Maybe he should just play football.

I love when athletes speak their minds, I really do. Most of them are heroes to many of us in society, and when they take a social stance on issues of the day people usually listen. I think that we should encourage athletes to speak their minds on social issues and not be like that fraud, Michael Jordan, who only cared about his bottom line and his phony brand.

Anyway, I said all that because I want to write a little bit about Richard Sherman and his comments about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

In case you have been living under a rock, here is some of what Mr. Sherman had to say:

"I think as long as we have black-on-black crime and, you know, one black man killing another … if black lives matter, then it should matter all the time. You should never let somebody get killed — that’s somebody’s son, that’s somebody’s brother, that’s somebody’s friend. So you should always keep that in mind.”

Poor Richard just doesn't get it. Of course we have pathologies in our community, as well as people who are all too willing to take the life of another person of color for whatever reason. But that doesn't excuse those who are sworn to uphold the law behaving like (and worse in some cases) the criminals  they swore to protect us from. It doesn't excuse treating all young men of color like criminals and acting accordingly towards them.

What makes Richard Sherman (and others like him, who use this specious and flawed argument time and time again) believe that if we act better ourselves and become "perfect" citizens things will get better for us in the long run?

It's easy to give in to the urge to pander to the majority population because he knows that while he plays football --and even after--- life will be so much easier for him. All he has to do is say something stupid under the guise of giving us straight talk and America will love him for it. Charles Barkley could write a book about how to be that Negro. He has gotten very rich doing it. He is probably the most inarticulate broadcaster in the history of broadcasting, but he will always have a job because he is that Negro who tells black folks things that white folks wish they could say. (Publicly.)   

But I digress.

Richard Sherman must have forgotten that it was these same BLM folks defending him when America called him out for being a loud mouth thug for simply letting out his emotions in the heat of competition. America thought that he was a just street thug and not a thoughtful Stanford educated graduate. It took a lot of those same BLM folks jumping on social media to remind America of that fact.

This is where I have to give credit to ESPN host, Michael Smith, for checking Richard Sherman and giving him an education about the society in which he lives.

"This is so counter-productive because it undermines the message and the movement that is Black Lives Matter,” Smith said. He continued to refute Sherman by saying that Black people already care about crimes within their community, but that there was a difference between that and the accusations of racial profiling and unfair treatment from officials the movement tries to address.

“Black-on-black crime has nothing to do with crimes against black people by the state,” Smith went on. “I’m just a little disappointed to hear Richard Sherman speak on that and validate the people who think that. We hear that enough every day.”' [Source]

Go ahead and spike the ball Mr. Smith, that was a touchdown.

*Pic from Wikipedia.























 

Mean girl, Britt.

Been following this Britt McHenry story a little bit. If only because I am always fascinated at the way our culture glorifies certain types of people, and then turns on them with equal venom when warranted.

Britt is your classic entitled prima donna with what I like to call a Scarlett O' Hara complex. The way she went off on that poor woman was painful to watch. Most people believe that she crossed the line, and that her suspension was appropriate. And, not surprisingly, quite a few people believe that she should have been fired.

Personally, I am still not sure where I come down on this one.

I know how wingnut Joe Concha feels about it:

"Rushing to judgment much of what online media and cable news opinion is built on these days. Exhibit A for this week is ESPN’s Britt McHenry.

Before we continue, know this: Britt McHenry absolutely deserves the suspension she’s currently serving. That’s plenty of levels of one person being mean to another, but McHenry struck the third rail of insults four times in her rant against a female employee of a tow company by hitting four special chords:
– Weight
- Teeth
- Class
- Education

McHenry is a reporter on a national network and must know (and she certainly does now) that she needs to conduct herself appropriately and accordingly both on the air and off…it’s all part of the (morality) contract. And once she saw a camera was in play, she should have taken a walk around the block a few times to cool off instead of turning up the vitriol higher.

But something had been odd about the McHenry video from the very beginning. In it, she’s appears to be going on an uncontrollable tirade against the female employee (only known as “Gina”, single mother of three) without responding in any way. Almost nobody in cable news or online or in the friendly world of social media bothered to question how anyone could be berated in such fashion without responding in kind. Another aspect that wasn’t even broached was the video clearly being edited via flash edits, which is often used in broadcast circles to marry different sound bites from one person without awkward jump cuts throughout (the flashes separate the bites while not breaking up the overall narrative).

The video was heavily edited by the tow company, which (given McHenry’s responses) either means the insults were likely a two-way street…or it sets the situation back to “We Just Don’t Know What Happened” status. Can we please see the whole video with edits?

No matter…the social media mob has spoken and #firebritt predictably began trending on Twitter. Lindsay Lohan’s career was single-handedly resurrected by all the comparisons to Mean Girls alone (Side Note: Rachel McAdams really carried the movie). Deadspin even dug into the 28-year-old’s sordid past of not being nice to people courtesy of this hilarious headline: ESPN Reporter Britt McHenry Has A History Of Being Rude As Hell. The irony, of course, is that Deadspin’s entire business model throughout its history has been to be rude to other people. Several ESPN employees–speaking off the record–say they want McHenry fired (because The Worldwide Leader is always full of fine actors).

But let’s say the video wasn’t edited. Based on her comments alone, should Britt McHenry be fired? The perspective here is absolutely not, and here’s why:

-She wasn’t on the air

-She wasn’t doing anything illegal

-Yes, her comments were mean…but they weren’t racial or ethnic slurs
Add it all up:

Suspension? Yes.

Termination? For losing it with a towing company? If that was the standard nationwide when including Parking Enforcement Officers, unemployment would be at 50 percent.

Britt McHenry will be on exceptional behavior moving forward. A week’s suspension and all the negative press and online sentiment will ensure that.

But almost the entire media should consider taking a mandatory vacation as well for (once again) not even bothering to check to see if there was another side of the story before rushing to judgment." [Source]

So he blames the press. No surprise there. Conservatives pundits are always quick to blame the press. As if they are not a part of that contemptible fraternity.  

Sadly, I have to do my own little soul searching, because I should not have been so on the fence with this one. Had that woman been black and McHenry called her a nappy headed loser, I would have been crying the loudest from the Internet for ESPN to fire her little entitled ass.  But she did not, so my racism chase did not take me to New York.

Shame on me. Because, unlike Mr. Concha, I am not devoid of feelings for my fellow human beings when they are preyed upon by those among us who society deems to be better.

Making jokes about that woman's weight, her social status, and her education was not cool.

I am still not sure if it should have gotten McHenry fired, but I do know that it should have gotten me a lot more fired up.





   

 

Skip, there is nothing cool about rape.

There are certain folks in America who shouldn't be on television talking to millions of people.






Skip Bayless, the ESPN commentator and co-host of First Take, happens to be one of them.






"Looks like the guys over at ESPN's First Take may need to take sensitivity courses in women's issues ASAP, especially if they're going to venture into issues involving domestic violence and rape.

Just a few months back, Stephen A. Smith alluded to the fact that women shouldn't provoke men into violent confrontations. Now Skip Bayless believes that Kobe Bryant's 2003 rape charges, in which the basketball star was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old in a hotel room in Colorado, added to his street cred—thus making him more marketable.

"Remember Kobe pre-Eagle, Colorado? He failed in his first sneaker deal because he was just too clean-cut, and I think it was Adidas that had him first—correct me if I'm wrong—but he couldn't sell sneakers because he didn't have enough edge," Bayless said. "But then, post-Eagle, Colorado, it brought a little attention to him—like it gave him a little bit of sizzle." 

Host Cari Champion looked visibly stunned at Bayless' take. She quickly followed the segment with, "All right, we are going to leave it right there." And Smith seemed to be actually biting his tongue. " [Source]

Oh no he didn't associate rape with having "street cred".

Apology to follow in 5...4...3...2...

Finally, the folks over at the Brookings Institute commissioned a study which clearly shows that "white privilege" is not something black folks like to throw out there to make white folks feel guilty.

From the looks of this very detailed study it would appear that white privilege does in fact exist.

Of course most of us black folks knew that all along, and I suspect that quite a few white folks knew this as well.  It's just that some of them could not admit it to themselves because it would diminish whatever accomplishments they feel that they worked so hard to achieve.

"The findings in the paper, co-authored by Brookings economists Richard V. Reeves and Isabel V. Sawhill, run counter to the beliefs of some, like Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who argue that racism in this country has diminished to the point that white privilege no longer exists. O'Reilly visited The Daily Show last week and argued that any person, regardless of race, can get rich in America so long as they work hard.

But opportunities for success are clearly not that simple, for a host of reasons: The myriad legacies of slavery and Jim Crow, decades of racist housing policies, educational disparities, employment discrimination, and a race-fueled War on Drugs.

Where you start in life financially matters a lot, too: If you're born in the poorest 20 percent of families of any race, yet still earn a college degree, you have roughly the same chance of being stuck in the poorest bracket as rich high-school dropouts do of staying in the richest bracket (16 and 14 percent, respectively).

Upward mobility is a much harder climb than it would seem."

Now if you work hard- whether you are black or white- your chances of achieving "upward mobility" are much better. It's just that the obstacles outlined in the article makes it that much harder to climb into the American middle class if you happen to be a person of color.

But black folks, don't be discouraged. You have come this far with the specter of white privilege hanging over you. 

Just pretend it doesn't exist, put your head down, and get to work.

 

     

Some not so pretty words from the "pretty boy".

*

Now that "pretty boy Floyd has disposed of yet another opponent , ( I can't wait to see the Mayweather Pacquiao fight. The two of them should wear masks when they go into the ring, because they will be making a killing.) and is still considered pound for pound the best boxer on the planet, I think it's a good time to revisit something he said before the fight:

"If you're rich, you're a rich n-----," he told ESPN. "If you're poor, you're a poor n----. If you're smart, you're a smart n-----. At the end of the day, they still look at me as a n-----.""This country needs to be more positive," Mayweather continued about the United States.

"We're in a recession, we're at war and we continue to be negative. The fans in the UK showed me more love than in my own country. That's crazy. ... Sometimes I'll sit back, I'll be in my theater sometimes, and I'll think, 'Imagine if I was the same fighter that I am, and I was the same person that I am, and I was from another country. Can you just imagine how big I'd be?' "But I wouldn't change my life for nothing in the world. There's nothing like being young, black and rich. But there are certain things you think about. If Floyd Mayweather was white, I'd be the biggest athlete in America. The biggest, the biggest. I know that for a fact."Mayweather continued, saying that the media never says anything negative about Oscar de la Hoya, and if there is something negative, it gets swept under the rug. Plus, he called out HBO boxing analysts Larry Merchant, saying he knows nothing about boxing, and Emanuel Steward, calling him an Uncle Tom. ''

Now now Floyd, it's not nice calling other black folks names....

I swear you Negroes are so ungrateful. A-merry-ca gives you riches you could never dream of in any other country, and still you bitch and moan. Of course if you were white you would get more love. Duh! This is a white country. White folks can't relate to you. You are young; black; rich; and arrogant. Why should they?

And the only reason you have the nerve to say that the white man plays down De La Hoya's troubles is because you are jealous of him. When did the golden boy ever get in any trouble? OK there was that one time. But De La Hoya isn't even white. At least I don't think he is. I think he is Mexican. Although I hear the Mexicans don't like him too much. I think it's because they think he thinks he is white. Floyd, instead of ripping De La Hoya, maybe you should be taking a page out of his book. I bet you would get more love here in A-merry-ca.

"Sometimes I sit back, I'll be in my theater sometimes..." See, that's what the white man is talking about; you have a theater in your house, and the rest of us are still watching the wall mounted plasma. So instead of wondering why they look at you as "just another nigger", kick back in your home theater, break out some popcorn, and slip in that last Ricky Hatton fight. It looks like you took out some of your frustrations on him. I guess it's just too bad for you that he wasn't an American.

*Pic courtesy of Laura Rauch of the AP.

The cover up.

Some of you may or may not of heard of the allegations of rape against Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. (Big Ben)The woman claims, in a civil suit, that Big Ben raped her some time last year, and that her employer, Harrah's of Lake Tahoe, covered it up because Big Ben is friends with the company's president.

Of course Roethlisberger has vehemently denied the charges and he has vowed to defend his name and his honor.

Now here is the thing: I love sports, and I pretty much have ESPN on one of the televisions in my house 24/7. But I didn't hear about this story on ESPN. In fact, I am pretty sure no one has ever heard this story on ESPN, because they have never carried the story. Not one mention of the alleged rape charges against the quarterback of the Super Bowl championship team.

So, you have to ask yourself, why is that? When Kobe Bryant allegedly raped that young lady in Colorado it was wall to wall coverage until his accuser failed to follow through, and the charges were dropped. So why no mention of the alleged rape and civil suit forthcoming against Big Ben? Oh ohh, here comes field with the racial angle. Nope, there won't be a racial angle to this one. (Although, do you think that if this was "5" and not Big Ben we wouldn't be talking about it at water coolers from California to Maine? Not to mention the 24 hour cable channels who would be giving us constant McNabb chatter) This is about the press and the way that news and information is controlled in this country. They decide what becomes a big story and what doesn't. And the folks in Bristol are doing their best to make sure that this does not become a big story.

Why? Well it depends on which story you believe . Apparently Big Ben is really close to the folks over at ESPN, and he even has a reality show in the works with ABC which owns; you guessed it; ESPN.

Now this story might or might not be true. The woman could be making the whole thing up. But even if she did, an allegation has been made. Shouldn't it be reported and we, the public, decide how valid we think the story is? Hey, the story is out there, a lawsuit has been filed. Since when is it a news organizations job to decide the validity of a story and not run with it because they want to protect some jock who they happen to like?

Hey, all I am saying is that if this was Pac Man Jones or Michael Vick.....oh, sorry, I promised that I wouldn't play the race card tonight. *putting them down and going off to bed*