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  • Kobe Bryant: Miami Heat’s Support of Trayvon Martin Didn’t ‘Make Any Sense’

    I won’t react to something just because I’m an African-American

    03.27.2014 | News | |

    In a recent interview with the New Yorker, 5-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant offered his opinion on the Miami Heat’s support of Trayvon Martin saying, “I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American.

    “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

    Indeed, in the weeks after Trayvon Martin’s death at the hands of George Zimmerman, the Miami Heat made their support for Martin clear.

    LeBron James posted this photo of he and his teammates donning hoodies in support of “justice for Trayvon.”

    The Heat’s own Dwayne Wade tweeted a closeup of himself wearing a hoodie:

    Wade even went so far as to pose for a picture of him and his sons wearing hoodies. The picture was apart of a campaign by Ebony Magazine:

    Kobe Bryant is black. He is an NBA superstar. And he just happens to disagree with supporting people on the bases of racial solidarity:

    For his willingness to embrace independent thought and not reflexively support Trayvon Martin out some sense of racial solidarity, Kobe Bryant is deemed a “clueless, idiot.”

    I tend to believe that there are more Americans who agree with Kobe Bryant’s decision to not blindly support Trayvon Martin simply because he was black. Regnant support for someone or something based on race is racist. And you don’t see black commentators who say they didn’t stand with Trayvon because he was black, raise as much of a fuss when a black assailant attacks or kills an innocent white person.

    Hats off to Kobe for being strong enough to go against the grain.


    Jerome Hudson

    Managing Editor

    Jerome Hudson has written for numerous national outlets, including The Hill, National Review, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was recognized as one of Florida’s emerging stars, having been included in the list “25 Under 30: Florida’s Rising Young Political Class.” Hudson is a Savannah, Ga. native who currently resides in Florida.

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