So-Called Pastor Calls LeBron ‘Girly’ For Speaking About Racist Attack On His Home (VIDEO)


Just days before he was about to lead his Cleveland Cavaliers into the NBA Finals, LeBron James got an unpleasant surprise. Police in Los Angeles are investigating reports that someone spray-painted a racial slur on a home that he owns in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighborhood. The police are investigating it as a potential hate crime.

James found it hard to keep his composure when he met the media last Wednesday, just 24 hours before the Cavaliers faced the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Finals. Watch here, courtesy The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

An emotional James said that learning about the vandalism was “killing me inside right now,” and felt terrible that he wasn’t able to be with his wife and three children to comfort them over the incident. While James’ family is currently staying at their primary home in Bath Township, Ohio; northwest of his hometown of Akron, you can imagine that hearing about the graffiti hit them like a punch in the gut. However, he was relieved to know that they were safe.

James saw the incident as a sobering reminder of how real racism still is in this country.

“No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people admire you, being black in America is–it’s tough. And we got a long way to go for us as a society and for us as African-Americans until we feel equal in America.”

All too true. Even when you’re the undisputed “face” of the NBA, there are still a lot of people out there who see you as just another N-word. James was saying that if this can happen to a 13-time All-Star and a four-time MVP, it can happen to any person of color.

Now, who would have a problem with such a sobering commentary? Well, black conservative pastor Jesse Lee Peterson did. He thinks that James’ statement amounted to an announcement in capital letters that he isn’t really a man.

On the Thursday edition of his radio show, Peterson claimed James revealed a lot about the kind of person he was–and it wasn’t good. Watch here.

Peterson called James a “poor, sad, pathetic person” who forfeited his status as a role model with that press conference. He scoffed at how James felt people didn’t see him as their equal when he lives in a $20 million, 9,440 square foot house in Brentwood, one of the toniest neighborhoods in the nation.


To Peterson’s mind, James was “wimpin'” at his press conference–a likely product of the fact that James was raised by a single mother. But Peterson wasn’t done. He questioned whether James was really a man at all.

“What a lying, weak, pathetic, poor excuse of a male. He is not a man. There is nothing about him that says ‘man.’ Everything about this guy says girly. No wonder he supported Hillary Clinton.”

To Peterson’s mind, James was living under the “false illusion” that there is racism in this country.

But if it’s an illusion, Jesse Lee, how do you explain that graffiti? Well, Peterson raised the possibility that the whole thing was fake news. He mused that if it did happen, it was a “set-up” to make it look like some Republican bottom-feeders, or even Donald Trump, did it.

James considers his basketball career as a sideline to his role as a husband and father, as well as his duty to be a role model to kids. What could be wrong with that? Well, Peterson sees a lot wrong with it. He pities any kids who looked up to James, especially his own children.

“I really pity his wife and his children. His children will grow up messed up because they have a weak, pathetic, girly, lying father.”

To Peterson’s mind, James should have said, “no big deal,” painted over the graffiti, and forgiven the vandals.

Wait a minute. Peterson claims he wants to rebuild men through his nonprofit organization, the Brotherhood Organization for a New Destiny. Wouldn’t you think any husband or father worth his salt would be concerned for his kids’ safety when something like this happens? And wouldn’t you think that Peterson would be applauding James for understanding that his first duty is to be a husband and a father?

But then again, this line isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Peterson thinks James should take a lesson from Trump. He notes that Trump was very close to his father, Fred, and loved him. Peterson thinks Trump’s relationship with his father guides “the way he deals with life.” Uh huh. So James should take his cue from a guy who finds it acceptable to mock the disabled and revels in degrading women? Got it.

And that’s before we even discuss how Peterson thinks James has no right to speak out about racism. As a black man, I know how James feels. For instance, when I worked third shift and needed to get something at the store on my way home, I stopped at a store that was usually open by 7 a.m. I had to be careful not to arrive before it opened, rather than chance some bottom-feeder seeing a heavyset black man in a car and think he was “casing” the joint. That’s not being “girly,” Jesse Lee. That’s being realistic.


James isn’t the only successful black man who knows that wealth isn’t a barrier to racism. A number of black professionals have expressed concerns that the police don’t treat them fairly. As a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina, I know how they feel; my Carolina alumni bumper sticker isn’t an automatic bar to being profiled. Even Senator Tim Scott, the only black man in that august body, recalled being profiled a number of times when he comes home to North Charleston. Does that make him “girly”? Apparently so, in Peterson’s eyes–though I have to wonder if Scott gets a pass because he’s a Republican.

If speaking out about racism makes a black man less of a man, something is very wrong in this country. And from where I’m sitting, Peterson is part of the problem.

(featured image courtesy BOND’s Facebook)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.