The NBA Shuns Freedom

The NBA Shuns Freedom
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 14, 2022

Just when it looked as though the National Basketball Association couldn’t sink any lower, it dug deep reaching depths lower than a gopher’s basement. In an attempt to silence perhaps the most outspoken player in the league - Enes Kanter Freedom, playing in his 11th NBA season, the Boston Celtics traded Freedom Thursday February 10 to the Houston Rockets, who immediately dropped him from their roster.

Kanter, who on Monday November 29, 2021 became an official American citizen and legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, called upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pull the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing because their human rights abuses do not warrant hosting a game of Chinese Checkers, let alone the honor of hosting the Olympic games. “The Chinese Communist Party does not represent the Olympic values - excellence, respect, friendship, and they are a brutal dictatorship. They engage in censorship, they don’t respect human rights, and they hide the truth. There’s a genocide happening. All the gold medals in the world aren’t worth selling your morals, values, and principles to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Freedom.

Long before Freedom called for the ongoing Winter Olympic Games to be pulled from China, as a Celtics center he often publicly criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their human rights violations, which resulted in the Chinese state television pulling all Celtics games from their airwaves. While the loss of those games on Chinese television did not personally financially impact Freedom, executives from the NBA asked, no, demanded that he no longer speak out against the CCP.

But Freedom, a native of Turkey with family still living there under threat, would not be deterred. (Turkey invalidated Freedom’s passport, raided his family’s home, and arrested his father.) He pulled no punches in his declarative statements about the evils of the CCP and the deleterious impact on millions of its own people. Human rights abuses such as, but not limited to,  imprisoning more than a million minority Uyghurs and Khazakhs in concentration camps in the Xinjiang Region in Northwest China, forced abortions, executions, torture, forced labor - slavery, mass sterilization, sexual abuse - rape, clamping down on rights heretofore enjoyed by Hong Kong, saber rattling toward Taiwan, a still unfree Tibet, and Covid-19. Even the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC compared the CCP government’s atrocities towards it own people to the persecution and slaughter of six million Jewish people during World War II.

The ultimate goals of the CCP are to control the world via the assimilation or eradication of America/Americans, the annexation of neighboring countries, as well as the occupation of Europe. The dastardly deeds in the Xinjiang Region are merely the opening salvo. Roughly half of the 25 million person population there are Muslim - the Uyghurs being the largest representation. Mass detentions into reeducation camps are designed to quell alleged terrorism and separation, according to the CCP. For three-quarters of a century the people of Xinjiang have fought for their own autonomy, their own state. Initially quashed by totalitarian dictator Mao Zedong in 1949, the abuses continue to this day with upwards of 1,200 concentration camps.

For the most part, the world, led by the United States, has all but turned a blind eye to the strife and unconscionable treatment experienced by the people of the Xinjiang Region. “I was ashamed of myself for the last nine to 10 years,” said Freedom. “This is bigger than basketball,” said the center who rotated his shoes worn on the basketball court - a pair with the flag of Taiwan, one saying “Free Tibet,” another adorned with “Hypocrite Nike,” and the big one, “stop genocide, torture, rape, slave labor, free China.” Freedom’s controversial basketball shoes - at least according to the league - were the cause of consternation earlier this season at Madison Square Garden prior to a game against the New York Knicks. NBA officials “begging me” to take off the shoes. “If I’m not breaking any rules, I’m not taking the shoes off - go tell your boss - I don’t care if I get fined,” said Freedom.

“It’s time to wake up and speak up. Someone has to do it. So many athletes, actors, singers out there - they’re scared - they care too much about their money. They care too much about their endorsement deals. They care too much about what the teams they play for are going to say. It should be morals and principles over money. People’s lives depend on this. This is so important - especially with athletes - so many out there that idolize us - if we don’t stand up against this dictatorship, who will?” Freedom added, as he called out LeBron James specifically, for his Nike-China ties. Freedom also said it is shameful that such influential American-born celebrities are quick to criticize the United States.

While the players in the NBA and WNBA - great and small alike - are parading around sanctimoniously in their BLM garb (probably made in China), they are either willfully obtuse or simply stupid and heartless regarding the overwhelmingly torturous circumstances besieging the Uyghurs and countless scores of others in China.

One week prior to his citizenship becoming official, Freedom penned an editorial appearing in The Wall Street Journal on November 22, 2021 wherein he called for the Olympics to be pulled out of Beijing for the sake of tennis player Peng Shuai. In a text on November 2 Shuai levied allegations of sexual assault against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Subsequent to that text, it disappeared from the internet by no action of Shuai’s, followed by rumors of her disappearance from the public eye. Shuai is a former world number one tennis player in doubles competition as well as winner of two major titles and a three-time Olympian.

Consequently, the Women’s Tennis Association pulled all of its future tournaments from China. That decision will “cost women’s tennis hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue” according to WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon. Freedom applauded the actions taken by the WTA, called on other major sports leagues to do likewise

“Look how they treat their own tennis player. We’re going to send our own athletes there? Unacceptable. Shame on other Muslims for not speaking out,” said Freedom. Shuai eventually made what were clearly staged public appearances. “She may be alive, but she’s not free,” Freedom said of Shuai.

Freedom is at ease with his new nation’s constitution, as is evidenced above, using his First Amendment rights rather liberally. “This is the greatest country in the world. There are 27 amendments, and my First Amendment is my greatest amendment - freedom of speech,” he said. “It’s disgusting to me that on the one hand they say they are a social justice organization, yet when it comes to this, they remain silent and follow the big bucks, scared to say anything because of the money,” said Freedom of the NBA and its players.

Ironically, or coincidentally, on October 4, 2019, Daryl Morey, then General Manager of the Rockets, the team that just waived Freedom, found himself in hot water for a simple Tweet supporting freedom in Hong Kong. Several days later, Morey said he never intended his Tweet to cause any offense, but much to the chagrin of the Chinese, did not apologize. As a punishment against the NBA, the CCP canceled its entire season’s broadcasts of the NBA in China. On November 1, 2020 Morey left the Rockets. Currently Morey is president of basketball operations with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The NBA is a slave to the Chinese Communist Party. Gutless and cowardly. Quite frankly, so too is the entirety of the United States. After all, it’s damn near impossible to avoid purchasing Chinese-made products anywhere and everywhere people shop.

“This is bigger than me and it is too important. If this is a reason my career ends, so be it,” said a rather prophetic Freedom around the time his American citizenship became official. Basketball or no basketball, there is no doubt Enes Kanter Freedom will continue to speak up and speak out. And isn’t that what the United States of America is all about? Pray it remains so.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Speak Up Before You Can't

Speak Up Before You Can’t
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 8, 2022

Andrew Doran, in his February 4 editorial in The Wall Street Journal, opined correctly that “Christians Need to Confront Anti-Semitism.” It is true that the “new” anti-Semitism is simply under the guise of anti-Zionism - the hatred of Israel down to its mere existence.

Doran mentioned the “majority of Americans still have favorable views toward the Jewish people.” That is a double-edged sword. Acceptance comes with assimilation and assimilation leads to inter-marriage, in the case of the Jewish people to the tune of greater than 50 percent. Assimilation - becoming Americanized - is a good thing, provided rituals are still practiced and observed. There is a healthy balance there. Inter-marriage, not so much. It dilutes the faith for the next generations, leading to a loss of practice and observance of ritual.

An issue that need be taken with Doran, is his assertion that “Anti-Semitism is resurgent on the political right. Untrue. All one has to do is turn their attention to Congress and the myriad anti-Semitic tropes, comments, and behaviors exhibited by Democrat Congresswomen Cori Bush (D-MO), Andre Carson (D-IN), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), to name just a few.

But when addressing the need of Christians to confront anti-Semitism, and remembering that the Jewish people are typically the canary in the coal mine, Doran omitted one defining adage from German Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984). These words are rightly emblazoned on a wall at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Words by which to live, while millions did not.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He is a charter member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

"Whoops" Goldberg Suspended Over Holocaust Remarks

 “Whoops” Goldberg Suspended Over Holocaust Remarks
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 2, 2022

“Let’s be truthful about it, because the Holocaust isn’t about race… It’s about man’s inhumanity to man.” - “Whoopi Goldberg” (Caryn Elaine Johnson) - Monday, January 31, 2022 on The View

That brief statement of insensitive ignorance sparked a firestorm that led ABC News President Kim Godwin to suspend Goldberg for two weeks effective immediately, Tuesday, February 1.

While I remain a vigorous defender of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, words have meaning and words also have consequences. 

Goldberg, who, make no mistake, is not Jewish, has disgraced the Goldberg name with her thoughtless invective, then compounded it, adding, “these are two white groups of people.” Does that lessen the severity of the Holocaust because “these are two white groups of people?” Are six million Jewish people any less dead because they were slaughtered by other white people? That is insanely obtuse of Goldberg to think, let alone utter out loud on national television.

Should the pandemic of Black on Black crime be dismissed because these are two Black groups of people? How about the genocide and slavery of over a million Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party? Should that be ignored because these are two Asian groups of people? Of course not - that would be outlandish. And deeply offensive.

On Monday, StopAntisemitism.org posted, “Newsflash @ WhoopiGoldberg 6 million of us were gassed, starved and massacred because we were deemed an inferior race by the Nazis. How dare you minimize our trauma and suffering.”

The Jewish people were defined as a subhuman race by Hitler and the Nazis, subjected to any attrocities and degradation that could possibly be perpetrated against another human being. In reality, the Jewish people can be defined as a race, a religion, a culture, but one rabbi friend said the Jewish people should be considered a family, or a faith community. After all, one need not be born into Judaism to be Jewish, and Jewish people come in numerous colors and nationalities.

The Nazis sought to create a superior race - an Aryan race, as part of Hitler’s so-called Thousand Year Reich, which at 12 years, was already a dozen too many. Such a desire is the epitome of racism - if there is to be a superior race, by definition there is to be an inferior race. Anti-Semitism is a form of racism - against the race of the Semites, the Semitic peoples. Yet, the so-called prevailing wisdom is that the Jewish people are white, assumed to be of means, and therefore cannot be a minority nor should be treated as one. However, rising anti-Semitism both in the United States and abroad, say otherwise. At less than two percent of the American population, and less than one-tenth of one percent of the global population, the Jewish community is the ultimate minority.

And the Jewish community seems to be a minority on The View. Although Barbara Walters, a founder of The View, is Jewish, there hasn’t been a Jewish host on the program since her departure in 2016. Apparently there have only been two Jewish hosts of the more than two dozen in the 25 year history of The View. I don’t believe in affirmative action, therefore, if the best hosts for that program are not Jewish, so be it. Whether it’s the ballfield, the boardroom, or the operating room, I want the best players on the field regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, etc.

Goldberg, who has co-hosted The View since 2007 attempted, rather poorly, to offer a non-apology apology during her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night. “I feel being Black, when we talk about race, it’s a very different thing to me. So I said that I felt that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. People were very angry and they said ‘no, no, we are a race.’ And I understand - I understand. I felt differently.”

That so-called apology went over like a lead balloon. “Let me use Whoopi’s words ‘let’s be truthful,’ she marginalized the deaths of six million Jews,” said civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, appearing on The Faulkner Focus on Tuesday, February 1. “And what makes it insulting is that she provided cover for those who are anti-Semitic; those who really try to downplay that the Nazis systematically tried to eliminate every Jew on this planet…. She’s using her race as a cover. Whoopi Goldberg apparently missed World History class in high school.

“I feel, as a Black man, as a civil rights attorney, and as a history teacher, that what she said was anti-Semitic, racist, and downplayed that six million people were murdered…. It’s an attempt to ignore what happened [80] years ago. This world should never forget that a madman tried to eliminate a religious group off the face of this earth,” said Terrell.

Hate speech, ignorant speech, should be combated with more speech, not less. Shine a bright light on people’s words and let viewers or listeners decide whether or not they choose to watch or listen any longer. Those same people will also decide whether or not to patronize the advertisers of such programs. Advertisers should be judged upon the company they keep. Do I wish to patronize a business that de facto supports the words (or actions) of ignorance, hate, racism or anti-Semitism being spewed? 

“Jewish Americans like myself are used to this,” said former State Department spokesperson and United States Navy veteran Morgan Ortagus, also appearing on Harris Faulkner’s program on Tuesday. “It’s quite sad - one in four Jews have said in the past year they have experienced some form of anti-Semitism. We’ve seen this from some very radical leftist members of Congress.

“The bigger picture here too, which everyone is missing, is that not only did Hitler exterminate the Jews in the Holocaust because he believed they were an inferior race, newsflash to everyone - not all Jews are white - you should go to Israel. You should see the fact that there are Jews from around the world - all colors - complete ignorance about the Jewish people - it’s incredibly offensive - lines up with the leftist agenda towards Jews and America, but broader to Israel as well.

“We look at the UN - at their resolutions condemning various countries around the world, last year, guess who got 14 condemnations? It was Israel. North Korea got one. Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, got one. Just last week swastikas were painted on Union Station steps away from the US Capital. This is a continuing, rampant problem. 

“Unfortunately, Whoopi Goldberg stepped into it… in a way that perpetuated lies about the Jewish people that we’ve heard for decades. Specifically, those lies were rampant during the Holocaust. I’m glad she apologized, but I think it just speaks to a broader need for people to really understand how Jews - American Jews - are being targeted by leftist institutions.”

Ortagus is absolutely correct. Overt anti-Semitism has been on the rise for decades in the US and abroad. Those attacks have come in the form of desecration at synagogues - including mine in Carmel, IN, repeated assaults on religious Jewish men and women in New York City and the surrounding area, as well as gun violence that has claimed almost 20 lives in just over three years.

Just three weeks ago, on January 15, Shabbat services were disrupted by a gunman who held four hostages for about 12 hours at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX near Dallas.

December 11, 2019 two gunmen slaughtered four people in and near a kosher grocery in Jersey City, NJ. One of the murdered included Jersey City Detective Joseph Seals.

April 27, 2019 a gunman invaded the Chabad in Poway, CA near San Diego during Shabbat services murdering one congregant and wounding three others, including the rabbi.

October 27, 2018 in the worst attack on the Jewish community in United States history, a gunman violated Shabbat services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Eleven congregants were slaughtered and six others were wounded, including four police officers.

Countless anti-Semitic attacks have been heard coming from Washington, DC as House members Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) among others have brazenly, verbally assaulted the Jewish community and Israel with tired old tropes. They, like Goldberg, have displayed their ignorance, which is horrific, yet not surprising. And the new shtick by anti-Semites is to couch their anti-Semitism by hiding behind the guise of anti-Zionsim - opposing the existence of the State of Israel. To be fair, one can oppose policy in Israel and not be an anti-Semite. One can oppose the opinions of a Jewish person and also not be an anti-Semite. I disagree with virtually everything coming out of the mouths of US Rep. Bernie Sanders (S-VT) and US Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and certainly does not make me an anti-Semite.

Whoopi Goldberg may or may not be an anti-Semite - I don’t know her, nor do I know what is in her heart. Clearly we now know what is or is not in her brain as stated on The “Dim” View. On Tuesday, February 1, Goldberg began The View with a more well-crafted apology than offered on Colbert’s show the night before. “It is indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race. Words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know, and y’all know - because I’ve always done that.”

In spite of that apology, ABC News President Kim Godwin did the right thing by giving Goldberg a two week timeout. “Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments. While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments. The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”

While that apology has been accepted by many in the Jewish community, some still call for Goldberg to be fired. I support free speech and Goldberg’s right to say stupid, insensitive, and offensive things. I also support ABC and its right to make personnel decisions that are best for its company and its bottom line.

As a Charter Member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in our nation’s capital, I invite, and strongly encourage Whoopi Goldberg to visit the museum and truly learn about the Holocaust. Bring friends, Ms. Goldberg it’s free and open to the public six days a week - closed Wednesdays, Yom Kippur, and Christmas. For more information visit www.ushmm.org. 

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN and has been a Charter Member of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum since its founding in 1993.