What James Baldwin did nearly 60 years ago, needs to happen again. And you are the right person to make it happen.
Hello Mr. James. While you don’t know me, I know you and your well-deserved reputation as a person and as a basketball player. And I appreciate how you manage those two roles in the arena of public life.
Courtesy: CNBC
I’m writing because I have a concern. It’s about what another public figure said just this week. That person is Jared Kushner.
He said: “The NBA players are very fortunate that they have the financial position where they’re able to take a night off from work without having to have the consequences to themselves financially. They have that luxury, which is great. Look, with the NBA, I think there is a lot of activism, and they’ve put a lot of slogans out, but what I think we need is to turn that from slogans and signals into actual action that’s going to solve the problem.”
Mr. Kushner also indicated that he would reach out to you.
Mr. James, I don’t know if Mr. Kushner reached out to you but, if he did not, I encourage you to reach out to him and do what James Baldwin did in May 1963. Baldwin reached out to Robert Kennedy and, then, at Kennedy’s request, Baldwin gathered people together (singer Lena Horn and novelist Lorraine Hansberry were two of those involved) to help Kennedy understand the struggle Blacks face in America.
James Baldwin (photo, LIFE)
That action needs to be repeated today. Mr. Kushner doesn’t seem to understand what you and other NBA players are saying and why you are saying it.
Your stand isn’t an expression of privilege. In a democracy, it’s the hard-earned right and duty (as you see it) to protest. And what you are doing represents more than slogans, and it’s anything but ’empty action.’
I interpret Mr. Kushner as an example of something that has become all too obvious these days–another roadblock in the never-ending battle against systemic racism in America.
Mr. James, I suggest you gather players and coaches and meet with Mr. Kushner in places like Akron, Detroit, and Chicago. Show him the Black of your lives. Show him what color has required of you. Teach him, Mr. James, as Mr. Baldwin taught Mr. Kennedy in 1963.
Just perhaps, Mr. Kushner will grasp the truth. He might even change. It would be a good investment of your time–for America’s sake.
Respectfully,
Roger Barbee
