I really felt like a lawyer when I wrote this letter. May I tip my hat to all my friends who are lawyers, and the important perspective they've given me. On July 15, 2010, Newsday published my thoughts on the Rev. Jesse Jackson's racially-tinged defense of basketball star Lebron James from disparaging remarks made by his former employer. This is the full letter, which was trimmed slightly in printed form.
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If charges of racial animus by the Rev. Jesse Jackson against Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert are true, then we must be convinced that Mr. Gilbert (who described Lebron James as narcissistic, disloyal and a coward) would have treated a nonblack player in similar circumstances with less vitriol. If Mr. Gilbert is simply an irate employer who vented after Mr. James' disappointing decision to leave his team, then the Rev. Jackson, using inflammatory words like "plantation" and "slave," may himself demean Mr. James by unnecessarily wrapping him in the protective shroud of our lamentable racist past. I would hope other evidence, if any, of Mr. Gilbert's propensity for disparate treatment would be presented along with the allegations. Otherwise, the Rev. Jackson may as well challenge the concept of a team "owner" alone as an unwanted vestige of slave life.