THE CULTURE
Written by: John Thomas
Date posted: 06-07-2011
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| New HMW Blogger John Thomas |
Let me begin by stating the obvious, that the culture of racism in this country is alive and well, and is so undeniable that it would be an insult to any half-wit to suggest that that isn’t the case. But the culture of racism in this area, and particularly this city is in a way particularly insidious; because most of those whom the cap fits, do not consider themselves racist or even prejudiced; (you know who I’m talking about; the ones who say “one of my best friends is black”). And there are those who know they are, but spin the spin so well, that they think the fact is hidden.
It’s amazing how so many have succumbed to this stupidity, (actually, much of it isn’t stupidity, but just like false doctrines that are disseminated in the church pews, it is ear tickling, and caters to the seared consciences of so many). All you have to do is listen to the various news talk show broadcasts in our area; constantly racism’s ugly head is reared. And sadly, it’s alive and well in sports talk as well. There was a time, as recently as a couple of decades ago when sports talk radio was largely devoid of the veiled racist spinning that unfortunately saturates the sports talk scene presently.
Author’s note: The game of spinning is and has been an integral part of democratic forms of government. It received it’s impetus, if you will, with the ancient Greek culture of the 6th century B.C.E. The problem with ‘SPIN’ is that sound logic is almost always missing in the ‘SPIN’, (everything is subject to private interpretation, as well as individual bias and prejudice). The way it is being done presently allows for no conceptual clarification. Truth, honesty, and common sense have no value, in the SPIN. In other words, the intention is to twist words, meanings and intentions to suggest whatever suits them at the time. Hypnotism I think works similarly.
Today, many of the callers to these programs have exchanged the ‘N’ word for the word ‘THUG’. And it’s not just a little pitiful how the sports talk hosts sometimes half-heartedly reprimand the callers, when they make that particular reference. That is, if they bother to reprimand the caller at all..
Definition: THUG; Young black male with tattoos and or a doo-rag; or if his cap is on sideways, or if he doesn’t “say all the right things”; or if he has an opinion not tailored to ease the prejudiced sensibilities of the angry white male, or if he is a self-promoter.
That being said, we now must get into this thing of violence on the field, the diamond, the court, the rink, and the racing track, as it relates to this topic.
This is a particular pet peeve of mine, (I have a lot of pet peeves, by the way). I’m just guessing, but it seems that the violence that we see on the NASCAR circuit, on the hockey rink, on the baseball diamond , ( particularly in the form of hitting a batter with a 90 mph fastball, because he “showed me up”) is much much more egregious than a pro basketball player barely shoving an opposing player. But, let these sorry sports talk hosts tell it, the basketball players should be performing community service, for offenses which pale in comparison to the violence perpetrated in the aforementioned sports arenas. These same persons demonize Tiger Woods, and consider John Daly a folk hero.
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| Sherrie Daley & John Daly |
The following is a quote from an article about Mr. Daly: “Now Sherrie Daly, ex-wife of golfer John Daly, is saying her ex-husband lived a life even wilder than Woods. Yet, the world may not even bat an eyelash. Sherrie Daly is releasing a tell-all book about her husband, to whom she was married for nine years before getting a divorce in 2010. The New York Post explains that Sherrie details Daly's alcoholism, the prevalence of strippers and prostitution on the course at PGA events and his penchant for urinating on things”.
Thanks Ms. Daly, I don’t even have to continue with that! You can certainly tell that story better than I.
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| The Rocket Now can someone please tell me why is it that as soon as it was clear that Roger Clemens would be indicted by a Federal grand jury, ala Barry Bonds; the local sports talk media made an abrupt change in their attitudes toward the players who were considered steroid users? All of a sudden “it’s not a big deal”, (let the reader use discernment). No longer do they make statements expressing their loathing for these players. Those statements have been replaced by ‘aww, everyone’s doing it, it’s no big deal’. They cannot spin it to their advantage, without also demonizing their heroes. So, all of a sudden it’s no big deal. (Is there anything more reprehensible than a hypocrite) ? |
Author’s note #2Keeyessuh boss, nosuh boss kind” . 610’s John Lopez has made a career of feeling vindicated, when one out of twenty agree with him; or rather I should say that he tries to make us think he has been vindicated. It doesn’t work for him, many of us out here know the story on him… (SAD). I’ll deal with him in another article, trust me.
JOHN THOMAS
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2 comments:
John is passionate about his beliefs and this is only a nudge of what's to come. I'm an observer by nature and to see the different caliber of how people bring their message makes me feel good. Handle your business John.
If you swing once I'll swing twice should be HMW's trademark
LM
I agree with a lot of what was said in this commentary. Especially about the subtle nuances of the word "thug" and how it is more or less code for that old faithful N-word. I think the piece is fair in pointing out media inconsistencies in how they bring forth the information they feel needs to be covered. With that said, your piece is titled "The Culture" and I want to reference the culture. I don't think that wanting the media to be less biased in what they report equals fixing the problem. Your piece highlighted the wrongs from lets say, the other side of the spectrum in conjunction with the negativity from the minority side of the spectrum that gets caught up in the media cross hairs. I really believe that for minority athletes or whatever the minority might be in whatever walk of life, in knowing that there is an unbalance in the media scale, I believe the minority has to have that in mind in going about their life processes.It might not be fair, but it is what it is in 2011. Hopefully that can change. But until that day fully comes, Terrell Pryor can't be a minstrel show for the media in driving up to this press conference the way that he did in a controversial car. Andrew Bynum can't walk off the court taking his shirt off like he was Hulk Hogan after he committed such a brutal and flagrant foul against the opponent. That makes it hard for the biases to go away. If we don't continue to give the media what they want as a "culture," maybe that is a way to bring balance in order to what you are fighting down the road.
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