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Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4354
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 02:34 pm: | 
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May 8, 2007
Clown Prince of Bizarro World
Jason Whitlock, the Clarence Thomas of Sportswriters?
By DAVE ZIRIN
Last night, some of the sharpest minds in the Sportsworld converged at historic Morehouse College in Atlanta for a forum on the State of the Black Athlete. There was Spike Lee, Rutgers basketball coach Vivian Stringer, New York Times scribe William Rhoden, NBA stars Etan Thomas and Alonzo Mourning, and the great Jim Brown.
Among the greats, in the shadow of the campus Dr. King once called home, was "Big Sexy" himself, Jason Whitlock.
It boggles the mind.
We have now officially entered Bizarro World: that upside-down Universe from Superman comics where up was down, right was left, and white magically became black.
In recent months, Whitlock has gone from solid sports columnist to unhinged culture warrior calling for a "new civil rights movement" directed at "black idiots" and comparing himself to Rosa Parks.
He slammed Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as "domestic terrorists." (That would be the 21st century version of "dirty commies" or "dang carpetbaggers")
He sneered at those calling for Don Imus's job, writing, "Imus isn't the real bad guy." The real bad guys in Whitlock's world are, of course, Jackson, Sharpton, and the other "black idiots."
His writings have been farcical and frightening: our own Joe McCarthy of the sports page. And like McCarthy, another gassy, Midwestern bully, Whitlock hardly lives the kind of monastic life to justify this level of sanctimony.
He claims to be a crusader against sexism in "hip hop/prison culture", but revels in tales of strip clubs and lap dances.
He calls for black women to speak up and be heard, but slammed Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer's stand against bigotry as a "shameless" grab for headlines. He described her press conference, where she called on people to "take their country back" as a "pity party/recruiting rally" where Stringer "rambled on for 30 minutes" to "tell her sob story." (Whitlock seems to have equal contempt for both sexism in hip-hop and women who use their voices to say things other than "That's $1,000 for the Champagne Room.")
And in the classic Whitlock/Bizarro World moment, the great dragon slayer of "hip hop/prison culture," recently produced a rap single for the Kansas City Chiefs that included artists like Rich the Factor and Tech N9ne, two men who have written anthems of uplift such as "•••••," "Drug Team," and "My Wife, My •••••, My Girl." (We need to call his "hiphoprisy.")
"Big Sexy" has no regrets about calling those in thrall to hip hop culture "the black KKK," describing his catchphrase as "genius" because "it started a discussion." Well, my two-year-old daughter also "started a discussion" last week by taking off her used diaper and putting it on the kitchen table. That doesn't mean she should be invited to Morehouse.
In other words, this is not a serious person worthy of being taken seriously. And yet he's now on Oprah's speed dial, and working the college lecture circuit.
The question is why?
ESPN Magazine general manager Keith T. Clinkscales had his own explanation for the rise of Whitlock, writing in an open letter, "The mainstream media thanks you, Jason because by attacking Sharpton and Jackson you are doing the dirty work that no white person can credibly do. It is such an annoying chore to find enough black journalists around to credibly disseminate the type of disinformation that helps people look away from the real problems and focus on the irrelevant....You are not agitation. You are flowing with the currents....You are breaking no new journalistic ground by speaking your version of truth about black men. Your apocalyptic notion of young black men as the 'new KKK' again fuels fear, confusion and hatred."
Clinksdales couldn't be more correct. These are dire times in the "other America." The past few years have seen a serious spike in the African American infant mortality rate. More Black men are in jail than college. The unemployment rate for Black men from 16-20 tops out at more than 30%. Yet if we all agree there is a sickness in our cities, debate rages over the cure. On one side are people who see it as an issue of structural racism: broken schools, slashed health care, McJobs, and swelling prisons. Fix those, and you go a long way toward fixing the problem.
The other side sees it as an issue of personal pathology. It's the "urban culture of failure" that's at fault, the "new KKK." On this side, we see the usual suspects like Newt Gingrich who in April called Spanish "the language of the ghetto."
But in recent years, a new cadre of wealthy blacks from Bill Cosby to Juan Williams to Whitlock have embraced this argument. Others from Oprah to Obama accept a version of this. They represent a generation of African Americans who - as a direct result of the civil rights movement - have achieved a level of economic mobility unknown to their parent's generation. But with mobility comes a change in perspectives. The hood looks far different depending on whether you live and work there or just drive through on the way to the airport.
While they sell the idea that Snoop Dogg is the root of all evil, the U.S. prison population stands at 2.2 million, 25% of all those jailed in the world. It's not hip-hop that's doing that. It wasn't Lil Jon building the fancy new Supermax prison in the middle of Baltimore City. Music and culture are reflections--sometimes very ugly reflections--of these harsh realities. But at the risk of shocking Jason Whitlock, violence and "moral decay" actually predate hip-hop. Blaming hip-hop for our current state is like blaming the pan-flute and zither for the crusades.
Jason Whitlock is not a serious person. But it is a tragic statement on our times that his ideas must be taken seriously.
For those wanting to challenge racism, Coach Stringer and the Rutgers women, as well as the tens of thousands who took to the streets when Sean Bell was executed by the NYPD, are forging the way forward. The Whitlock way--blame the poor for poverty, blame the incarcerated for "prison culture"--will work only in Bizarro World. One thing for sure: aint nobody organizing "a new civil rights movement" from the Champagne Room.
Dave Zirin is the author of "The Muhammad Ali Handbook" (MQ Publications) and "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports" , forthcoming from Haymarket. You can receive his column Edge of Sports, every week by e-mailing edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com
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Serenasailor
Veteran Poster
Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1570
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 02:50 pm: |
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Jason Whitlock is a LOSER!!! Also he is a sports writer not a political commentator which is why I don't take him seriously.
To me, he is just another Black Neo-Con jumping on the conservative White "bandwagon". I'm sure Cosby and Juan Williams are "proud" to have them in their "racks". |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5449
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 03:23 pm: |
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...Don't forget Oprah, and Obama too I'm sure...they're proud to have him too!
Whitlock puts the "H" in hypocrite. He's nothing but a shock jock himself, which is prob'ly needed in sports writing, that makes sense, you gotta clown a spoiled athlete every now and then. But how does that translate into serious social commentary?? Plus he's FAT, flabby fat at that, which means he doesn't know a damn thing about personal responsibly......."Bizarro World", lol, I agree. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8560
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 03:30 pm: |
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I know you folks love having Dave Zirin the white author of this article, doing your talking for you. I can hear you now, all hovered together mumbling. "You sho is right massa, tellin dat uppity nigra off. We uns knows ain't nobody spose to break ranks. We spose to jes trudge along, all in step." |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5450
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 5 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 03:36 pm: |
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Only house-niggers like you would remember that dude is a white man. You've prob'ly been dreaming about him ever since you found out, like you do that Vivico man (sp) and all them other honkies you be lusting after.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8563
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 5 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 05:01 pm: |
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Is that best you can do. Tonya? I'm amazed at how your your lame attempt to be clever reeks with illogic. If I was a house n i g g e r, I would be agreeing with the massa, - like you did. Did that occur to you??? Or did it occur to you that you apparently also remembered that the writer of the article was white? LOL And I ain't lustin after any white man, unlike you Tonya, who has repeatedly said you're open for an interracial relationship. Viggo is the guy's name I used to kid about, and once my love affair with "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy faded so did my penchant for the character Viggo played. But, yea, I do like me some Brad Pitt and I approve of who he's hooked up with. |
Doberman23
Veteran Poster
Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 995
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 05:05 pm: |
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cynique what is going on with your bulls? i thought they would have put up some sort of challenge with the pistons ... i said they would win in 6 but i am thinking a sweep now.
jason whitlock left espn (before he was fired)for dissing scoop jackson. i can kind of see why he was saying what he said about scoop, because scoop is the worst sports journalists that i have ever seen but i think there could have been another way for j whitlock to express his feelings. but i actually forgot about the dude since he isn't on espn anymore and could careless about his kansas city paper, it is what it is, i guess. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8564
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 05:47 pm: |
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Sob. I don't think the Bulls are that bad, Dobes, it's just that the Pistons are awesome! At this point, I think Detroit is going to sweep the poor Bulls and will end up being the team to "come out of the east." The Bulls need a Toreador; all they have are a bunch of matadores. So much for Ben Wallace. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2223
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 07:32 pm: |
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"Is that best you can do. Tonya? I'm amazed at how your your lame attempt to be clever reeks with illogic. If I was a house n i g g e r, I would be agreeing with the massa, - like you did. Did that occur to you??? Or did it occur to you that you apparently also remembered that the writer of the article was white? LOL And I ain't lustin after any white man, unlike you Tonya, who has repeatedly said you're open for an interracial relationship. Viggo is the guy's name I used to kid about....................."
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! This is funny. Your comments were accurate Ms. Cynique. I laughed when I read that pathetic ramble by that larger than life black face cracker (Dave Zirin). I guess Malik Shabazz made him an associate honorable member of the New Black Panther Party. Anyway, I don't agree with every thing Jason Whitlock says but I have no problems with him or any other black man/woman speaking out against an entrenched coon culture of self destruction and entitlement that is being excused by "I wanna be a Negro Too" wet dreams and fantasies wigger like Zarin.
And how about that weak ass crack, "lusting after honkies", by a notorious clumsy race charlatan who openly stated she did not find black men physically attractive and actually preferred white men (it's archived and documented here on the board!). Now, I could care less what any one's personal preference in their life is. That is their personal business and they should not have to answer to anyone about who they are attracted to or sleep with. I have been very clear about this. But I do find it sickening when an individual has the nerve to make harsh accusations about a behavior or thinking that they have openly admitted to. Kinda reminds you of being a.......um.....hypocrite?
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5453
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 07:56 pm: |
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Oh please Pops, get over yourself, like you're EVERY Black man. I said I spit up a little bit in my mouth whenever I come in contact with YOU..not ALL Blk men.
Cynnique: "Or did it occur to you that you apparently also remembered that the writer of the article was white."
You reminded me, dum-dum. Did you forget what you wrote that fast??
My goodness.
You people are hilarious - LOL!! |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2227
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 08:22 pm: |
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"Oh please Pops, get over yourself, like you're EVERY Black man. I said I spit up a little bit in my mouth whenever I come in contact with YOU..not ALL Blk men."
That's not what you originally said about your revulsion (sic) of black men and your attraction to white men, Pancake. Don't try to back track. Not gonna work! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8565
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 09:04 pm: |
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Too bad you aren't hilarious, Tonya. At least you could be good for a laugh. snort. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4359
Registered: 03-2004
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 11:14 am: |
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Cynique is a fine example of double consciousness--or schizophrenia.
She loves a white man as long as he is putting the boot to black people. If he is speaking truth-well, he can't be right then can he? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8566
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 01:18 pm: |
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Like a neurotic tortured soul like you can talk, chrishayden. I wasn't aware that you and your ilk EVER thought a white person could utter the truth. Of course the truth to you is what you are comfortable with believing. If only you could be the sheperd of a herd mentality you would be the happiest fool around. And just think you'd have your pick of the female sheep to spend your nights with. |
Serenasailor
Veteran Poster
Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1588
Registered: 01-2006
Rating:
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 07:44 pm: |
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Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! This is funny. Your comments were accurate Ms. Cynique. I laughed when I read that pathetic ramble by that larger than life black face cracker (Dave Zirin). I guess Malik Shabazz made him an associate honorable member of the New Black Panther Party. Anyway, I don't agree with every thing Jason Whitlock says but I have no problems with him or any other black man/woman speaking out against an entrenched coon culture of self destruction and entitlement that is being excused by "I wanna be a Negro Too" wet dreams and fantasies wigger like Zarin
I swear NTFS you are beginning to sound more and more like Ward Connerly's "understudy". And what prevailing "coon culture" are you talking about? None of the Black ppl I know act like "coons". You are talking about a small minority of ppl, but you make it sound like everybody who is Black except you of course, Bill Cosby, Clerance Thomas and anyother Black person who makes over $12 mil a year, or is married to a non-Black, or lives in a "good"(White) neigborhood.
And what gives you the reason to call Black ppl "coons"? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't that the same as Black men calling eachother Nikka or them calling Black women Bytch/Ho. But I guess it is O.K because you are directing your insults at lower-class Black ppl. We should all strive to be like Bill Cosby and marry some trophy woman, carry on "long and torrid" affairs with White women, disown our children, and have illigetimate children with other women.
Jayson Whitlock is just an Opportunist who is jumping on the Black Neo-con "bandwagon". Then with the same breathe you call any White person who speaks out against the likes Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly, and Jayson Whitlock wiggers. Which is almost equivalent to the "Rednecks" of the ol South who called any White person who was seemed to chummy with Black ppl "••••••-lovers".
Dude LIGHTEN UP!!! |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8569
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 07:54 pm: |
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Shuffle on back over to where Dave Zirin's is so you can sit at his feet like a faithful hound dog, SOS, and be glad massa patted you on your head and threw you a little bone. If you were as brilliant as you think you are, you'd still be stupid. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 2231
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 09:55 pm: |
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"I swear NTFS you are beginning to sound more and more like Ward Connerly's "understudy". And what prevailing "coon culture" are you talking about? None of the Black ppl I know act like "coons". You are talking about a small minority of ppl, but you make it sound like everybody who is Black except you of course, Bill Cosby, Clerance Thomas and anyother Black person who makes over $12 mil a year, or is married to a non-Black, or lives in a "good"(White) neigborhood.
And what gives you the reason to call Black ppl "coons"? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't that the same as Black men calling eachother Nikka or them calling Black women Bytch/Ho. But I guess it is O.K because..................."
No, I do not sound like Ward Connerly. Ward Connerly is very open and shameless about his idolatry of and submission to white conservatives. He is on a divine mission to undo any positive minority recruitment programs at the state level. This is piteous Negro is an entusiastic willing mascot for the white conservative ilk of the likes of Bernie Goldberg, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Michael Medved, etc. I AM NOT! I have no use for bigoted white conservatives, anti-affirmative action demogoguery nor do I denounce or disassociate myself from the courageous struggles of black Americans during civil and human rights movements in the 1960's. HE DOES. So you are very wrong for comparing me to Ward Connerly. Can't stand the man nor anything he stands for.
And yes you are absolutely correct about a minority of blacks acting out as coons. I know this SS! My comments are directed specifically at them (irresponsible pathology driven knuckleheads)-NOT THE MAJORITY OF BLACK AMERICANS WHO ARE DECENT, MORAL, LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. If you are still confused or offended, read "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films" by Donald Bogle and research what a "zip coon" is to get a better understanding. And please, don't compare me to Ward Connerly.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5463
Registered: 07-2006
Rating:
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 11:56 am: |
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"Ward Connerly is very open and shameless about his idolatry of and submission to white conservatives. He is on a divine mission to undo any positive minority recruitment programs at the state level."
In other words, SS, Ward Connerly threatens certain Black folks' well being--(your college bound, educated and/or affluent Blacks)--so he's a traitor to the Black race. Cosby on the other hand, who picks mostly on poor, "underclass" Blacks--or the masses as you and I know them, is a blessing to the Black race. So according to them, Cosby and his ilk are the Saints while Connerly and C. Thomas are the worse of man kind, which I don't disagree with, except to say, "why the double standard, no, REALLY?" But here's what I don't understand: Why is it that the guy who only picks on the poor is such a hero and so much better in character than the one who can affect the more privileged among us? Cosby doesn't have the power to make major decisions re Blacks but his rhetoric does affect us indirectly--it influences the decisions this country and large corporations make, which is precisely why Blacks (esp. certain Blks) fear Ward Connerly. What makes Ward Connerly anymore demonic than Bill Cosby is what I don't get. Cosby is a member of many influential organizations just like Connerly. Now, everybody has the right to their own personal opinion but I don't believe this selective labeling of Black conservatives and Cosby-Dems is simply just a matter of coincidence, or a consequence of the Blk community receiving all of the information absent the biased views of the privileged.
The sad part is these Blacks with nothing but hatred in their hearts towards the Black poor (for no sane, legitimate or solid fact-based reason, mind you) are undermining the attempts of the good conservative and progressive Blacks who are finding it harder and harder to not get confused with the evil intent and racist rhetoric of these hateful anal retentive shrews, who wish only to do further harm to the Blacks they dislike, btw, to cause them more destruction and buttress their disenfranchisement (again, for no good reason). Sick. |
Yvettep
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 2033
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 12:01 pm: |
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Tonya, I appreciate this analysis and think it is an important question to discuss. Do some of us hold a double standard when it comes to this type of thing? If WC talks about (college bound) Blacks needing to hold up their end of the bargain in college admissions and BC says (lower income) Blacks need to do the same with regard to lifestyle--aren't they delivering similar messages? If BC's comments are seen as a "wake up call" why are WC's not as well? Alternately, if WC's comments are seen as mean-spirited and misdirected, why not BC's as well?
I am not trying to flame fires. I think these are honest questions that we could have a legitimate conversation about. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5467
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 12:51 pm: |
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Yvette,
I might sound overly cynical at times but truthfully it makes me uncomfortable to think the worst of people, I just want to know the answers too. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8571
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 01:37 pm: |
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It's a free country and people can say whatever they want to say. Are either Ward Connerly or Bill Cosby considered black "leaders"?? Why do they have to be analysed or have to answer to anybody for publicly expressing their convictions? So many black people get up tight if other blacks get out of line and say what they don't want to hear. That's a no-no. And it's not like BC and WC don't have their critics. Anybody who doesn't agree with them can take sides with people like Michael Eric Dyson and Al Sharpton and all of the other liberals. There's somebody for everybody. Most of the opposition to these 2 is emotional. Ol mean Bill Cosby pickin on poor folks. Ol bad Ward Connally not wanting black folks to get a leg up. And their worst offense of is not kneeling at the altar of victimization. Did affirmative action actually work to the advantage of black students?? The Historical Black Collges association probably consider Connerly their best friend. And was Bill Cosby lying?? The ghetto residents weren't in a uproar about what he said. Is there a double standard in assessing them? There shouldn't be. They both have high expectations for black people. |
Robynmarie
Regular Poster
Username: Robynmarie
Post Number: 444
Registered: 04-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 02:00 pm: |
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Whitlock's response
Forum goes off topic
By JASON WHITLOCK
Columnist
It started with Spike Lee holding up a duplication of the USA Today sports cover story about NFL athletes and their problems with law enforcement. The story included 41 mug shots of NFL players who had been arrested in 2006 — 39 of those players were African-American.
Spike Lee began the panel discussion — The Black Athlete Forum at Atlanta’s historic Morehouse College, which featured Jim Brown, Vivian Stringer, William Rhoden, Stephen A. Smith, yours truly and others — by asking Alonzo Mourning and two other professional athletes to explain whether the image was fair or unfair to black athletes.
After some initial words about athletes needing to take responsibility for their actions, Mourning and fellow NBA-er Etan Thomas somewhat blamed the media for not presenting a fair-and-balanced view of athletes. When the athletes finished talking, I jumped in and made the point I’ve been making for the last several years:
The problems that black professional athletes are experiencing are a direct reflection of a pervasive problem within black youth hip-hop/prison culture, and that we as black folks need to awake from our denial and confront the negative aspects of this deadly culture before it does any more damage.
By my estimate, half of the more than 300 spectators grumbled about what I had to say, which is pretty much what I expected.
Shortly after I spoke, Jim Brown, the former NFL great and longtime social activist, chimed in and co-signed for what I had to say.
The Black Athlete Forum — something that Spike Lee came up with while we were having lunch and debating my position on the Don Imus controversy in late April — kicked off just the way we’d envisioned it at Virgil’s Real BBQ in Times Square.
It was a lively debate on an important topic.
Unfortunately, the debate lost much of its importance rather quickly. The Forum turned into “The Jason Whitlock Roast,” a discussion of out-of-context snippets of things I’d written about NBA All-Star weekend, Vivian Stringer and Imus.
Etan Thomas and Atlanta sportswriter Curtis Bunn appeared to come with prepared notes for this portion of the forum. Veteran Philadelphia sportswriter/editor Claire Smith spoke from her heart when questioning me about questioning Stringer’s motives during the Imus affair. And, of course, Stringer spoke for what felt like 15 straight minutes on me. I could never do justice to her entire speech, and I wasn’t taking notes, so I’ll just mention one of the highlights.
“We need to step on each other’s heads to get the little piece of the American dream. It became green. It was power. You (Whitlock) understand that. That’s the reason why you chose these few minutes to get your one moment of (fame). Because other than that, who knows Jason Whitlock?”
I lifted that quote from Gene Wojciechowski’s column at ESPN.com. He was there sitting in the front row taking notes while ESPN taped the event. Wojciechowski called Stringer’s sermon “invasive verbal surgery without anesthesia” and “goosebump stuff” and “the most charged moment” of the evening. A column headline said it was “something special to see.” Wojciechowski reported that “Whitlock got the worst of it” and that the Forum was “real, healthy and instructive.”
Of course, I disagree with Wojciechowski’s take. But I don’t blame him for reaching those conclusions given his employer and acknowledged limited insight into the black community. The event was highly entertaining. But I wasn’t there for a comedy show or a fight.
I was there to discuss a real crisis in the black community. I was there to debate solutions. People here know I’m quite comfortable holding “Jason Whitlock roasts.” I sat on radio for years here and absorbed far worse and far more accurate insults and accusations than were hurled at me Monday night.
I’m not going to change my column style to make a coach — black, white, male or female — more comfortable. I’m not going to change my column style to make the National Association of Black Journalists happy.
Vivian Stringer was wrong for conducting an hourlong press conference/pity party in reaction to Imus’ comments. Wallowing in victimhood might help an individual get a fat book contract and coaching salary that equals the football coach’s, but it does not elevate anyone else.
After having a rational discussion with her away from the TV cameras Monday night, I believe she thought she was doing the right thing at the time. She thought she could defend her players and promote women’s basketball without putting her kids in harm’s way. Naïve but plausible.
She never envisioned the kids on her team becoming bigger targets of harassment and ridicule on a national level. Well, that predictable, sad reality is beginning to settle in now.
Just last week, popular black comedian DL Hughley appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and completely trashed the Rutgers women’s players. Hughley called them “nappy headed” and “ugly” among other things. “The Tonight Show” has far more reach than Imus’ old radio/TV show. Hughley resonates with black kids far more than Imus.
I pointed all this out at The Forum. I sarcastically asked when we were going to protest DL Hughley. No one said a word.
I talked about how America’s “war on drugs” and sentencing guidelines were creating a hopelessness among poor people, especially black men, and that that hopelessness was fueling this lethal youth culture that is producing Pacman Jones and others. Again, silence.
What others viewed as a night of terrific drama, I viewed as a blown opportunity and another indication of how committed we are to remaining in denial.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8573
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 02:39 pm: |
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Jason is fighting a losing battle. Being a sports writer he should know about being a team player and about the "us against them" mentality. The truth hurts and a team that has injuries can't play the game. The idea that the rap culture has pervaded the professional sports arena where most of the gladiators are black and the idea that black coach Vivian Stringer has fallen in love with the spotlight and is jockeying for a book contract are not what black cheerleaders want to do flips for. Sorry, Jason. You're relegated to the ranks of benchwarmers. If you want to be a star you have to get with the program and deny that there is denial. |
Serenasailor
Veteran Poster
Username: Serenasailor
Post Number: 1591
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 04:40 pm: |
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In all "fairness" NTFS you are open and "shameless" in your idolatry of your Non-Black constituents as you like to run back and report to us every racist "rant" that flies out of there mouths.
Not only that Who the Hell put you in Charge???? You made you, Bill Cosby, Juan Williams, and Jason Whitlock the authority to point your fingers at anybody??
My brotha I think you need to read Michael Eric Dyson's book entitled: "Was Bill Cosby right Or has the Black Middle Class lost it's mind". Or his other book "Come Hell or High Water".
My brotha if you knew anything you would know that Jason Whitlock is in the same "vein' as Clarence Thomas and Ward Connerly. Just another "opportunist" jumping on the Black Neo-Con bandwagon. And he himself is shameless in his submission to his White conservative constituents as demonstrated on Tucker Carlson a few weeks back when Tucker Carlson appointed him the "New leader of the Blacks". Now I don't care how conservative you are any Black man/women with "half a brain' should have jumped through that screen and "strangled the f*ck out of him". But Jason Whitlock was actually "impressed" by it.
Not only that you yourself made a really ignoramus comment about Black women and Welfare a couple of months ago and compared them to your Asian counterparts who you concluded were "soing well". But just a week ago you condemned Clarence Thomas for doing the same thing in front of his White, conservative constiuents. Describing his own sister as a "Welfare Queen".
However, if you and Clarence Thomas did your "homework" you would know that Black women do not make up the largest recipients of Welfare. And that Whites still outnumber Blacks 2 to 1 on the Welfare payroll. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8576
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 05:26 pm: |
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Yawn. Everybody recites these flawed, based on percentage welfare statistics until they want to play the race card and boo hoo about how white skin automatically guarantees privilege. Same ol routine. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5468
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 06:23 pm: |
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A column headline said it was “something special to see.” Wojciechowski reported that “Whitlock got the worst of it” and that the Forum was “real, healthy and instructive.Of course, I disagree with Wojciechowski’s take. But I don’t blame him for reaching those conclusions given his employer and acknowledged limited insight into the black community.”
Oh god, I love it how this A-hole has the nerve to cry racism, can you BELIEVE this guy???
The problems that black professional athletes are experiencing are a direct reflection of a pervasive problem within black youth hip-hop/prison culture, and that we as black folks need to awake from our denial and confront the negative aspects of this deadly culture before it does any more damage.
I'm certainly not a fan of the "hip-hop/prison culture". I've spoken against it enough for this to be clear. But tell me what was the excuse for the violence and misogyny when the NFL and NBA were all white?? And what kind of News Paper IS the Kansas City Star anyway, how can this guy keep getting away with ignoring the facts?? Oh, well, he won't last for long anyhow, he doesn't have what it takes and he can only go so far with the tirades, I mean he's stale already and it hasn't even been a New York minute - yikes. LOL!!
Anyway, his watery "response" was to this article, Robynmarie.
ESPN.com: Wojciechowski
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Black Athlete Forum hit plenty of powerful notes
By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com
ATLANTA -- You know how sometimes you see a movie like, say, "Syriana," and you walk out of the 40-plex two hours later not knowing what the hell you just watched? I mean, no clue. So you try to fake it with your wife and mumble something about "geopolitical fissures," whatever that is, and hope she buys it.
NFL legend and activist Jim Brown made plenty of points during the forum. Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer to Brown's left.
But here's the thing: Sometimes, even if you don't get it ... you get it. Something clicks.
Anyway, that's exactly how I felt about the Black Athlete Forum held earlier this week at Morehouse College. The forum, moderated by Morehouse Man Spike Lee (Class of '79), was supposed to focus on, among other things, the glaring disparity between the number of African-American athletes (a lot) and the number of African-American sportswriters (not so much). And it did -- for a little while.
But then Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer performed invasive verbal surgery (without anesthesia, I might add) on Kansas City newspaper/AOL columnist Jason Whitlock. And social activist and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown went all profound and poignant on the SRO crowd. And Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Curtis Bunn referred to ESPN's Stephen A. as "the Reverend Smith." And Washington Wizards center, poet, antiwar protester and ACLU advocate Etan Thomas chided the media for its negativity. And Atlanta Falcons tight end Alge Crumpler, whose quarterback can't go two weeks without being part of something dumb, said athletes have to become more accountable for their actions. And New York Times columnist William Rhoden suggested the possibility of the NBA being almost African-American free by 2025. And Lee held up a USA Today story with mug shots of 39 African-American NFL players with law enforcement problems, and then asked good guy Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat, "Do you think that the black athlete is being victimized, being demonized, or are some of these brothers just buggin'?"
Yes, I can honestly say I've never been to an academic forum like this one. Every topic was so passionately stated and argued. There was no waffling. And the student audience and VIPs (no general public allowed) reacted at times as if they were at a Baptist church, which makes sense, since the Rev. Martin Luther King was also a Morehouse Man. You couldn't go five minutes without hearing an "amen," "uh-huh" and "that's right."
Stringer, seated at the opposite end of the dais from Whitlock (not by accident, I'm guessing), didn't speak until the forum was nearly an hour old. But when she did, you could almost feel the sweat forming at Whitlock's armpits.
Whitlock, in an April column, criticized Stringer's handling of the Don Imus situation and wrote that she conducted a public and grandstanding "pity party/recruiting rally" after the since-canned shock jock called Rutgers' players -- well, you know what he called them. Now it was payback time.
"I'm amazed," she said, staring down the length of the table at Whitlock. "I just want to understand your mind-set. I just want to understand people like you."
This column isn't about Whitlock, who retracted nothing, or Stringer, whose intensity, anger and emotion won over the panelists and the room. But there is no denying that the most charged moments of the evening came when Stringer leaned toward the microphone and defended herself to Whitlock.
"It wasn't the Rutgers women's basketball team that brought Mr. Imus down," she said, still glaring at Whitlock. "It was America. Women spoke. Black people spoke. It was America!
"I made a statement that it wasn't black or white. The truth of the matter is that we have been fooled for such a long time. We have such promise and we all are important. We need to step on each other's heads to get the little piece of the American dream. It became green. It was power. You [Whitlock] understand that. That's the reason why you chose these few minutes to get your one moment of [fame]. Because other than that, who knows Jason Whitlock?"
Thomas, Bunn and Claire Smith were no less critical of Whitlock. It was a raw, honest exchange between athletes, journalists, a coach and even the audience itself. Whitlock got the worst of it, but that isn't the point. The point is that it was real, healthy and instructive, especially for those Morehouse students who had enrolled in the school's new sports journalism program, which was co-founded by Lee and the late author/sportswriter Ralph Wiley.
Alonzo Mourning makes a point during the discussion in Atlanta.
Saying there aren't enough African-American sportswriters is like saying there aren't enough 50-mile-per-gallon cars. The same goes for African-American sports owners, management, managers, head coaches and, in the case of baseball, players. Duh.
But the answer isn't more African-American sportswriters. More African-American sportswriters who care about the craft, who can tell a story, who can advance the profession, who offer distinctive, thought-provoking, responsible voices to the discussion -- now that's the answer. And that's what Morehouse's program is trying to do. Good for Lee and program director Ron Thomas, a former Bay Area sportswriter.
As you can tell by my column mug shot, I'm not going to be receiving a BET Award anytime soon. I can't pretend to fully understand the black experience because, well, I'm white, and because I'm a product of a different set of experiences than, say, a Jerome Bettis. I grew up on Air Force bases in rural Kansas, North Carolina and Florida. Bettis grew up in inner-city Detroit. Our intersecting point is sports, but it takes us a while to get there.
I'm not saying an African-American sportswriter would have a journalistic advantage with Bettis, but in some cases, he or she might have a shared experience with him. I'd have the same head start if I interviewed the son of a lieutenant colonel who was in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.
In the end, it comes down to the quality and integrity of the sportswriter. The journalists on Lee's hand-selected forum panel -- the theatrical, charismatic and thoughtful Stephen A., the eloquent Rhoden, the understated but forceful Claire Smith and the fearless Whitlock -- have both. But who will succeed them?
Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer listens to comments written about her team and the Don Imus situation, as Spike Lee looks on.
Listening to the panelists go at it Monday night was goose-bump stuff. But glancing back at the faces of those students, many of whom were spilling into the aisles, was even cooler.
We all agree we need more African-American sportswriters, but are the students I saw sprint to the microphones for the post-forum Q&A ready to cowboy up? It isn't easy out there. The entry-level pay stinks. The hours are insane. The travel is gruesome. The deadlines age you. The demands ruin marriages. The athletes can be anywhere from engaging to insufferable. More leagues and teams are trying to control the message. There are ethical land mines. And did I mention life-threatening press box food?
Yet, it's still the best job on the planet. Not because of how much you make, but because of what you see.
I saw a Spike Lee Joint production Monday night. And I mean this as a total compliment, but it was the best thing he's done in years.
And I'm not buggin'.
Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn3.com.
Copyright ©2007 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2864760&sportCat=mlb |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8577
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 06:44 pm: |
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When the NBA was all white over 50 years ago, there was no volence. A bunch of tall stiff white guys just went through the motions of playing a very tame game of basketball. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8578
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 06:52 pm: |
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I also don't agree that Jason was accusing Wojciechowski of racism. He accused him of not having insight into the black community. I admire Jason for having the courage of his convictions, especially since his arguments are never rebutted; they are just stifled because they don't fit in with a script that showcases a lot of melodramatic ham actors. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5472
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 07:37 pm: |
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When the NBA was all white over 50 years ago, there was no volence.
HaHaHaHa!!!
Yeah, cuz they were dragging rich white men down to the station or broadcasting their business all over the media back when. LOL
I'm assuming you were being sarcastic, but, still, statements like this is why it doesn't really matter what you agree with. No disrespect, I‘m just a straight-shooter, not that I’m interested in shooting it straight with you. ...Good night. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8580
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 07:38 pm: |
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I misspelled "violence". But "violence" was what I meant to say. And why do you find it so hard to believe that waaay back during the passive 1950s that basketball was a very different game from the way it is today. A lot of things about professional basketball have changed since then. Especially the rules and the introduction of the shot clock and the 3-point shot. I was around then. Were you?
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5473
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 07:58 pm: |
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Good. Now try being "around" the next time you respond to something I said.
"It started with Spike Lee holding up a duplication of the USA Today sports cover story about NFL athletes and their problems with law enforcement. The story included 41 mug shots of NFL players who had been arrested in 2006 — 39 of those players were African-American."
Whitlock referred and has been referring to the lifestyle of some athletes when they’re off the court/field. And my reaction was to this. K? (smile) Good night.
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8581
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 08:27 pm: |
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Um hum. Did I say anything about NFL players? I responded to you talking about whether there was violence when the NBA was all-white. Up north, during the placid 1950s athletes were All-America role models and this included Baseball player Jackie Robinson who always maintained his dignity and wholesomeness. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5476
Registered: 07-2006
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 09:42 pm: |
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C'mon now, don't get your panties in a bunch, toots. Hehehe! I'm not all that concerned with what you say or said. Cuz you can go on & on FOR EVER while saying nothing. That’s your diversionary tactic, which you use all the time, it’s your schtick. Your approach has always been to be as vague as one can possibly be to avoid providing substance. Yawn. Why waste my time...?
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8582
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 - 10:26 pm: |
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That's your frustration talkin, Babe. If people don't do what you anticpate from them, you're at at a loss. Your mind is only programmed to think one way. LMAO. Now, tell me, if you can, what didn't I address that you brought up?? Who veered off the course here?? And whose panties are in a bunch? I thought you had signed off. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 250
Registered: 04-2004
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 03:14 pm: |
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Hi Cynique, If I didn't know you so well I'd say you almost sound like one of Brother Whitlock's "locksteppers!" I agree with Dave Zirin, who, incidentally is a 30-year Jewish kid whose head is screwed on relatively straight. Jason, who used to be an interesting sportswriter, has wandered off into the Bizarro World. You know I read Jason's book, "Love Him, Hate Him."
I've got one for you. A history of minstrelsy called "Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture" by John Strausbaugh. It's great. It takes a Ralph Ellison/Albert Murray/Constance Rourke perspective. i have about 100 pages left.
love,
steve |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8592
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 12:28 am: |
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I don't agree with everything Jason said, Steve, but I do think the Imus flap provided a platform for the usual suspects; black spokespersons who love the camera and who love any opportunity to dramatize and exploit a situation that provides ready-made bad guys and tailor-made damsels in distress. As for Zirin, I don't know that much about him but when he takes sides in a black family feud, I wonder what would be his reaction to a black "outsider" who takes the Palestinian's side against the Israelis. LOL Zirin's article also provided me with an opportunity to mock these "schzophrenic" black folks who excoriate the white race except when one of its members says what they want to hear, at which time they do an about-face and become verrrrry forgiving.
BTW, I went back and read the segment you provided about the Colombian expedition Fair that was the setting for "The Devil in the White City", and it was very interesting, and actually wasn't a subject touched on in the book. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 251
Registered: 04-2004
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 02:23 pm: |
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Thanks, Cynique. There are about 5 pages on the Columbian Expedition in "Black Like You" by John Strausbaugh, the book on minstrelsy I'm currently reading.
Along with the savages and foreigners, the Columbian Exposition put another subset of humanity on display: women. In a nod to the suffrage movement, which was by then half a century old (and still a quarter-century away from achieving its goal), the Exposition featured a Women's Building. The activities there, organized by a board of respected society ladies, included the expected displays of "feminine" arts and crafts like embroidery and jewelry-making. But there was also a lecture hall for a series of addresses including "The Evolution of the Business Woman" and "The Progress of Society Dependent on the Emancipation of Women." There was one titled "The Organized Efforts of Colored Women in the South to Improve Their Condition," and three accomplished Black women -- Fannie Barrier Williams, Anna Julia Cooper and Frances Jackson Coppin -- spoke on "The Intellectual Progress and Present Status of the Colored Women of the United States Since the Emancipation Proclamation."
Williams had studied at the New England Conservatory of Music and th School of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., and was marrried to a prominent Black lawyer in Chicago. Cooper, who had been born a slave, was an Oberlin graduate and the principal of what would later be known as Cheyney University. After hearing their remarks, Frederick Douglass declared his joy at witnessing "refined, educated colored ladies addressing -- and addressing successfully -- one of the most intelligent white audiences" he'd ever seen. It gave him hope that one day "this great country of ours will be possessed by a composite nation of the grandest possible character, made up of all races, kindreds, tongues, and peoples."
It's interesting that Cheney State College (now Cheney State University of Pennsylvania), the HBCU mentioned above, is the school where current Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer got her start as head coach for 11 seasons, bringing that school's athletic program to national attention and making the first Final Four, losing the championship game to Louisiana Tech. And this was before Title IX.
Jason Whitlock considers Title IX "welfare," in fact, he considers all women's sports and other "non-revenue-producing sports" (like baseball and track & field), "on welfare," courtesty of black male football and basketball players, and he also believes that women's athletic teams should not be allowed to fly to games. The guy has no "consciousness" at all.
He's also a big proponent of "the politics of respectability," an outdated strategy with little meaning for today's professional sports. After he was "spanked" by Vivian Stringer at the Morehouse forum, he returned with another nasty column about her. As Tonya implied, his lame attempts at "social commentary" seem more like prejudice dressed up as insight. It's interesting how brothers like Keith Clinkscales, an executive at ESPN the Magazine and Etan Thomas, the Washington Wizards player, both of whom penned "replies" to Whitlcock, take the high ground in addressing him. (If you're interested, see "An Open to Jason Whitlock" by Etan Thomas on the Huffington Post).
I don't know that Dave Zirin describes himself as Jewish, I just happened to read that in someone's blurb on his Web site. But I definitely wouldn't describe him as a "liberal" either, as I've heard him described here, though not by you. He seems more like a radical.
For intance, in his piece about Chicago's bid to host the 2016 olympics, he makes the point that
...if Chicago were in fact "honored" with the Olympics, a resurgence of police repression would surely follow.
It's a very familiar script. Political leaders start by saying that a city must be made "presentable for an international audience." Then police and security forces get the green light to round up "undesirables" with extreme prejudice. It's as much a part of the games as that damn torch. When the 1936 Olympics came to Hitler's Berlin, the "unpresentables" were placed in concentration camps for the duration of the games. Some never left. In 1984, LA Police Chief Daryl Gates oversaw the jailing of thousands of young Black men in the infamous "Olympic Gang Sweeps." In 1996, the Atlanta games were supposed to demonstrate what President Clinton called "The New South." The New South ended up looking a lot like the old one, as officials jailed thousands of homeless men and women without just cause. Repression followed the Olympic rings to Greece in 2004. Psychiatric hospitals were forced by the government to lock up those deemed mentally ill. In addition, Greece actually overrode its own constitution by "allowing" thousands of armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary troops from the U.S., Britain, and Israel. But the most heartless example of Olympic repression came in 1968 in Mexico City, where hundreds of Mexican students and workers occupying the National University were slaughtered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco.
The slogan for the Olympics has always been stronger, faster, better. It's really guns, greed and graft. The people of Chicago certainly do not deserve the Olympics. They deserve far better.
I don't think that will be published in the Washington Post!
love ya,
steve
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8612
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 01:11 pm: |
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Thank you, Steve. Your input was enlightening, as usual. I previously noted that Jason Whitlock is fighting a losing battle. He has painted himself into a corner and can't escape because he made the mistake of using "half-truths" to make his arguments. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 253
Registered: 04-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 06:55 pm: |
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Cynique, Help me to understand your position w/r/t jason Whitlock and those whom you characterize as blind followers of "massa," when they agree with Dave Zirin.
Further upthread you write:
"I know you folks love having Dave Zirin the white author of this article, doing your talking for you. I can hear you now, all hovered together mumbling. 'You sho is right massa, tellin dat uppity nigra off. We uns knows ain't nobody spose to break ranks. We spose to jes trudge along, all in step.'"
In one of the threads above ("Why is it that white people have to LIE...?") you write:
"Y'all couldn't lick the feet of that white sportswriter Zirin 'whosits' fast enough when he told you what you yearned to hear about Jason 'whosits'"
Forget about CH for a minute, who we know is making a vas deferens in race relations. Rof!
Seriously, I didn't you hear you or anyone else question the logic of the article in thread titled "Fans View Bonds Through a Racial Prism," let alone call him "massa." I'm not talking about the premise as stated in the title, but rather how he gets there.
In other words, the piece, by Ted Miller, who like Dave Zirin is a white man, is ostensibly about a poll of racial opinions, which he proceeds to blow off in favor of some anecdotal information about a young man unjustly accused of rape, a survey about the Confederate flag, and finally, the O.J. Simpson trial. Then he says that blacks and whites have a lot to learn (from him, I suppose!). Why? Because he's a Southerner, of course!
i've read that among *some* African Americans, there is a history of "black protectionism," i.e. of rallying around high-profile figures, whether O.J. Simpson, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas or former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry, who've been accused of wrongdoing.
Of course, Mr. Ishmael R. won't actually come out and defend men like Clarence Thomas, O.J. Simpson, or Mike Tyson. Instead he takes the end-around by hand picking some white feminists (preferably Jewish) who show their putative "hypocricy" by criticizing those men while defending Bill Clinton (as if there were no black women who criticized Clarence Thomas and defended Clinton).
Cynique, is that generally where you're coming from? Protecting Whitlock from his white critics? I'm just asking. Because if so, I don't think you've factored in that he thrives on the approval of folks who view him as white America's defender against the barbarians at the gate, while others, including myself, tend to view him more as a janissary. The janissaries were the white Christian soldiers in the Muslim armies of the Ottoman Empire at a time when the empire extended into Europe. The janissaries, who were ferocious and utterly loyal, fought to erase their own civilization. In their defense, they were conscripted into the army at a very early age, unlike Whitlock, who's 40 years old and knows that he's being manipulative.
I think Ted Miller, the author of the Bonds column, is missing a couple of points; I'll make one. In 2002 when MLB initiated a steroids policy -- which was ridiculously lenient and had to be amended in 2004 -- it avoided the subject of tainted records, although it was completely forseeable that Bonds would break both Babe Ruth's and Henry Aaron's home run records in the near future. The authors of "Game of Shadows" speculate about why commissioner Bud Selig didn't act on this:
. . why, if steroids were of real concern, would Selig and baseball even contemplate organizing a "celebration" for the day in 2006 when Bonds broke Ruth's home run mark? It was as if [Kenesaw Mountain] Landis had announced a new anti-gambling policy after the Black Sox scandal, and then agreed to personally award Joe Jackson his next batting trophy.
Perhaps baseball believed the steroid problem could be finessed because of the public's complicated reaction to the scandal. In some ways, the nation regarded BALCO as more of a cultural phenomenon than a crisis, fodder for everything from late-night talk shows to Internet entrepreneurs.
Isn't the point about racism that it's a way of structuring culture, politics, and the economy? The track and field athletes involved in BALCO received 2- and 4-year suspensions and some had their world records stripped because the rules of their sport demand it. Do you see what I'm saying?
Anyway, as far as Jason Whitlock is concerned, I've read all his weekly AOL columns and posted on his message board since the middle of football season. His typical column included 10 numbered points about the games of the week and ALWAYS included at least one "trashing" of any particular black athlete.
Then after the Super Bowl he started writing bizarre and inflammatory "social commentary," beginning with the fake "gonzo"-journalistic piece about the NBA All-Star game in which he claims to have encountered some rude African Americans on line at the Las Vegas airport, but it was really written back home, well after he had already filed his KC Star piece about how much fun the event was (although he didn't actually attend). In fact, he described it as "ghetto fabulous" in the first piece and the "black KKK" in the second. And it's been like that every week since. |
Libralind2
Veteran Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 835
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 - 08:38 pm: |
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Steve_S writes: Then after the Super Bowl he started writing bizarre and inflammatory "social commentary," beginning with the fake "gonzo"-journalistic piece about the NBA All-Star game in which he claims to have encountered some rude African Americans on line at the Las Vegas airport, but it was really written back home, well after he had already filed his KC Star piece about how much fun the event was (although he didn't actually attend). In fact, he described it as "ghetto fabulous" in the first piece and the "black KKK" in the second. And it's been like that every week since.
'nuff said
LiLi |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8632
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 11:06 am: |
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Well, when I find somebody who says something I agree with, I take their side, Steve. Especially if this annoys certain people who disagree with this same person. heh-heh. It ain't that serious. Everybody on this board flip flops when it comes to the issue of race. Stop trying to fathom the minds of black people. We do what we do. LOL. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 255
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 03:19 pm: |
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I'm not trying to fathom the minds of black people, Cynique, I'm trying to fathom your mind. I'm not trying to defend Zirin, but first you call him the white massa, then when I tell you he's Jewish, you ask me his opinion of the Palestinian/Iraeli conflict. What's Walter Mosley's opinion? His mother is Jewish, same for saxophonist Joshua Redman, James McBride, Lani Guinier, and on and on. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8643
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 05:26 pm: |
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Well, Steve, I'll say it again: Zirin was a white person jumping into the fray between 2 black factions arguing about the black victimization exploitation issue. And, I considered him an outsider sticking his nose into a black thing. Upon finding out what I suspected, that Zirin was Jewish, I wondered how he would react if a black outsider took Palestine's side in the very volatile struggle between Israel and Palestine. Of course poking your nose into the affairs of others is not a sin, but I still raised that question. Maybe because, to me, Zirin's scoffing at Jason smacked a little bit of paternalism, - as if he had appointed himself as the final arbitrator because he knows best.And if I sound anti-semitic, well, sorry. And I also found it amusing that the very people on this board who are so anti-white immediately ate up what Zirin said because he stroked their sentiments. BTW, all of the people you compared Zirin to are bi-racial; just as much black as they are white. |
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