by Michael L. Counter, Jr. – Dallas South News Senior Intern

LeBron James signed with the Miami Heat and Cavalier’s owner Dan Gilbert is promising that Cleveland, Ohio, is will be the fire next time. The infuriated city took to the streets burning James’ jerseys. Let the catharsis begin.

Up to this point, you may have assumed that I am an avid basketball follower. I’m also sure that this assumption is based solely on my regurgitation of what I learned from the most trusted name in news–Twitter.

Twitter was abuzz with predictions and finally disappointment, rage, and excitement on last Thursday night. The social media site has become the pulse of current issues as of late. This pulse exposes the short attention span of our media driven society.

The same pulse that brought us the LeBron James saga, gave us the tragic verdict in the Oscar Grant case. It also brought us progress in the Defense of Marriage Act legislation. Now that we are able to multitask and multitopic (did I just make up a word?) we must prioritize our interest.

What is to be done first?

What is most important?

Twitter’s “Trending Topics” lists hot subjects which the users are talking about.  The LeBron James saga topped the list last week. The devastating verdict in the Oscar Grant trial was listed in the Trending Topics as well. The irony of the two topics is that two black men–one alive, one murdered–were on the tips of the public’s tongue and their characters were to the tips of tweeters fingers.

On that Thursday night, Twitter exposed yet another societal tendency: black men dominating the news for sports and crime. With the leaps technology has taken to connect us to the world abroad and to encourage diversity, the ills of America’s history (which the Texas education system is bent on distilling) are still enmeshed in our social exchanges.

Racial epithets were posted on Twitter in response to James‘ choice to sign with the Miami Heat. The same racial epithets were hurled at those who contested the verdict in the Oscar Grant case. Even in the age of Obama, a progressive social technology was used as a space to denigrate and dishonor both James and the late Oscar Grant. In one night, two black men of very different social standings were the same. They were niggers.

In a supposed post-racial society, the N-word has sting.  Why did this word intensify debates about LeBron James & Oscar Grant on this forward technological platform?

Unlike that of the Oscar Grant trial, the jury is still out on this one. And in case you’re not in the know, Oakland police officer Johannes Mehserle shot & killed the unarmed Oscar Grant on New Years 2009. On last Thursday, Mehserle was not convicted of murder, but of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Many Oakland protesters were jailed for looting and riots. Protesters that chose to tweet their anger were not jailed, but were called racial epithets. If protesting injustice and being upset with an unjust verdict is cause for me to be called out of my Twitter handle, then unlike Mehserle, I am guilty as charged.

Oh yeah, anybody remember Haiti & that hole devastating earthquake? Twitter was flooded six months ago with compassion for the displaced people. Since then, the Trending Topics of Lindsay Lohan and the never ending BP oil spill seem to have buried any compassion for Haiti.

Some of us do remember you Haiti. We salute your progress, even though only approximately 28,000 of the 1.5 million of you who lost your homes have received new ones. Apparently, all of those telethons and concerts just weren’t enough. Sorry that BP & Lindsay Lohan stole your thunder.

Michael L. Counter, Jr. is a Dallas South News intern. He attends Midwestern State University and is completing his Bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in media studies.  You can follow him via Twitter @envyoftheworld