LeBron James has questioned why the media hasn’t asked him about the photo of Jerry Jones at a 1957 desegregation protest but were "quick to ask” about Kyrie Irving sharing a link to an anti-Semitic documentary.
"I got one question for you guys before you guys leave. I was thinking when I was on my way over here, I was wondering why I haven't gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo," said the Laker, referring to the recently surfaced photo of the Dallas Cowboys owner in a group of white students who attempted to block six Black students from desegregating North Little Rock High School in 1957. "But when the Kyrie [Irving] thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that."
Following criticism from the Jewish community, Irving apologized last month for sharing a link to a documentary that has been widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
"When I watch Kyrie talk and he says, 'I know who I am, but I want to keep the same energy when we're talking about my people and the things that we've been through,' and that Jerry Jones photo is one of those moments that our people, Black people, have been through in America,” LeBron continued. “And I feel like as a Black man, as a Black athlete, as someone with power and a platform, when we do something wrong, or something that people don't agree with, it's on every single tabloid, every single news coverage, it's on the bottom ticker. It's asked about every single day.”
By comparison, he suggested that the photo of Jones, who was 14 at the time, has already been brushed aside. "But it seems like to me that the whole Jerry Jones situation, photo—and I know it was years and years ago and we all make mistakes, I get it—but it seems like it's just been buried under,” he said. “Like, 'Oh, it happened. OK, we just move on.' And I was just kind of disappointed that I haven't received that question from you guys."
Amid the controversy with Irving—who has gotten in trouble in the past for sharing conspiracy theories including one from certified far-right loon Alex Jones—LeBron was asked about the situation and said that he did not condone Irving’s actions. He later said that while he didn’t support sharing “hurtful information,” he did think the Brooklyn Nets point guard should be able return to court despite his 5-game suspension. The film Irving shared, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, includes Holocaust denial, quotes from Adolf Hitler, and claims that Jewish people control the media.
Jones has also faced a lot of criticism for the photo of him at the Arkansas school. When he was asked about the situation, the NFL franchise owner said he was only present in the photo because he was “curious” about what was going on. "I didn't know at the time the monumental event really that was going on," Jones said. "I'm sure glad that we're a long way from that. I am. That would remind me [to] just continue to do everything we can to not have those kinds of things happen."
