In my previous post, Sport Science, I talked about the upside to technology, the upgrades, and the new creations that we are capable of producing. I discussed how we are able to discover great things in the sports realm thanks to the power of technology. Now, as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. So, today I want to bring attention to the person who has the most responsibility in this nation; none other than Donald J. Trump. This is a person who has used technology and the era we are in with social media to cause plenty of stirs in our communities.
Lebron James recently had an interview on CNN to discuss the new school he opened in his hometown in Akron, Ohio named, “I Promise School” for 240 at-risk 3rd and 4th graders. Don Lemon, the journalist that interviewed James, briefly discussed politics on how our president uses sports to divide athletes through his usual method of taking to Twitter. Lemon asked James “What would you say to the president if he were sitting across from you right now?” “I wouldn’t even be in the same room with him, but I would sit down with Barack though,” James replied.
After seeing this interview, Trump did what Trump does and took to Twitter to voice his thoughts and opinions. “Lebron James was interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!” Trump said. Now I know plenty of people in my African-American community don’t think the highest about our president, but we must get rid of this notion that he is dumb or is oblivious to what he is doing. Trump knew with this tweet, how everyone in the age of social media, where everyone has the whole world at their fingertips, that all eyes would be on him.
However, my biggest problem isn’t that the president took a shot at one of my favorite basketball players or called two solidified black men in America stupid. It is the fact that he is worried about all of the wrong things. he is trying to undermine people who are doing good things for their community, and people who are trying to make an impact to better our world. But, what makes me even more upset is that this isn’t the first time he has done this. Do you remember when he took to Twitter to voice his opinion on the Colin Kaepernick situation? Now the NFL ended up making a rule that you have to stand or get fined. Like how does that even concern you?
I feel as though he uses Twitter, or social media in general, to distract us from the issues that really matter. For example, what about the wildfires that cause havoc across our nation? What about the fact that Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean water? Or maybe, how the U.S. and North Korea still haven’t made peace yet, etc. I could go on and on but just know not everybody gets blinded by the smoke and mirrors.