Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James continues to be vocally active on social media on matters surrounding racial injustice, and this time he's addressing concerns about voting in minority communities.
James commented on a tweet from Politico's Laura Barrón-López, who shared her report (co-authored with Zach Montellaro) on issues at polling sites across Georgia for Tuesday's primary, including Black Lives Matters' co-founder LaTosha Brown's unfortunate experience casting her ballot.
Because of these issues, LeBron James called out structural racism in these voting systems:
LeBron quote tweeting this Politico article highlights the challenges voters are facing across the state of Georgia at polling sites in Atlanta, specifically hours-long wait times due to issues with voter machines, late openings, and long lines.
As Brown witnessed firsthand, the issues plaguing some inner-city Atlanta polling sites were not occurring at polling locations in the white suburban neighborhoods, which LeBron James clearly noticed. Per Barrón-López, Brown waited three hours to vote, while her nephew waited six hours to vote on Friday during early voting hours. When Brown drove to a predominantly white polling place, she saw almost no line:
“I come over to this side of town, and white folks are strolling in…On my side of town, we brought stadium chairs,” Brown said.
“We have got to stop making voting a traumatic damn experience for black voters. Everything has to be a traumatic experience,” added Brown. “The secretary of state needs to resign. … They always blame it on local officials.”
This whole episode shows the systemic issues and disenfranchisement that black voters continue to face, evidently on full display again on Tuesday in Georgia — a key swing state that has had repeated problems with voter suppression.
LeBron James' latest criticism comes after a number of tweets about racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police. He will not “shut up and dribble.”
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