Race Relations: The Cleveland Pro Superstar

The Cleveland metro area has more than 2 million people living in it. Of those people, 1.6 million are called "non-hispanic white" according to figures . 

The perception of the greater Cleveland area is that it is predominantly white. In this case, perception is reality.

Cleveland's pro franchises have had six superstars of note—from Jim Brown to LeBron James—that I want to discuss. 

Brown retired at the age of 29 as the NFL's all-time leading rusher. He delivered championships to Cleveland as no other superstar had. In his post NFL career, Brown has been an advocate of race relations in America.

As a strong, black male in Ohio in the 1950s and 1960s, one can only imagine what Brown had to deal with—and he was a part of a winning program.

The 1970s were a time of great distress for Cleveland sport fans. All three franchises struggled. The highlight was the Miracle in Richfield and the rest were lowlights.

Bernie Kosar was the next superstar in Cleveland. He starred in the time before NFL free agency. Kosar was a white quarterback on some very good Cleveland Browns teams.

As his skills diminished, the Cleveland fan base became divided over what should be done with Kosar. Whatever your perception is of the Cleveland fan base, I hope that you have seen that it is a loyal fan base. 

Kosar was cut by the team in the early 1990s just as three superstars came to the attention of Cleveland Indians fans.

Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Jim Thome were the nucleus of a baseball team that made a great run in the mid-to-late 1990s. They were the first superstars that Cleveland had in Major League Baseball's lucrative free agent era.

Belle and Ramirez were coddled while Thome was the guy that everyone wanted to have a beer with. Belle was the first to leave after he signed for huge money with the Chicago White Sox.

Belle had many personal problems in Cleveland and some of those issues spilled over to the field. He came into the league as Joey Belle but changed his name to Albert to start a new life without alcohol.

Belle was not always coddled by Cleveland fans; there was an ugly incident when he threw a baseball at some fans after being heckled.

Cleveland management chose to protect Belle. The team protected for a corked-bat incident while MLB suspended him.

When Belle returned to Cleveland as a member of the White Sox, fans were juvenile toward him as they tossed fake money into the left-field area of Jacobs Field.

Ramirez was protected by the Cleveland management as well. Ramirez made a critical base running mistake in the 1995 World Series and had an array of Manny moments in his Cleveland years.

Ramirez was never made to speak with reporters as he was often shuttled out the back before they were allowed into the clubhouse.

Still, when his contract was up, Cleveland did offer him a huge contract so he would stay. The Boston Red Sox simply offered him more money.

The acrimony felt by the fans with Ramirez was far less than that of Belle.

Thome was treated differently than the other two superstars. The fans appreciated his efforts but knew that he could make more in another city.

Thome was treated like a man while Belle and Ramirez were not given the same respect.

The episode in the summer of 2010 with LeBron is eerily similar to those of Ramirez and Belle. James has been protected and coddled by Cleveland throughout his career.

As good as Cleveland was to James for his seven years there, they did not treat him like they should have. The scathing comments that owner Dan Gilbert made on LeBron's way out of the door should have been the way he was treated while in Cleveland.

If you do not hold a man accountable then you are treating him like a boy. If you treat a man like a boy then he will want to grow up and move on so he can be seen as a man somewhere else.

Josh Cribbs might be the next superstar in Cleveland and my hope is that the Browns' management learns an important lesson here.

Treat men like men. Do not let the color of their skin lead you to treat them differently.

The fallout from the Cleveland fans over LeBron is that of great hurt. It is a feeling of betrayal because they took care of him for seven years. What the fans did not do was see him as a 25-year-old man. Rather, they see him as that 18-year-old kid.

So LeBron has chosen to grow up in Miami. He knew that there would be great discord and upheaval but he still chose the harder path as any man aspiring to greatness would.