Profiles in courage and cowardice.

Some of you reading this are old enough to remember the heroic actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. What they did took big ones. Athletes back then were not afraid to take a stance on social issues and stand up for what is right. Names like Arthur Ashe, Jim Brown, and Muhammad Ali comes to mind.


And while we are at it, let's not forget the actions of white Australian runner, Peter Norman, who got the silver medal that day and supported his fellow athletes with their struggle.


So we fast forward to 2014 and the latest racial dilemma here in America.


Several players from the St. Louis Rams did something that was very courageous yesterday, and they deserve all the credit in the world for risking their popularity and endorsements to make a social statement for all of America to see. (Gotta love wide receivers.)  


I am glad to see that the NFL will not do something stupid like punish them for their actions. This, in spite of calls from the St. Louis Police Officer's Association for them to apologize. (BTW, there is a white police officers association and a black one in St. Louis.) 


"The SLPOA is calling for the players involved to be disciplined and for the Rams and the NFL to deliver a very public apology. Roorda said he planned to speak to the NFL and the Rams to voice his organization's displeasure tomorrow. He also plans to reach out to other police organizations in St. Louis and around the country to enlist their input on what the appropriate response from law enforcement should be. Roorda warned, "I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Well I've got news for people who think that way, cops have first amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours. I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser's products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do. Somebody needs to throw a flag on this play. If it's not the NFL and the Rams, then it'll be cops and their supporters."'


So don't go to their games or buy their jerseys, Mr. Roorda. That's how you and the members of your organization can protest what the players did. Not by trying to censor them or punishing them for exercising their right to speak.


And speaking of having the right to speak, maybe that's not such a good idea for coons like Charles Barkley. This dude has been jigging since he came to Philly from Alabama and started chasing unattractive white women in the clubs around town. He actually messed around and married one of them. (Sorry Chuck, I had to put you out there.)


So anyway, he felt it necessary to weigh in on the events of Ferguson, recently.


"Shortly after the Ferguson grand jury decision was announced last week, Charles Barkley went on Philadelphia’s 97.5 Fanatic radio station with host Mike Missanelli, where he shared his reaction to the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. And just as he has done in the past, the NBA all-star did not censor himself.


“The true story came out from the grand jury testimony,” Barkley said, indicating that he believes Wilson’s version of the events and that the shooting was ultimately justified. “We have to be really careful with the cops man, because if it wasn’t for the cops we would be living in the Wild, Wild West in our neighborhoods,” he continued. “We can’t pick out certain incidentals that don’t go our way and act like the cops are all bad.”


“Do you know how bad some of these neighborhoods would be if it wasn’t for the cops?” Barkley asked.


“I can’t believe anything I hear on television anymore,” Barkley said later. “That’s why I don’t like talking about race issues with the media, because they love this stuff.”


“They don’t jump to conclusions when black people kill each other,” he added. Echoing some prominent conservative pundits, Barkley noted that the media doesn’t go “crazy” over the “epidemic” of black-on-black crime. [Source]


Yawn, the black on black crime meme again.


I expect this straw man to appear when wingnuts talk about police brutality, but not from someone like Barkley who should know better.


But, then again, we are talking about Charles.


“There is no excuse for those people to be out there burning down people’s businesses, burning up police cars,” Barkley concluded. “That serves no purpose whatsoever.”'

Of course there is no excuse to be "burning down "businesses", but..... I can understand it.


Charles, you would be able to understand too if you didn't spend so much time locked away in the house.


I understand that you are afraid of losing all the corporate love you built up over all these years. It has been good to you. But remember, all the money in the world can't cover up cowardice.   






    

Looking for a few good men like Muhmmad, John, and Tommie.

It is ironic that on this day in 1967 Muhammad Ali refused to go to Vietnam because of his religious convictions. He was vilified at the time, but later hailed as an American hero and is now considered a sports icon.


Every player who straps on the red white and blue uniform of the Los Angeles Clippers should consider Ali's courageous stance, and they should dig deep in their souls to try and understand their current place in America's history.


We know we will never get a John Carlos and Tommie Smith moment, but we can hope for something in that spirit.


Their gesture last night while a good start did not go far enough. They should have boycotted the game altogether and refused to play for Sterling's team until the NBA takes a strong and definitive stance against him.


Anyway, the market will ultimately dictate what will happen to Donald Sterling, and apparently the backlash has already started. It should be interesting to see where this ultimately ends. We all know that America has ADHD when it comes to our current events. I suspect that in a few months Donald Sterling will be a footnote in what has been a sad couple of weeks for racial tolerance in America.


Speaking of racial tolerance, there is not a lot of it in certain parts of Europe.
The thing about an American racist is that he knows how to behave in public. (Not the Internet) Americans tend to be polite with their racism. Doing racist things in public is considered crass and boorish.  This has not quite caught on yet in Europe. People still do racist and ignorant things, publicly.


This latest incident at a soccer match in Spain involved Barcelona star, Dani Alves, and his reaction was classic. It's probably not how I would have reacted, but I respect the man's poise.


Take a look here.


The good news: Barcelona went on to beat Villarreal 3-2.

Why can't I lift my voice?

I swear I must be getting soft in my old age. Now I am seriously starting to question my radical black militant credentials. Honestly, I am one of those folks who believes that if I were a thinking adult in 1968, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been behind John Carlos and Tommy Smith 100%. I would have been saying shit like: right on brothers, fuck the national anthem and that gold medal. Power to the people. But now.....

There has been a story out for a few days now. I am sure you all are aware of it. You know the one, about the sister in Denver who sang the National Anthem with the words of the black National Anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing". Girlfriend sang the words of the black National Anthem to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner. My first thoughts were, how the hell did she pull that off musically? And then, of course, came the firestorm. Black and white folks were outraged. Well, some black folks were outraged, and damn near all white folks were. They accused her of deceiving the city of Denver to make a political statement. (Why is it than when shit has to do with black folks it's always "political statement"?) Girlfriend had to publicly apologize to the Mayor. And not surprisingly, even the "O" man threw her under the bus. (I swear if they had an under the bus toss in the Olympics, the U.S.A. would have to send the "O" man, because he would get a fucking gold medal. But I digress) Lucky for her she is 52 years old because her music career is pretty much kaput.

"I pulled a switcharoo on them" is what she told the Denver Post. And she explained that she was a child of the segregated South, and singing the song this way was her own artistic expression of the pain she feels at times from being a black A-merry-can. Okay, I am feeling all of those things. So why am I not feeling this particular protest? Why am I not behind girlfriend 110%? Why wasn't I blogging about this shit the next day, and saying that the politicians and the people of Denver should leave this poor woman alone?

It's because I have all these questions that I am now questioning my right to call myself a black man who speaks his mind no matter what, and no matter who it offends. Would I have openly defended Tommie Smith and John Carlos if I was blogging in 1968? Damn it now I am not so sure. Because I sure don't feel like defending Rene Marie. Is it because "we have come so far as a country" since 1968? Is it because it was Denver Colorado, and not Jackson Mississippi? Is it because the only consequence girlfriend will suffer is that she won't be asked to sing for the city of Denver again? Damn, more questions than answers, I hate that.

Poor Mayor Hickenlooper (Dude that's a seriously fucked up name), the poor guy says that he wished he had "interceded during the performance" (Now see, if you had done that Mr. Hickenlooper, we would have had a problem).

"We will do whatever it takes to ensure that a situation like this never occurs again... even if I have to sing the national anthem myself."

I can't wait to see who sings the National Anthem at next years state of the city address in Denver. I know one thing; whoever sings it, won't look anything like Rene Marie.