LeBron Vogue Cover Stirs Debate

LeBron James just can't seem to catch a break. Within the last eight months, crawling through the landmines of scrutiny that only come from superstardom, James' has taken incoming fire from Cavaliers fans, Cleveland-backers across the country, and the mainstream media on a litany of different subjects.

If I recall correct, first he wore the wrong hat to a baseball game. Oh wait, it was a Yankees hat he was wearing and Cleveland was in the midst of a competitive playoff series with New York. Then came his infamous Nike shoe deal, complete with the same plastered pinstripes of the same Bronx Bombers team the Indians went on to beat before their tragic loss to Boston. The Yankees weren't the only non-Cleveland team he caught feelings for either.

Shortly after the Yankees fiasco, he admitted he was a devotee of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. To expedite the list of grievances Cleveland fans have with the King, I'll make an abbreviated list of them. Other than those listed, James' has taken hits for: building TOO big of a house (35440 sq. feet, 11 bedrooms), throwing too big a party for his 23rd birthday (who wouldn't with that kind of dough?), driving too fast (it isn't speeding when your whip can pull 120 mph easy), not being funny enough on SNL (he is a member of the NBA, not the WGA), not playing clutch enough, missing playing time for a hurt finger, allowing the Cavaliers to get swept in the finals, not to mention using a salad fork to eat his dinner, talking with his mouth full, not calling his girlfriend after visiting games, tipping 15% instead of 20% at restaurants and diners, passing gas in an elevator…

Does this list EVER end? Can't the media just get off his back for day, much less a week? Geez, won't you let the guy advance his swagger a little bit!

Just when I thought I heard the last of the ridiculous barrage of criticisms directed at James, the icing on the cake had to rear its ugly head. What did he do this time? Not cover his mouth when coughing?

You'd be surprised at what's upsetting talking heads across the nation this time: James is the third male and first black man to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.

What an honor, right? Sure, except if you're a part of the mainstream media. The Vogue cover is becoming something of a sensation, with pundits claiming that it propagates existing racial stereotypes. The cover features James standing statuesquely (demonstrating his trademark look of game-time fervor) wearing clothes straight out of his own Nike Clothing line while clutching ultra-skinny white model and occasional Tom Brady girlfriend Giselle Bundchen. The issues theme is "top models and star athletes."

Let it be known; I'd be the first to call this cover out if I found it to be prejudiced or bigoted. The magazines cover isn't what amounts to racial fire starting in my opinion.

Critics claim that the James-Bundchen photo invokes up the image of the "dangerous black man" with the "white damsel in distress." Now take a good look at Gisele, does she look uncomfortable to you? Does James look anything less than an enthusiastic competitor?

Detractors from this argument claim that other superstars, such as Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, would not have been pictured as such, but James isn't Tiger and while he may be the next MJ in the NBA, he isn't like Mike when it comes to his style. He's his own man.

Certain individuals are just buying into this way too much, going as far as to compare the cover to old pictures of King Kong gripping Fay Wray and an old World War I recruitment poster.

If there is a reason to shame Vogue, let's shame them for waiting so long into their own existence before putting their first black man on the cover (much less as the third male following up George Clooney and Richard Gere)! Pundits should be punishing Vogue for its lack of afro-centricity in its 114 years of distribution, not for allowing James to have a memorable cover. Does anyone even consider that LeBron James wouldn't have given the go-ahead to Vogue if he saw the cover as offensive or prejudiced? For all the hits he takes personally and professionally, at least don't insult the man's intelligence.

In an issue dedicated to "top models and star athletes", Vogue magazine gives us just that: the world's foremost top athlete paired with the world's most well known airbrushed Barbie Doll. I'll let the readers decide on who exactly is getting the worse rap on this cover.