The Houston Rockets posted a photo on their social media accounts Thursday of star player James Harden wearing a “thin blue line” mask, and the reaction was swift.
“Mask,” says the caption.
The “thin blue line” flag is a sign of support for law enforcement that, amid the Black Lives Matter protests, comes to signal opposition to the racial justice movement and support for white supremacy. The phrase dates back to an 1854 British battle formation, a “thin red line”, during the Crimean War, according to The Marshall Project.
Matthew Cherry, a black filmmaker and Academy Award winner, was among those who responded to the team’s tweet. Cherry tweeted a GIF of Michael Jordan looking puzzled.
Singer Trey Songz, who is also black, weighed in as well, tweeted the image of a raccoon and said, “This certified clown sh– I’ll say it for everyone who’s scared. FOH.” (FOH is slang for f — out of here)
Harden said Friday that he was not trying to make a political statement and was wearing the mask because it covered his entire face and beard.
Harden told reporters that, as he said Thursday, he was in the process of finding a way to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, either by name on his shirt or by other means.
Harden, who is black, had praised the protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody earlier Thursday, calling them “staggering.”
“I think the world saw it,” Harden told reporters. “You know, how many people could come together so close. Obviously, it was for a tragic reason. But you know, the march and everything we stand for is very powerful.”
Unlike other NBA star players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry, Harden has not been remarkably expressive on issues of political or social justice.
Rapper Young Thug, a friend of Harden’s, tweeted that the NBA player did not know the connotations that come with the “thin blue line.”
“Just so you know that James hardens is my brada …”, he tweeted, “he certainly doesn’t have the internet, so he obviously doesn’t know what is right or what is wrong if he publishes something that is against the United States … “
On Friday, Harden said he did not know what the mask represented. “I felt it was something to cover my entire face and my beard,” he said, adding that the face covers he had previously used did not.
Others on social media seemed to see Harden wearing the mask as a sign of support for the police and posted their thanks with the hashtags #bluelivesmatter and #alllivesmatter. The photo liked more than 14,000 times on Twitter, where Harden’s name was trending on Friday morning, and more than 85,000 times on Instagram.
