ESPN has a column from a guy named LZ Granderson comparing Kimbo Slice to Josh Howard, Flavor Flav, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and just about any other African American celebrity that doesn’t pass his personal litmus test for how a black man should conduct himself in the 21st century.

Yes, I do wish black men like Slice, Josh Howard and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick would take time to think (or care) about how their actions reflect on the few and/or influence the many. But as much as it hurts my soul, I have to accept the fact that no one in the public eye — regardless of color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. — is obligated to serve anyone other than himself. If people want to coon for the camera under the guise of artistic expression or freedom of speech, that is indeed their right. However, I do find it interesting that unlike, say, the right to a proper education, housing or to vote, the right to embarrass ourselves is something the government has never kept from us. But I guess some of us are too busy in marketing meetings to care.

So for those who want to accuse the white mainstream media of blaxploitation 2008, keep in mind that ultimately the onus is on those individuals who choose to present themselves in offensive, over-the-top fashion in order to generate buzz and create a “brand.”

Strange. Branding once was something slave owners used to punish my ancestors. Now it’s being used by the descendents of slaves to punish their memory.

From the looks of it, Granderson is supposed to be a replacement for the late Ralph Wiley. Wiley would address many themes concerning race in America but there was a big difference–Wiley was brilliant, articulate and even when you didn’t agree with him was certainly thought provoking. Granderson is just working any angle he can come up with. Wiley was on a short list of the best sports writers of my lifetime. When he did address subjects of race it was with a profound knowledge of the context within sport and society, and with a nuance and intellectual rigor that reflected the intelligence of the writer. Granderson is just pushing buttons trying to act angry about anyone who doesn’t live by his concept of how African Americans should live.

The irony is that he indicts “white America” for essentially requiring that black celebrities like Kimbo behave a certain way but is doing the same thing himself. Not that Kimbo cares what a pseudo intellectual wanna-be “militant” thinks, but the notion that African Americans should think, act, dress, etc. a certain way because of a shared heritage is absurd and insulting.

Granderson also brings up the recent “Vogue” magazine cover with LeBron James snarling while holding a comely model who happens to be white. This cover photo has become the current media pariah of Granderson and other would be “militants” who complain that James is being exploited, that he was forced to adopt a pose reminiscent of King Kong and Fay Wray thus implying that he is a ‘gorilla’, that his facial expression is supposed to evoke fear in white America, so on and so forth.

If the people wringing their hands about the Vogue cover had bothered to watch any basketball (I know, that’s a white stereotype that African Americans have to like basketball) they would have seen LeBron make that exact same face before–its called a “game face”. And the notion that he was “forced” to behave a certain way by the photographers for a women’s fashion magazine is absurd. LeBron has a nine figure bank account and is in a position where he can call the shots. What most likely happened is that Bron Bron and the model tried out a bunch of different poses, were having a lot of fun with it and this one came out the best. The suggestion that a Vogue cover featuring the most popular basketball star of today is part of a conspiracy by white America is as laughable as Alicia Keyes recent batshit crazy assertion that “gangsta rap” was a sinister creation of the US government to eliminate the future black leaders Tupac and Biggie. The notion that LeBron didn’t have the “juice” to say no is silly or that he didn’t have the intelligence to “realize” he was being exploited is insulting. Bron Bron was having photos taken with a hot model and probably having a hell of a time. Nice work if you can get it…

While there’s plenty of thoughtful writers and scholars who deal with issues of race in society, Granderson is simply rationalizing his personal opinions on the qualifications for being a “real” black man through phony outrage. It’s good for his career and makes writing columns easy. It doesn’t matter who the subject is or what he’s doing, “race baiters” like Granderson can find an angle of outrage.

Here’s an example of the concept–a few years ago so-called “black activists” were up in arms that companies weren’t placing value on black consumers. They called for greater corporate investment in low income areas and a greater emphasis on the importance of black consumers. Corporate America responded, started paying attention to which products sold well in low income areas and started targeting marketing accordingly. At this point, the same “activists” began to accuse Corporate America of “exploiting” the underclass and suggesting that they were somehow hypnotically forcing them to buy products like junk food, cigarettes and booze that were bad for them.

For a writer like Granderson, the formula is simple–find a currently popular black celebrity, preferably one that has achieved “cross over” success and has a large multiracial audience. Foment some sort of “outrage” about his persona, activities, marketing or whatever and your columns practically write themselves. In Kimbo’s case, if he *wasn’t* headlining EliteXC’s 5/31 PPV he’d suggest that Gary Shaw/CBS or whomever was racist and that they were trying to keep Kimbo down because white American can’t accept a black man as a “main event” star. The more likely scenario is that he dusted off an old article about Mike Tyson, inserting Kimbo’s name in the appropriate places.

Bas Rutten suggested that much of the anti-Kimbo sentiment from MMA fighters is “jealousy” at his new found fame. I’d suggest that there’s some jealousy at work here as well. Kimbo is being Kimbo, pretty much the same Kimbo as when he was working as a security guard for a porno company or beating up winos on YouTube. He’s doing the same thing he always has, living his life how he wants to live it but now he’s banking big money for it and is internationally famous. We should all be “exploited” in the same way. Granderson might think Kimbo should wear a suit and sit around reading China Achebe novels, but Kimbo no doubt feels otherwise.

No perspective for Kimbo Slice @ ESPN.com