Racism is a complicated and controversial issue for anyone to talk about in a public forum. When it comes to the sporting world I often feel that sport does more to bring different races together than to pull it apart. Sport has the unique ability to bring people together from all walks of life. Whether it is being a fan at a game or playing the sport, people from all different backgrounds come together. Although sports can often bring in to question the issues of racism, because of the fact that so many minorities are represented on the playing field. Despite problems, sports also can challenge racial ideology and change ethnic relations (Coakley 313). So why is it that race is still such a big issue at the professional level? There are multiple factors that go into this subject. Race is still an issue in our society today, and although our country has come a long way in the past couple decades, there is still progress to be made. The fact alone that race is brought up so often just shows that it is still a big issue in society today.
The LeBron James saga that played out in the summer of 2010 was national news. Everywhere you looked from sports outlets to news outlets, LeBron was front page news. This was a highly anticipated summer from the time LeBron signed his second contract that put in an exit option for the summer of 2010. Along with the likes of Dwayne Wade, Amar’e Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Yao Ming, and Dirk Nowitzki this was the biggest group of free agents in one offseason in the history of sports in America. The question had been asked for years about whether one of the NBA’s biggest stars would be content to play in the small Cleveland market with the likes of New York and South Beach calling his name. When the hometown King from nearby Akron, Ohio was drafted by the Cavaliers, he was a savior to people from Cleveland, whose fans had been without a championship for decades. The thought of him leaving to play in another uniform had to be a sickening nightmare to them. When LeBron went on ESPN for his “Decision” special, he took an incredible amount of criticism for this. He went on to famously say that he will take his talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat to play alongside Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. What happens afterward is where all the questions of race and racism come into play. Whether it was his former owner writing a letter expressing his new hatred of LeBron or talk shows around the country sparking debate about his decision, LeBron was taking a lot of heat, no pun intended.
When LeBron did his first interview after choosing to leave Cleveland he was asked whether he felt race played a factor in all the anger directed towards him. He said that he believed it was a factor in his new role of a villain. I disagree with his assessment, yes some ignorant people may just dislike him for being a successful black athlete, the overwhelming majority dislikes him for the way he went about leaving Cleveland. If race were a main factor in the new dislike for LeBron, then why is it that Chris Bosh who is also black is not receiving the same sentiment? In his “decision” special LeBron comes off as an egotistical, self-centered person. Instead of just signing a contract with the Heat he had to make a big show of himself and make all his fans wait on pins and needles for him. He never once thanked the fans of Cleveland for all the support they have showed him, or his teammates for giving there all to play with him. This is why there is the new hatred of a once well liked athlete, and race is far down on the list. Whether race ever becomes a thing of the past, no one will know, but as long as people continue to bring it up, it will continue to be talked about. While it is still an issue, some people resort to using it as an excuse a little too often for my liking.
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