Oh, FFS Kobe!
L.A. Lakers player Kobe Bryant opened up in a new interview with The New Yorker, and one of the issues they touch on is Trayvon Martin and how members of the Miami Heat wore hoodies in his memory two years ago. Bryant admitted he’s not comfortable with the idea of being compelled to defend someone just because they’re black, saying he would rather just sit back and wait for all the facts to come out before passing judgment.
The relevant passage is only available to New Yorker subscribers, but ColorLines reposted it in its report on Bryant’s remarks.
I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” he said. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”
Bryant’s remarks have already spawned a flurry of Twitter backlash, including from MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/kobe-bryant-admits-he-wasnt-comfortable-with-miami-heats-trayvon-protest/
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/03/kobe_bryant_was_not_impressed_by_the_miami_heats_trayvon_martin_protest.html
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I hope for Kobe's sake that there is a more generous context of his comments in the full piece...
= new reply since forum marked as read
Kobe Bryant: What Really Happened, and Where Does It Go From Here?
by Bill Bickel
Did the young woman in Kobe Bryant’s hotel room say “no”?
...As far as Jeffrey Scott Shapiro’s book is concerned, the truth doesn’t matter -- Shapiro is telling the story of how two lives were forever changed on June 30, 2003...
The life of Lilly Fuller (the pseudonym Shapiro assigns to Bryant’s accuser) has changed even more dramatically: Her anonymity was compromised almost immediately both online and in certain media outlets. The tabloid Globe ran her photograph and her name on their front cover. She received hate mail and several death threats from Kobe Bryant fans who blamed her for persecuting their hero. While some friends continued to stand by her, others willingly revealed her secrets in exchange for media attention, a trip to New York or, in one case, the possibility of meeting actress Neve Campbell.
In fact, while this book is the account of how two lives changed after a single encounter, its theme might well be “Two people learn who their friends are”.
"Our family has lost trust that we can obtain a fair trial in your court ... It has been painfully obvious that you treat the defense as if they can do no wrong and the prosecution and my daughter's attorney as if you have something against them or this case" -the father of Bryant's accuser, in a letter sent to Judge Ruckriegle, August 9, 2004
On September 1, after jury selection had already begun, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert announced, "This motion is to dismiss the criminal case against Bryant based on the sole fact that the victim is unable to continue", followed by Bryant’s statement that "Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.”
http://www.crimeweek.com/cja/bryant.html
