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Racial injustice is not blind to popularity

Apparently there are people in the world who feel athletes or “stars” don’t experience racial injustice because of their status in the world.

By Diamond Holton
Miami Heat v Washington Wizards Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

The title speaks for itself, but let me elaborate.

Racial injustice is not blind to popularity, especially when it comes to Black men and women. As I’ve scrolled through Twitter the entire weekend, weirdly there were two particular tweets that struck my interest, that of from Washington Wizards’ guard Bradley Beal. Please see the tweets below:

I agree with Beal. For some reason, we tend to forget that Black athletes, Black celebrities, or Black stars are people too and are not exempt from experiencing the racial injustices that have been occurring in this world. The fact that Beal is a NBA superstar doesn’t change the fact that he could be wrongfully pulled over, racially profiled, or even be arrested and have a knee forcefully on his neck.

The amount of money doesn’t matter. His status to the NBA world or the D.C. area doesn’t matter because as Beal said: He is a “normal Black man NOW!” And honestly, Beal you’re a normal Black man forever. And your social status doesn’t and shouldn’t matter.

But I guess this is another shut up and dribble matter, right? I think not.

Athletes have the right to speak on all matters they feel the need and right to speak on. And we don’t have the right to say they haven’t experienced anything in their life simply because they make more than us or live a much more lavish lifestyle. Again referencing his tweet: “We are the same, just different jobs.”

This isn’t a post to start a war or argument about who experiences what more than the other. To me it leads to who we should really be mad at or drawing our attention to. Not the ones speaking and voicing their opinions and disgust toward racial corruption, but the ones being silent and not saying a word. And silence on racial inequality will not be tolerated as Washington Mystics’ guard Natasha Cloud mentioned in her recent article in the Player’s Tribune.

So honestly when you’re pointing the finger and “reaching” when it comes to those who’re speaking and on the right side of justice, make sure you keep that same energy for the ones who keep remaining silent.