or how people can be quick to use the N word
Now, i don't follow sports...like at all. But i did manage to hear about the Richard Shermen clip(here). I found the video amusing but didn't make much of it. That is until i saw people quick to call him a Nigger and use a racially coded insult like thug. Now, he was definitely a bit over the top in the clip,but its not like he was hurting anyone so i don't think its that big of a deal. For gods sake, he is a sports player who just had a good game and was probably just really excited.
Personally,i am more disturbed that people were so quick to bring up racist terms to express there disagreement. When Charlie Sheen did that infamous "winning" interview, i don't remember anyone bringing up his race in there comments on him. And in none of the coverage of Rob Ford's multiple scandals, i don't remember people bring up his race either. But apparently if a black person gets a bit animated people think its ok to use what has generally been accepted as racist language towards him or her. And we're supposed to be living in a "post-racial" society.
Now, a while back a football player named Jason babin(Who looks white to me,tho i could be wrong. Definetly doesn't look black) ripped a guys hair off and held it like a trophy. I looked up his name on twitter to see if i could get a general idea of how people reacted to it, and there seemed to be barely any real outrage, and definitely no racial insults. So apparently getting a bit too excited in a postgame interview makes a black person a nigger/thug, but ripping out a guys hair is perfectly ok.
I've seen people bring his his education at stanford as a defense against the racism being hurled at him. I do appreciate the effort,but to me his education shouldn't have to be brought up to prove he's not a thug. I would love to hear from people more invested in sports than i am on this, but from what im seeing this whole incident seems to have stirred up some repressed racism in folks.
In what is a sad irony, this has happened to coincide with MLK day. if this has shown us anything,is that we may be further from MLK's dream than we thought
I've seen people bring his his education at stanford as a defense against the racism being hurled at him. I do appreciate the effort,but to me his education shouldn't have to be brought up to prove he's not a thug. I would love to hear from people more invested in sports than i am on this, but from what im seeing this whole incident seems to have stirred up some repressed racism in folks.
In what is a sad irony, this has happened to coincide with MLK day. if this has shown us anything,is that we may be further from MLK's dream than we thought
It's unfortunate that some people will use racial slur to put down Sherman but that's the reality we live in.
ReplyDeleteMy issue with Sherman's antics has nothing to do with his race, it's the lack of sportsmanship he'd shown throughout his career. He's one of the best corner backs (if not the best) in football but also one of the most hated in the league. The reason why he's the most hated is he acts like selfish jerk, instead of celebrating the trip to the Superbowl, he decided to come out and say he's the best corner back in the league, that maybe true, but to me that sounds selfish and not being a professional. Of course him being black, those racist people will use that to insult even more.
Even Deion Sanders (the best cornerback in NFL history) said Sherman shouldn't have acted the way he did after the game. He beat a great receiver and instead of acting like a pro, he decided act like a child and gloat and that is why I don't care for his antics.
As for Jason Babin, well he's not as good player or well known as Sherman so no one made a big deal about his antics, which I don't care for either. Sherman has become quite a big star in the NFL the last couple of years so he'll get his shares of haters. Now I don't care if he keeps acting like a child but I do think he needs to grow up and act like a professional if he wants to get respect from his peers, media and fans. As of now, he's just a child who has great talents and play in the biggest sport in the country.
BTW, this is Ted S., I somehow can't connect to my Twitter account to this comment. I just use my alter ego Gmail account.
Yeah, i don't have a issue with people expressing disagreement with a black persons behavior. But if the first instinct of someone is to use a racial slur to make their point,they lost me. Also, i don't know if you've read it if Sherman wrote up his own response to this http://mmqb.si.com/2014/01/20/richard-sherman-interview-michael-crabtree/
DeleteAnd yeah the commenting system here definitely doesn't feel as intuitive as the one for wordpress,but hopefully this won't be too much of a issue for people