LOS ANGELES – A day after a crowd of pro-Trump riots stormed the U.S. Capitol, Los Angeles Lakers captain LeBron James wondered what would have happened if the insurgent group was mostly black and blamed the chaos of President Donald Trump.
“We live in two Americas,” James said Thursday after the Lakers ’118-109 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs. “And that was a great example yesterday, and if you don’t understand it or don’t see it after seeing what you saw yesterday, you really need to take a step back, not even a step, but maybe four or five, or even ten steps back and ask yourself how do you want your children, or how do you want your grandchildren, or how do we want America to look? Do we want to live in this beautiful country? “
James, wearing a black shirt with the message “Do you understand now?” in block letters, he said he saw news coverage of Wednesday’s riots showing a largely white crowd meeting a relatively passive police force. He said this made him think how he and his family (his wife, three children and mother-in-law, all black) would be treated in the same situation.
“If these were my species storming the Capitol, what would have been the result? And I think we all know that,” James said. “There’s no if, no, but yes: we already know what would have happened to my species if someone had even reached the Capitol, let alone a storm in the offices, in the hallways.”
James ’teammate Anthony Davis echoed the sentiment, contrasting the way Black Lives Matter protesters encountered police force across the country over the summer.
“It’s like a double standard,” said Davis, who wore a shirt with the title of Public Enemy’s “Fear of Black Planet” album, sewn to his chest. “On the other hand, an entire group runs to the nation’s Capitol and is escorted through the front door as if all is well.
“And if I’m not mistaken (well, I’m not mistaken), they took things and when it comes to Black Lives [movement] He protested, “Once the looting begins, the shooting begins.” And let me know, if you catch something, you’re looting. And in this case, for them, they were escorted through the front door. And it’s just a slap in the face for us. It feels like we’re going backwards. We thought we saw changes and then that happens. “
In May, Trump tweeted, “When the looting begins, the shooting begins,” threatening military action in response to the social justice movement sparked by the death of George Floyd, who was in police custody in Minneapolis when died of an agent kneeling in his neck.
James, who has had a public back-and-forth with Trump for years, said the outgoing president is to blame for what happened Wednesday.
“The events that took place yesterday were a direct correlation of the president who is in the seat right now, of his actions, his beliefs and his desires,” James said. “He doesn’t care about anyone but him. Nobody. Absolutely nobody. He doesn’t care about this country. He doesn’t care about his family. He doesn’t care about anyone but him.”
In 2016, James, while in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room the night Trump was elected, openly wondered if it would be better to leave the country. He said Thursday night that it was a presidential term detrimental to the country.
“Four years ago, I sat there and said this was the beginning of the end for our country. And I hope it only lasts four years,” James said. “But the only thing you can’t get back to life, something you can never get back to, and it’s time. You can’t get time back. We’ve literally been four years away. How do you get that back?”
The Capitol’s failure Wednesday, which resulted in five deaths and the resignation of the Capitol police chief, came hours before Joe Biden was officially certified to be the 46th president of the United States when Congress affirmed the count of 306-232 of the Electoral College.
James said he believed Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris offer hope for the country.
“We took a step forward in November by choosing Joe and Kamala to be in the White House, so that they would be the head of our country,” James said. “This is a step forward.”
Davis said the Lakers and Spurs demonstration before the game (closing their arms to each other in a circle on the center court while playing the national anthem) was meant to continue to inspire unity during a difficult time.
“We just can’t give up hope. Whatever happens. As a league brotherhood and as an African American, we can’t let ourselves lose hope just because we don’t see change,” Davis said. “This is what people want. They want us to lose hope, to lose faith and to disappear. The idea of change to fade away. And we don’t do anything … We must continue to be united and stand in solidarity. to make sure we stay strong in all of this. “