Ah, “Denial” - a river not just gently
winding its way through the heart of Mother
Africa, but raging with white-water rapids
through the tumultuous territories of
Presidential politics and the NBA Championship
series. Indeed, we’re talking about a roaring,
thundering flood that drowns reason and
reality alike.
Enter, stage right: African American
Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, and
stage left: NBA Champions Boston Celtics Head
Coach Joe Mazzulla. Both of these confused
gentlemen have seemingly boarded a cruise ship
down the Nile, blissfully ignorant to the
harsh truths swirling around that the decadent
empire in which they live is in the midst of a
cold civil war that is reaching boiling point
at alarming speed.
One is a soulless buffoon, tap-dancing to
the tune of his MAGA puppet masters, while the
other is pulling from the MJ/Tiger neutrality handbook. He appears to be “Black
Lite” and sadly delusional, perhaps imagining
he’s leading the Israelites to the promised
land. Both, however, lack the vital anatomical
structures necessary to stand up and face the
facts - spines, backbones, and guts are
apparently optional in their line of work.
Let’s start with Confederate Congressman
Byron Donalds, hailing from the sunshine state
of Florida, where reality goes to retire. He’s
proclaiming, with the fervor of a python snake
oil salesman, that Black folks were “better
off” during the era of Jim Crow. Yes, you
heard that right. Apparently, the good old
days of segregation and legally enforced
inequality were a “golden age” for African
Americans. This is the kind of revisionist
history that makes you wonder if he’s been
hitting the Crocodile
Coolers a little too hard. It’s almost as if he’s
vying for a spot in an alternate MAGA universe
where up is down, black is white, and
oppression is freedom.
Black families were “nuclear” and intact,
yes, but were systematically forbidden by Jim
Crow to grow, to better themselves, to compete
for the elusive “American Dream.” We had to
settle for the American Nightmare of White
aggression, harassment and discrimination.
Meanwhile, in the hallowed halls of the
storied Boston Celtics, Head Coach Mazzulla is
pulled a Houdini act of his own.I’m
disappointed in this brother. When asked about
the significance of two Afro-American head
coaches meeting in the championship series, he
pretended his religion was more releavant.
Negro, please.
Mazzulla’s pretending that his Christian
religion is more significant than his skin
color in an America currently simmering in a
cold civil war, teetering on the brink of
chaos and mayhem. In a country where racial
tensions are sky high, Mazzulla seems to
believe that faith alone can shield him from
the fiery arrows of racism. It’s a noble
thought, but also one that smacks of denial so
deep it could drown the entire Celtics roster.
Now, let’s get one thing straight: the
reason professional leagues in America are
dominated by Black athletes yet glaringly
lacking in Black coaches and front office
execs has nothing to do with religion,
sororities, fraternities, or geographical
origins. It’s because they’re Black. Period.
Full stop. The systemic barriers that keep
Black individuals from rising to these
positions of power and influence are as clear
as the nose on your face, unless, of course,
you’re wearing the rose-colored glasses of
MAGA denial.
For Mazzulla. as head coach of the
league’s championship team, being on such a
highly visible and influential stage, his
failure to speak the truth is a dereliction of
duty. It’s like standing in front of a burning
cross and denying the flames are hot.
Perhaps Coach ought heed the words of
soul brother #1, Malcolm X:
“What you and I
need to do is learn to forget our
differences. When we come together, we don’t
come together as Baptists or Methodists. You
don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Baptist,
and you don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a
Methodist. You don’t catch hell ’cause
you’re a Methodist or Baptist. You don’t
catch hell because you’re a Democrat or a
Republican. You don’t catch hell because
you’re a Mason or an Elk. And you sure don’t
catch hell ’cause you’re an American; ’cause
if you were an American, you wouldn’t catch
no hell. You catch hell ’cause you’re a
black man. You catch hell, all of us catch
hell, for the same reason.”
As for Congressman Donalds, his actions
go beyond mere neglect - they’re a treasonous
crime. To aid and abet the likes of a felon
endorsed by the KKK is to betray not just his
constituents, but the very soul of the Black
nation within-a-nation, he claims to serve. In
this epic tale of denial, it’s high time
someone doused these delusions with a cold
splash of reality.
I leave Congressman Donalds with more
words of wisdom from Brother Malcolm:
“During
slavery, you had two Negroes: the house
Negro and the field Negro. The house Negro
lived close to his master, dressed like him,
ate his leftovers, and lived in his house.
When the master was sick, the house Negro
would say, ‘What’s the matter, boss, we
sick?’ When the house started burning down,
the house Negro would fight harder to put
the master’s house out than the master
himself would.”
So, Coach Mazzulla, distance yourself
from the house Negroes like Donalds, Ben
Carson, Clarence Thomas, and Tim Scott. You
can’t put out the master’s house fire for him.
