BOBBEE BEE: PLAYING PLANTATION POLITICS

I work like a slave to become a master” -- Antonio Hardy a.k.a. (Big Daddy Kane)

By Eric D. Graham

NORTH CAROLINA (BASN) -- Despite what anyone thinks, America was built on the foundation of "white supremacy and Black inferiority." Therefore, psychologically, most relationships formed between whites and non-whites are based on a "master-slave relationship."

I see it every year around draft time, whether it’s the NFL Draft or the NBA Draft.

Surprisingly, these two highly-rated televised events look shockingly similar to the slave auctions of the past. For those that disagree or are upset with me for making this obvious comparison, let's not forget that somewhat controversial Sports Illustrated cover with Sir Charles Barkley entitled "Charles Unchained." In which, Barkley posed as a "slave" with chains around his neck, wrist and ankles.

So, as you watch the NBA Draft, carefully observe how all of these Caucasian reporters, agents, PR directors, managers, coaches, executives, and owners start advising Black athletes to smile more, wear this and not that, stop looking so mean and lose the attitude.

Why? Because, they are now official “property” of the NBA. Or, the NFL. Take your pick. The key word is property. And they can be traded like cattle at any time. This scenario raised its ugly head recently on ESPN when they apologized for a fantasy football segment of an auction draft, where black players were sold to mostly white male bidders, which left New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. "speechless" and Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant displeased with mock auction.


This master-slave relationship revealed its self again when Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones
stated that all Cowboys players would stand for the anthem, “toe on the line” or be cut from team— after the NFL voted to “allow” protesting players to remain in the locker room (which has since been tabled). Especially, after super quarterback Dak Prescott agreed with his owner by saying, according to the NY Post by saying, "I never protest during the anthem, and I don’t think that’s the time or the venue to do so...”

“The game of football has always brought me such a peace, and I think it does the same for a lot of people, a lot of people playing the game, a lot of people watching the game, a lot of people that have any impact of the game. So when you bring such a controversy to the stadium, to the field, to the game, it takes away. It takes away from that. It takes away from the joy and the love that football brings to a lot of people.”

Those words have brought Prescott a lot of backlash, including a Dallas artist depicting him on a mural in the “sunken place,” a reference to the main character in “Get Out,” a racially charged thriller movie.

The Branding of Athletes

But, we shouldn’t be surprised. Why? Because, athletes are seen as slaves to the system,” branded" by corporations like Nike, Reebok, Gatorade, Wheaties, and Hanes.

Consider Cam Newton's situation last year in Alabama, where Under Armour apparel had a $10.6 million contract with the University of Auburn.

Under that particular contract, Newton was contractually obligated to wear at less 12 to 15 logos every game.

According to Taylor Branch, an author of the new book Cartel, "Newton had four Armour logos on his helmet, one on each wristband, one on each shoe and one on his head band underneath his helmet."

"This was all specified by the NCAA office. They said they had to be an exact size...” said Branch, a civil rights historian.

"They regulate the commercial side of sports and promote it, right down to the tiniest detail while forbidding the athlete from selling their jersey." 

Yes, these new corporate logos are a new form of branding in this system of capitalistic exploitation, where athletes provide free labor without pay, especially in college.

And even though, we hate to admit it. This system is strikingly similar to the one that help build America.

We Own You

Therefore, if athletes, collegiately or professionally speak out against this injustice or act unruly, they will be "cut," replaced, and even "shipped" overseas for their insubordination. Can we say Colin Kaepernick? Who, despite, doing nothing wrong? Has been “whiteballed” from playing in the NFL for his “stance” against police brutality and the injustice against “Black & Brown” people throughout the country.

Yes, these NBA/NFL owners and general managers have the ability to "kill" careers with the stroke of a pen. Why? Because, the pen is mightier than the sword.

As a result, they begin to braking down these young athletes physically, psychologically, spiritually and sometimes sexually (by commercially putting them in dresses and feminizing them to sell products) as if they were "slaves" who had been traveling in packed slave ships during the Middle Passage before being dropped off in the Caribbean Islands.

Because during these NBA or NFL Combines, they are questioned, provoked, challenged, tested, weighted, measured, humiliated and "whipped" into shape for their personal entertainment.

Let's not forget, what happened to the Dallas Cowboy first round draft pick Dez Bryant during a pre-draft interview this year in Miami when Dolphins' general manager Jeff Ireland asked him if his mother was a prostitute.

But despite all of this probing, these young Black athletes like Bryant must remain calm and never show any sign of anger. 

Keep Them Childlike and Dependent

They, in fact, must continue to smile, bear it, and "take it like a man."

Why? Because, nobody wants to see an angry Black man.

Unfortunately for all of these high-paid athletes, expressing any form of Black manhood is frowned upon by league officials.

The league officials unconsciously or consciously like to see their athletes acting childish or child-like. 

In other words, they prefer them to be dumb and dribbling balls or running up and down the court or  field instead of being intelligent business-minded men like LeVar Ball, who took a page out of Stephon Marbury’s playbook of  independence, by expressing a desire to enter into a $1 billion co-branding deal instead of the typical athlete endorsement deal, when he created and manufactured his son’s, Lonzo Ball, the No.2 draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers’ $495 ZO2 signature Baller Band shoe as well as his own sports agency, Ball Sports Group, which he heads while representing his three sons (Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo) along with Big Baller Media.

They’re not ready for that because they’re not used to that model,” LaVar Ball said. “But hey, the taxi industry wasn’t ready for Uber, either … . Just imagine how rich Tiger [Woods], Kobe [Bryant], Serena [Williams], [Michael] Jordan and LeBron [James] would have been if they dared to do their own thing. No one owned their own brand before they turned pro. We do and I have three sons, so it’s that much more valuable.”


Yes. Ball’s desire to be a game changer in the $7.3 billion shoe and sport apparel business created an uproar in the business world and was faced with opposition from many, including George Raveling, a Black man who is Nike’s Global Basketball Sports Marketing director.

Raveling, in fact, had the audacity to call LaVar Ball “the worst thing to happen to basketball in the last hundred years. Which suggests that, Ball’s decision to create his on shoe was worst than the former Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling’s racism as well as the point shaving scandal that once “plagued” the league alongside the refs betting on games.

Craig Hodges, a member of the Chicago Bulls first two NBA Championship teams, who tried to get his team mate Michael Jordan to do something similar to what Ball is attempting told the Final Call newspaper that “Professional sports is the last true bastion of White supremacy."

“This means being able to own a venue and being able to own a player. I think one of the great things the Balls have done is in somewhat breaking the yoke of White supremacy.”said the sharp-shooting three-point specialist, who many felt was also “whiteballed” by the NBA for his outspokenness and political awareness during his professional basketball career.

“Lonzo Ball is showing a young player a way they can go and do their own thing—go direct to China and get your stuff made.” he continued.
 

“And if another player has the potential to do that, then it’s great. “But this also gives them the potential to stand up and be independent and understand why they have that position, and not because it’s just a phase or a fad that they’re going through. So, if [LaVar Ball] truly does understand what consciousness is and how to work on economic development and the like, then I applaud him.”
 

PLAYING PLANTATION POLITICS

With that said, notice how NBA superstar Dwyane Wade reacted when Commissioner David Stern started pointing his finger in his face during NBA negotiations.

“Don’t point your finger at me, I’m not a child.” yelled Wade.

The Wade and Stern confrontation sparked a controversial commentary from HBO's Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel, who is quoted as saying:

"Stern's version of what has been going on behind closed doors has of course been disputed, but his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It's part of Stern's M.O., like his past self-serving edicts on dress code and the questioning of officials. His moves were intended to do little more than show how he's the one keeping the hired hands in their place."
 

Remember what I previous stated earlier in this article that all relationships established between whites and non-whites are based upon "a master-slave relationship."

 

Gumbel's commentary highlighted this theory when he called Stern "a modern plantation overseer."

But where have we seen this type of behavior before in the NBA?

Do you remember Cleveland Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert's "fathead" remarks toward LeBron James' when he decided to "take his talents “to Miami?

Gilbert's words were so harsh and mean-spirited that they prompted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, of the Rainbow Push Coalition to say, "His (Gilbert's) feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave."
Jackson's statement, of course, upset a few white reporters and caused a slight uproar in the sports and entertainment world. For instance, TMZ's Harvey "I am a Lawyer" Levin replied "that is absurd...come on."

As Levin smirked at Jackson's slavery comparison, one of his paparazzi storm troopers made the sarcastic joke, “You know the difference between a slave and Lebron's situation ......about 65 million dollars," which drew a few chuckles in the room.

Here is another classic example of that superior attitude, in which, they try to interpret our emotions and downplay our opinions on situations that affects us. I, however, suggest that they all read "40 Million Dollar Slaves" by William C. Rhoden.

“Blacks are concentrated on the playing field, not in the front offices and earning millions weakened athletes and they shied away from social causes for fear of losing their wealth,” Rhoden explained at a journalists’ roundtable in Washington, D.C. in September. “White people tell you when it’s safe and you can protest within this box.”

After reading "40 Million Dollar Slaves", hearing Gilbert's rants, analyzing Colin Kaepernick’s protest plus analyzing Gumbel’s lastest commentary, maybe they will see things a little differently.

Eric D. Graham is the author and alter ego of the infamous BASN character "Bobbee Bee".