portraying a conductor of a Symphony Orchestra in a commercial is a step in the right direction
Actually that was one of his crew and not 50. 50 repaired his image by owning the company.
Actually 50 was the conductor while DJ WhoKid was first viola chair
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Kobe and the rest need to stop acting like pussified lapdogs.