It brings up the old idea that a black man can't be quarterback because of a level of intellect judged by someone who's own level of intelligence is low.
There's nothing worse than someone being afraid to call out racism, then asking "aren't we beyond this," as if there was a time when people who were racist were openly called that. That's what ESPN's Rick Reilly has done, and he should be ashamed of himself for his lack of courage.
The one action that will diminish the occurrence of racist acts amoung whites to blacks is for other whites to call out racism. Rick Reilly knows full-well open acts of racism were more overt not just 40 years ago, but even as recently as the 1990s, when black men were routinely passed over as quarterbacks at both the pro and college levels because of racist judgements about intellect.
The same ones expressed by Mike Shanahan in his coded comments about the black male QB McNabb's assumed lack of ability to understand the Redskins' two-minute offense, and stating that the white male QB Rex Grossman is intellectually better.
What? Yeah. That Rex Grossman. Need I say more about one with a history of passing game screw-ups?
But even with this example, and American history, Reilly has allowed himself to be seduced by the idea that not mentioning race will make racism go away. No. It doesn't. Silence only emboldens the racists.
Rick Reilly must be blind to the culture around him to imply that racism is a thing of the past in America. Even with the first African American President, which in itself points to the fact America's had a hard time grasping the idea for most of its history, there are people today who refuse to embrace diversity and join white supremacist organizations.
Worse, the Rick Reillys of the World pay no attention to the constant images and symbols of racial separatism and inferiority on television. Everything from the lack of interracial couples to the lack of black TV political pundits. (The message sent is that blacks can't have provocative political ideas, but they can render opinions about black history and urban affairs.)
All of those, and other racist messages, are thrown at an unsuspecting American population on a daily basis, yet Reilly comes away with this silly idea that racism's a thing of the past.
Rick Reilly needs to spend time talking with blacks to understand how we think. His careless column proves he has no idea of what it means to be black in America, and is insensitive to a culture that even today clings to racist images and ideas.
Like the one that says a black quarterback isn't smart enough to run a two-minute offense.
Nuts. Just plain nuts.
Actually Donovan is an idiot. It has nothing to do with his race. He posted one of the worst Wonderlic scores in the history of the league. You should be ashamed of yourself for erroneously calling Mike Shanahan a racist simply because you don't like the fact that he called a Black man stupid. The fact that he is accurately depicting Donovan's capabilities is seemingly lost on you.
ReplyDeleteShanahan didn't say, imply, infer, etc that "Blacks aren't smart enough to play QB". He correctly said that "Donovan isn't smart enough to play QB." Get over your prejudice and join us here in 2010 where a man can be judged on his ability regardless of his color.
Didn't Shanahan bring McNabb to the Redskins? Did he develop this racisim midseason? More importantly, isn't it offensive and depraved to so readily accuse someone of being racist without actually knowing the circumstances? There's a word associated with those who cast incendiary judgements so carelessly. Ignorance.
ReplyDeleteThis is stupid, Anonymous. The Wonderlic has nothing to do with football intellect, as Terry Bradshaw (four Super Bowls) and Jim Kelly and Dan Marino had scores as low as Donovan's. Moreover, his score is NOT one of the worst in the history of the league. You don't have all of the records of players, so you don't know, anyway. There have been Wonderlic scores in the 3s, 4s, and 5s. So you're way wrong.
ReplyDeleteI stand by my point and will continue to fight. What Mike said was RACIST. Deal with it.
James. Ok, Ignorance is what you're displaying. It was REDSKINS GM Bruce Allen who brought McNabb to the Redskins, not Mike Shanahan. It was Bruce Allen who hired Mike too. So do your homework, please.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, Mike never said a single racist thing. Even if he had said that McNabb was less intelligent than Grossman, which he never directly said, just that he didn't know something that Grossman did. Nobody at this point can say that Mike is a racist. To do so is simply illogical. This is similar to saying that a Republican who voted for McCain was racist for saying he was a better choice than Obama. They see this as the truth, simply because of their views on govt. and not because of race at all. No matter how much you disagree with their decision, you can't call them racist simply because their decision went against an african american.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Notice all these types of articles are written by black men. People are over-reacting to this. In all honesty Mcnabb IS an idiot, the previous wonderlic you alluded to, and lets not forget how he "forgot" you can tie in the NFL. But with that said, i'm not letting Shanny off the hook for this, Mcnabb is obviously the superior QB and should not have been benched. But its not racism just cut it out.
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid thing to say that it was racist...you are writing this just to get attention. Jason Reid (Black) of the Washington Post probably got it perfectly right when he said it was a father defending his son cause his elite QB wasn't playing nice with him. You are almost irresponsible for making such a charge. How was it racist...? You use the race card this way and that keeps racism going...deal with it!
ReplyDeleteRace is not a card to play. Look, be careful to look at yourself in this. If you're using the term "race card" ask yourself where you got it from? Do you know why and when it was created? It was born in the early 1980s, 1984, and used by Reagan Conservatives to shut down talk about race and racism.
ReplyDeleteIs that what you're trying to do?
What I'm referring to is institutional racism: saying someone black isn't intelligent is one of the fake reasons that blacks were not historically placed at the QB position.
You SHOULD know this. This is American History, and you should be ashamed for not knowing it.
Moreover, you should be careful not to try and shut down people who talk about race and racism. You will not succeed anyway - why try to do so. It's not a good practice. Good people don't do it.
I am opposed to both legal and illegal immigration. This country is overpopulated, and 21 million Americans are out of work.
ReplyDelete