LeBron: Being black in America is tough

Emmett Till    (Fair Use)

LeBron James is rich, famous, brilliant and adored by many.  Nevertheless, on the day before one of basketball’s greatest matches, his “Los Angeles home was vandalized with racist graffiti.”

During an interview soon afterwards, James referred back to the 1955 abduction and murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till.  Till’s ruthless killers first “beat and mutilated him,” then fatally shot him, and finally sank his body in Mississippi’s Tallahatchie River.  These same killers “were acquitted by an all white jury.”

Till's body was discovered in the river and returned to his mother in Chicago.  She “insisted upon a public funeral service with an open casket to show the world the brutality of his killing.”

Although people today try to hide racism, there is still plenty to go around.  As James explained:  Hate in America, especially for African Americans, is living everyday...  We got a long way to go… until we feel equal in America.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/lebron-james-delivered-a-powerful-response-to-the-racist-vandalism-of-his-home/ar-BBBKrXF?OCID=ansmsnnews11 

Copyright June 1, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved