Carmelo Anthony
While giving his portion of the ESPY speech that occurred the week of the officer involved shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Anthony also looked to benefit in the PR department from a hot-button issue he had never really lifted a finger for before. Anyone willing to watch the Sterling shooting and take a moment to do some research on either policing or firearms – take your pick – knows that this was a necessary shoot and that officers felt their lives were in danger for good reason while wrestling with the armed suspect that they had been called to the scene to deal with.
As far as Castile goes, whether you agree with the cop’s decision to pull the trigger, whether you feel he was worthy of being a police officer in the first place, or whether you buy the angelic biography crafted for the late Castile by the media – the fact remains that the officer who shot him was not a white officer but Hispanic. The same people shouting down police officers in this country for racism against blacks are claiming police racism against Hispanics and other minority groups as well. In doing so, they create a white police officer super-villain in their own misguided minds. You cannot pick and choose when it is advantageous to ignore race or make it a focal point of your argument. Yet, Anthony had this to say:
“Good evening. Tonight is a celebration of sports, celebrating our accomplishments and our victories. But, in this moment of celebration, we asked to start the show tonight this way, the four of us talking to our fellow athletes, with the country watching. Because we cannot ignore the reality of the current state of America. The events of the past week have put a spotlight on the injustice, distrust and anger that plague so many of us. The system is broken. The problems are not new. The violence is not new. And the racial divide definitely is not new. But the urgency to create change is at an all-time high.”
