One of the first posts I wrote on this blog was called “Caging the Entitled”, which included a rip on Washington Post writer and ESPN personality Michael Wilbon. I criticized Wilbon for his dangerous, inhibiting opinion that black men should be forced to go to college instead of going for the millions of dollars that awaited them in the NBA. (Not because I disagree with a college education, but I’m a capitalist; the fact is, if you can make the money, you should be allowed to, no matter who thinks what is in your best interest). And I still believe that Wilbon’s opinion is one that can only hurt young black men, both from a race and capitalist standpoint.
But today on Pardon the Interruption, Wilbon proved he had his limits when it came to the figurative caging and general criticism of young black men, especially in the NBA. Taking note of the punch thrown by an NHL player last night, and of the lack of coverage of it, Wilbon made the point that many have made over the past several days:
The coverage of the Knicks/Nuggets fight was tinged with racism, and the only reason it was covered to the extent that it was was because of race.
Now to many, this may seem obvious. In fact, it takes an amazing amount of psychological maneuvering to pretend that this isn’t the case. Tony Kornheiser (on Monday’s edition of PTI) tried to excuse the overreaction away with the point that NBA players are the most exposed in all of sports (tank top and shorts, no helmets, etc), but that can’t possibly account for adjectives like thug and bum and allusions to gangs in a growing number of newspaper columns. That can’t account for the fact that Brian Williams and Charles Gibson thought it noteworthy enough, while the U.S. is at war, to lead with it on their nightly newscasts. That can’t account for adjectives like ‘latest’ and ‘again’, used so many times in articles about the fight, which indicate that events like the fight are a nightly occurrence in a league that has fewer brawls than any other.
Last night, the National Hockey League provided the proof, not that any more was needed. A sucker punch in a game, flat in the face of a player who then remained motionless for several minutes. No coverage. It was on ESPNews this morning at around the halfway point of the broadcast, after NFL, NBA and college basketball highlights. It got buried in the Barry Melrose segment on SportsCenter. CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the news brigade were preoccupied with Miss USA and Donald Trump.
Anyone who doesn’t see the hypocrisy in how these two similar events were covered is beyond rehabilitation. The explanations will come pouring in. The NHL is far less popular than the NBA. So what? The NBA is far less popular than the NFL, and yet the fight led SportsCenter on an NFL Sunday.
Where was Gary Thorne, calling the NHL a gang banger’s paradise? Where was Chris Berman, saying that he would never air highlights of the NHL again? Where were the writers saying that the NHL was a league of thugs, bums and bandits? Where were the people saying, “What about the children?”
Are NBA players the only danger to the precious children of these sportswriters? Why should we live in a country where black men are held to a different standard, and criticized for far more than anyone else? Why is this allowed to happen? Racism is what racism is, and it has been here forever and will be here forever. But this kind of blatant racism from cowards too afraid to admit it is intolerable. They try to pretend that their opinions have merit beyond the acceptance of their fellow bigots, they try to pretend that their generalizations and stereotypes have any place in reality. It takes people like Michael Wilbon and Steve Francis to stand up and say that it’s not okay.
It’s not about changing these people. It’s not about making them ‘tolerant’. It’s about taking away their mask of ‘credibility’ and exposing them for what they are. It’s time for them to stand before the black men they criticize, without adjectives to clothe their naked bigotry. They know they are wrong, otherwise they wouldn’t have to use words like ‘thug’ and ‘bum’ to stand in place of the word they really want to use. And once they have to confront who they really are, they’ll self destruct. They are nothing more than sniveling, real life versions of James Taggart and Peter Keating. Give them a mirror and they’ll crumble.
Hopefully, Wilbon won’t be the last one to hold up that mirror.
