Authorities Investigate A Racist Cereal Box Art Project Involving LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has a knack for spreading racist narratives when they don’t exist.

Whether it’s incorrectly saying a man sprayed racist graffiti on his mansion, or calling a cop racist and saying he needed to be held accountable for defending himself, James is the king of stirring the pot with race-baiting narratives. It’s incredibly harmful and, frankly, annoying to listen to.

Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

But for the first time in forever, he has the opportunity to comment on a legitimately racist story, and it directly involves him.

A student from the New Hartford Central School District (NHCSD) in New Hartford, NY created a parody cereal box that featured James as part of its design. The student (who is currently not identified) then brought this project for display at the New Hartford Festival of the Arts.

While this sounds innocent enough at first blush, it was far from a wholesome project. The box had the title  "Monkey Premium Cereal" on it, and the tagline read, "Eat Monkeys, Jump Like Monkeys!" The text also said that anyone who ate it would "jump 2-5 inches higher for about 2 hours" after eating it.

This disgusting project has prompted an investigation.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that this is thoroughly unacceptable. While I may not be a LeBron fan, I sure as heck don’t want him to be the subject of a legitimately racist taunt. 

My biggest question is how anyone in the NHCSD let this slip through their supervision. This is about as obvious as it gets when it comes to something being racist.

Fortunately, Superintendent of Schools Cosimo Tangorra Jr is taking full responsibility for what happened and has vowed to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

"It is disheartening that racist work was not only created but then overlooked and allowed to be displayed. We understand that there are students, families, staff and community members who may not feel safe, accepted or welcome as a result of what transpired," he said in a statement. "Our school community deserves access to a supportive learning environment where everyone feels respected, included and safe. We have fallen short of that goal, and we must do better."

James has yet to make any comment on the matter. But if he does, he has every right to play the victim card. For once in his life, he won’t be race-baiting should he do that.