In an article that appeared on CNN.com today, writer David Aldridge referred to this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game as ‘Black Thanksgiving.’
CNN then used the phrase ‘Black Thanksgiving,’ along with a photo of African-American basketball players Dwight Howard and Zach Randolph, as the main story/image on it’s website earlier today. The story has since been removed from CNN’s homepage.
To be fair Aldridge, who is African-American, stole the term from ESPN’s ‘Around The Horn’ co-host Michael Wilbon as he attributes in the piece.
In the article, Aldridge tries to explain exactly what he means by ‘Black Thanksgiving’:
Warts and all, it celebrates the extended community –the incredible athletic, improvisational ability of the NBA’s best players; the incredible economic power of those stars, the sway they hold over the media and corporate America, a reality that would not have been thinkable 40 years ago.
The NBA All-Star Weekend (ASW) takes place in Los Angeles starting tonight and concludes on Sunday night with the NBA All-Star Game. The game features the best and most talented basketball players in the world. Also, some of the richest and most visible athletes/celebrities in America.
Considering that the culture of basketball in a predominantly black league like the NBA is so strongly connected to African American culture, the NBA All-Star weekend has turned into a celebration of African American culture by extension,” says Todd Boyd, professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
While it might be called ‘Black Thanksgiving’ in some circles, attendance at the game will be predominately lily white with most of the NBA’s tickets for the game going to corporations, sponsors, and the white collar elite that can afford the pricey tickets. That won’t ruin the party though with hundreds of ASW parties taking place all across Los Angeles.
Some of the parties will be lavish affairs and feature appearances by current or former NBA players. However, other parties will simply celebrate the opportunity to congregate, and in large part, enjoy the progress that has been made among racial divides over the past half-century.
And as a society, if we are honest with each other, we can admit that some of that progress over the last 50 years has been made through our racially-blind love of sports. Jackie Robinson gets his credit within the game of baseball for being the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, but he deserves credit it in more ways than just that. The racists fans and players of the time beat Jackie up with their words, but Jackie – with his humility and talent – won over fans.
If there was an African-American ‘Mount Rushmore’ of the past fifty years – Jackie would be on there along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and President Barack Obama. Instead of being located in South Dakota, the AAMR would be located in either Selma, Alabama or Atlanta, Georgia. Perhaps even at Stone Mountain near Atlanta and how appropriate would that be? Stone Mountain was the site of the Ku Klux Klan’s 1915 revival and Klan meetings up until 1981. The mountain already has a massive carving of Confederate Civil War generals on it’s smooth, rocky surface. They could just blast right over it and start anew with the African-American ‘Mount Rushmore.’
For many people, seeing black and whites playing a simple game on the court or field, showed hundreds of thousands of whites that we are all the same. That we can work together not only on the baseball field but in all professions and walks of life. Integrated sports proved we are no different from our brother and that we could co-exist without segregation, separate water fountains, or having to feel superior by making someone different than ourselves feel inferior.
Jackie died a long time ago, but you can’t help but think he would be so extremely proud to see the celebration of talent on display this weekend being enjoyed not only by African-Americans but by all races. The All-Star Game will be telecast in over 200 countries.
Most in the All-Star Game are African-American but not all. Those blessed to attend ‘Black Thanksgiving’ from the other side of the tracks (and world) include Kevin Love, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Manu Ginobili, and Yao Ming.
The controversy of CNN running Aldridge’s story with the title ‘Black Thanksgiving’ and featuring so prominently is legit. It opens up the debate and opportunity for racial sparks to ignite. I don’t fault Aldridge for using the phrase or title in his article. CNN though should have used better judgement than publishing it so vividly on it’s website.
It should be noted that ‘Black Thanksgiving’ naturally falls in Black History Month. A month that gives us 28 (sometimes 29) days to really focus on the history, achievements, and contributions African-Americans have made to our country.
[screenshot: cnn.com]
