Excerpt from Dr. Boyce Watkin’s column:
I am good friends with former NBA player Etan Thomas. I consider Etan to be one of the great athletes of our generation not just because he was an outstanding performer on the court, but also because he excels just as much off the court. His promotion of fatherhood and conscientiousness in the black community is a throwback to a time when athletes fully understood and embraced their power to enhance the collective good.
Etan brought something to my attention the other day with a status he posted on his facebook wall. It had to do with sports columnist Jason Whitlock and his appearance on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption.”
During the appearance, Whitlock compared Kobe Bryant to the infamous OJ Simpson. The comparison was made in response to Kobe’s decision to remain apolitical on most matters, particularly those of race. Unfortunately, Kobe made the unwise choice to suddenly use his voice when it came to disrespecting the legacy of Trayvon Martin by saying that he wouldn’t support him just because he’s black.
It’s sad that Kobe doesn’t understand a few simple facts about Trayvon’s situation: Trayvon was supported by a broadly diverse, international coalition of concerned citizens and activists who couldn’t understand why he had to die. Trayvon had no weapon, he was stalked and killed in cold blood, George Zimmerman was acquitted and later proved that he was indeed the violent maniac that everyone believed him to be.
Read more at BOSS.
