Posted on 05/10/2007 7:43:40 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
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:
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
No supporting of stereotypes here....
“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.”
Do you agree with that Whitlock statement?
“Do you agree with that Whitlock statement?”
It’s plausible. I’m not sure, I’m not in the community. But if drugs is part of the culture, an accepted and encouraged part, and the penalties are stiff, it could be counter productive.
It’s been proven in the past, (China and England had an issue over this), that the only cure for a drug problem is to treat the cause. It can be debated whether stiff penalties for individual users is productive.
Great column by Jason Whitlock. Thanks for posting.
Not necessarily, but in a comprehensive review of his commentaries I see him as someone who believes that those who commit infractions should be held responsible as opposed to many who believe that the guilty are victims.
A voice in the wilderness.
Most of the panel attacked him for saying this. Same old song and dance from black "leaders."
The cause is a big issue. I guess it just seemed to me that Whitlock is still relying on the blame someone else tactics.
The problem is that police aren’t going in their homes to bust them for smoking weed in their basement. They are almost always getting in an altercation at a club or driving like maniacs. Lo and behold, shockingly they have drugs on them.
They have pratically busted the whole WWE for steroids. It’s really common today.
“The cause is a big issue. I guess it just seemed to me that Whitlock is still relying on the blame someone else tactics.”
I think if you evaluate the total of his writing, and what he’s said in the past, you’d see it otherwise.
I’ll agree, that statement could be construed that way. But context is everything. Look at what Whitlock says over and over again: The black culture is being poisoned with the hip hop/jail elements. It’s time for blacks to stand up, acknowledge they are in control of their own problems, and fix them.
Not quite the standard victim fare that Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Spike Lee, etc, are pushing.
To be fair, Whitlock walked out of radio shows he had on 2 sports stations here in KC, and seemed to be marginalized by ESPN. This does have a way to keep his name up there.
What is truly amazing is that the KC Red Star printed this. One of their editoral board, Lewis Diugud, whines about race in every column he writes. He’ll probably blast Whitlock and call him an Uncle Tom after this column.
“What is truly amazing is that the KC Red Star printed this. One of their editoral board, Lewis Diugud, whines about race in every column he writes. “
Common. It’s one reason I quit taking the Akron Beacon Journal.
Thanks for the extra info.
These black athletes have money and every advantage since they have made it in sports. They beat the odds, so now they are going to throw it all away on something stupid? You would think that their teams would drive home the risks and make sure they understand. Do they think they are above the law?
Ever been to Virgil’s —— it’s as white as bbq can get.
He made his point which means as far as he’s concerned it was all worthwhile.
What th...?
You think BBQ is a racial thing? You need to get out more.
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