A few years ago, NBA superstar LeBron James publicly thanked his father for abandoning him. He thanked Anthony McClelland for not being there as he and his mother, Gloria James, moved, not by choice, 10 times while he was between the ages of 5 and 8.
President Donald Trump never faced something so challenging. Raised in the lap of luxury, Trump grew up under the same roof as his parents, millionaire New York developer Fred Trump and his wife Mary Anne. An exclusive prep school education led to an Ivy League degree. Not long thereafter, Fred welcomed his 20-something as partner in the booming family business.
James, born to a 16-year-old mother, grew up as 70 percent of African-American children do today, in a single-parent home. We stigmatize and condemn Black children who come into the world this way, as if it is their fault. Our culture erects roadblocks for them to clear, and when they don’t sail over these hurdles there is lot of “see, I told you so” finger pointing.
Trump, conversely, is the product of what is held up as the perfect familial situation. His upbringing was archetypal blue blooded — Ozzie and Harriet on steroids.
Why then, one wonders, have the two reached different stages of their lives as if they were the product of the stereotypes typically associated with the other’s circumstances?
The president has five children by three wives. Under normal circumstances, many of his supporters, particularly those on the religious right (whatever that means these days) would consider this to be anathema. Nineteen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. First wife, Ivanna, accused him of raping her in her 1990 divorce deposition.
Stormy Daniels, who has sex for a living, and former playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom have been paid hush money not to talk about their romps with the president, want to tell their stories so badly that they have sued for the right to do so.
So what of James, the father and husband? Ever wonder why James is never associated with some barely dressed, booty-shaking Instagram model? If he wanted to, this would not be a problem. James is young, rich and fit far beyond normal standards. For gold diggers across the world, he is one of the biggest fish in the sea.
But rather than sow his wild oats like the 72-year-old Trump, it is the 33-year-old NBA star, who spends most of his life on the road, that by all outward appearance seems happily married to high school sweetheart Savannah Brinson, the mother of their three kids.
James has never set foot in a college classroom. However, it is James and not Trump — a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business — who appreciates the value of the education he never got. This helps to explain why he is making it accessible to the poor, who are so often treated as invisible.
Last week, James opened I Promise Academy in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, the same place where on many a night he went to bed hungry. It is those memories of an often empty, fatherless childhood that James says helped motivate him to partner with the Akron Public School system to open his school for at-risk children.
Students will receive free uniforms, free meals and free transportation to and from school. Remember, showing up really is half the battle. James would know: He missed 83 days from class in the fourth grade.
The parents of these kids? James has them covered, too. I Promise offers GED prep and job placement for moms and dads.
It is James who is the philanthropist.
Trump, too, ventured into education, but his foray was proven to be nothing more than a high-stakes hustle designed only to take advantage of the same type of ignorance James’ hopes his school will help to eradicate.
The last anyone heard of Trump University, a class-action lawsuit was being settled for $25 million, paving the way for thousands to get back some of their money from what amounted to a Ponzi scheme.
It is Trump who is the leech.
The blue blood could wind up ultimately being impeached. The former couch surfer, meanwhile, is being asked during interviews if someday he’d like to be president. It’s a far cry from where they both began, and it is equally as far from where societal predictors suggest either would finish.
John N. Mitchell has worked as a journalist for more than a quarter century. He can be reached at jmitchell@phillytrib.com and Tweet at @freejohnmitchel
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune
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