Whitlock: Kyrie Irving, a superspreader of independent thought, returns to the NBA

Let’s say Kyrie Irving thought he was a woman rather than an Israelite.

Joe Biden would honor the NBA star with a Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Barack and Michelle Obama would host a gala at Martha’s Vineyard for the 12-year pro. The founders of Black Lives Matter would welcome the point guard to one of their mansions to discuss the brilliance of Karl Marx. ESPN would hand the Nets player multiple ESPY Awards for courage. The New York Times would write glowing feature stories. Hip-hop music executive Lyor Cohen would insist that Lil Nas(ty) X, Cardi B, and Jay-Z make a posse cut extolling Irving’s beauty. All the blue-check pundits pretending that Irving’s tweet of a movie poster was an existential threat to Jewish people would champion Irving as a historic trailblazer, and many of them would slide into his DMs.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver might go so far as paying Louis Farrakhan’s Fruit of Islam security force millions of dollars to protect Kyreece Irving.

Unfortunately, Kyrie Irving thinks he’s a Jew, not a woman. That’s dangerous. That’s aggressively discouraged in the NBA, which operates inside an American zeitgeist that aggressively polices the thoughts of black people.

So the Brooklyn Nets suspended Irving for eight games and apparently insisted he complete some sort of communist reeducation program. Sunday afternoon, before he was allowed to take the court against the Memphis Grizzlies, Irving apologized a third time for tweeting a poster promoting a documentary that claims to reveal the true genealogy of American black people.

“I just want to offer my deep apologies to all those who were impacted over these last few weeks, specifically my Jewish relatives, my black relatives, all races and cultures,” he said before scoring 14 points in a Brooklyn victory. “Feel like we all felt an impact, and I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or anti-Semitism or anything that is ‘anti,’ going against the human race. I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions.”

Maybe we can all move on now. I think many in corporate media would love to. Their reaction to Irving has exposed the fraudulence of their revolutionary posturing and alleged desire to support the “next” Muhammad Ali.

They’ve been exposed as gatekeepers and overseers. Their job is to police the thoughts of black men and prevent the rise of another Ali, Malcolm X, or even Martin Luther King Jr.

The system rewards black men for claiming an allegiance to violent street gangs and penalizes black men who explore and/or legitimately adhere to a religious faith that supports male leadership.

Think about it. Had Irving retweeted the movie “Straight Outta Compton,” a biographical drama celebrating the satanic rise of Niggas with Attitude and gangsta rap music, there would be no controversy. Zero. The NFL would ask him to Crip-walk at halftime of the Super Bowl.

N.W.A. released two albums – "Straight Outta Compton" in 1988 and "Niggaz4Life" in 1991. The songs on both albums denigrate black people and promote immorality in every form. Corporate media used one song, “F*** tha Police,” to argue that N.W.A. was the West Coast version of Public Enemy. It’s a joke and a lie.

One song with a kernel of truth does not justify the immorality preached on every other song. We don’t apply that standard to other forms of art. Take, for instance, “Hebrews to Negroes.” The entire three-hour documentary must be disavowed because 10 minutes of it meet the Anti-Defamation League’s definition of anti-Semitism.

N.W.A.’s entire catalog meets any reasonable standard of anti-black denigration.

But we can celebrate Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Ren, and Yella. Kyrie must be punished. The double standard makes no sense unless you understand that popular culture seduces and requires black men to support their own demise.

Joe Biden says we’re not black unless we endorse the abortion of our seed, the empowerment of the LGBTQ Alphabet Mafia, and the worship of the matriarchy. We must hate Donald Trump, even though we spent decades celebrating him in rap songs.

I’m not a Hebrew Israelite. I’ve spent the past two weeks reading and talking about them, trying to get a better understanding of their beliefs. As best I can tell, their real agenda seems to be appealing to black men to live up to the laws and covenants spelled out in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Some of them appear to be belligerent and racist. I’ve met and engaged with belligerent and bigoted Christians. Racial idolatry plagues mankind and all religious sects.

I’ve yet to hear Kyrie Irving say anything that strikes me as bigoted. He tweeted a movie poster, and corporate media overreacted at the behest of people who, in my opinion, have grown tired of Irving taking independent actions that black men are not supposed to take.

Sunday night, following the Grizzlies-Nets game, a reporter asked Kyrie if he would take responsibility for the thousand or so Hebrew Israelites protesting outside the Barclay Center. Irving declined to answer the question.

Irving did not cause the protest. Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai caused the protest when he suspended Irving for tweeting a movie poster. Had Tsai and Adam Silver ignored Irving’s harmless tweet and respected his free speech, there would be no controversy.

Why didn’t they ignore Irving?

Because he could be a superspreader of independent thought. The puppet masters of popular culture don’t want any of us – black or white, Jew or gentile, rich or poor – waking up to how they restrict the freedoms granted to us by our Creator.