Jesse Jackson reacted to Dan Gilbert’s letter to Cavs fans regarding Lebron’s departure from Cleveland by describing Gilbert for having a ‘slave master mentality,’ and that Lebron honored his contract and he was no longer obliged to the services of the Cavaliers organization.

This is not the first time someone has drawn the comparison between the relationship of athletes and owners, and slavery. William Rhoden wrote a book examining this relationship called ‘Forty Million Dollar Slaves.’ The difference is Rhoden’s examination was supported, Jackson’s comments were ludicrous, and self-righteous.

Lebron did honor his contract, and it was well within his right to pursue another place to provide his services. And no Dan Gilbert does not own him. Another important thing to consider is the consequences of slavery, and segregation have impacted African-Americans of today significantly. Specifically the inability to acquire capital during the era of racism, has left a lot of the generations that followed them behind, may have caused a breakdown in the family structure because of poverty, and is one of the reasons the incarceration rates are so high for black males (Here’s another reason). But this comment is way out of bounds.

Dan Gilbert has every right to hold Lebron accountable for betraying the team he has always played for. And it is nothing short of betrayal when you consider the circus Lebron made for himself by making it a national television event.

What values are we beholden to if we condone this type of behavior? Gilbert opened his letter by claiming Lebron’s actions to be narcissistic, and egotistical. Were they not Mr. Jackson (and no I am not honoring your fake ass reverendship)? Another thing Jackson is ignoring, is that the letter was to the insufferable Cleveland sports fan base that just lost their only hope. And when Gilbert claimed that Lebron quit during the playoffs, in which his performance was very un-Lebron-like, that fan base still eagerly supported him. So again I ask Mr. Jackson, where are the fallacies in Dan Gilbert’s letter to Cavaliers fans?

This is nothing more than Jesse Jackson being the self-righteous, attention seeker that he is. This man once use to partake in substantial discourse, including his debate with Jerry Fallwell regarding apartheid in South Africa where he was very eloquent, and sincere and speaking out against a legitimate cause including the nature of capitalism. His stance on capitalism is contradictory when he wants to chime in on the ‘now’ topic regarding Lebron, where he sees it as okay for ‘Lebron to do what’s best for Lebron,’ and leaving the citizens of Cleveland stranded in a withering economy.

There are other causes worth fighting for, but if there not going to get the name in the papers then Jesse wants no parts of them.