ESPN's
Rick Reilly is wrong. Washington Redskins Head Coach Mike Shanahan's recent benching of Quarterback Donovan McNabb and basically openly saying the African American Pro Bowl Quarterback's lack of intellect prevented him from being able to run the team's two-minute offense, was racist. Period.
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.
