Robert Griffin III does not deserve this. He is a young rookie quarterback in the NFL who has played spectacularly and has kept his nose clean. So what does he get as a reward? Some black commentator on ESPN named Rob Parker questions his "blackness".
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/12/14/not-one-us-espn-commentator-slams-rgiii-over-gop-leanings-white-fiancee/
Where does one begin? What is Griffin's fault here-that he may have a white fiancee? What does Parker want from Griffin-an arrest record? It's embarrassing enough when some dopey white person compliments a black person for being "articulate". But when a black commentator questions someone's "blackness" because he speaks like an educated person, which Griffin does, that is flat out outrageous-and yes, racist. This is the kind of nonsense one would expect to hear on MSNBC, which will probably turn out to be Parker's next employer. If Parker wants to sound off on political and sociological issues, that is where he belongs.
This is also symptomatic of the treatment black conservatives get from other blacks because they have the temerity to have a different point of view from what is "expected". We have seen it from Clarence Thomas to Condi Rice to Thomas Sowell to Shelby Steele to Larry Elder.
Griffin, to my knowledge, hasn't even ventured any public opinions on issues outside of football. Yet he gets dragged out of sports into a whole new arena by some ignorant sports commentator who says he (Griffin) is not "down with the cause".
I don't know what Griffin's view of the world is, nor do I care, but I hope he thinks carefully and then comes out with a strong public statement that makes Parker look like the small man that he is.
13 comments:
I've been saying it for a year now, the true racists in the US are Black people. Who is this Rob Parker and what right does he have to tell another person what he can do, who he can love and how he can vote or think because he is a certain skin color?
People like Parker, Sharpton, Jackson are the true racists and should be called out on it.
Wait a minute! Don't you know that this is the first "post racial" President we've ever had?
He has put race relations back 25 years. It was a conversation that was petering out before he came into office and race and racist accusations are the main topic of conversation. Thanks, Rev. Wright, Malcolm X., Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson, as well as Chris Mathews who sniffs out hidden messages from the racists. There are all Democrats, peddling their race agenda to the detriment of the country... but it gets them 97% of the black vote and enough of the moron vote to get elected and re-elected.
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This Miggie guy is a broken record.
When 97 to 98% of a particular group vote for someone who has the same skin color, you have the definition of racism.
Anonymous, Your "No, the true racists are the ones who make sweeping generalizations about a group of people." is a brand new definition of racism.
Did you make it up yourself? A racist is a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another. It has nothing to do with sweeping generalizations made.
Your view has all the intellectual insight as "Whatever, man."
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That might be the most ignorant thing I've ever read.
You represent one of the defining characteristics of Islamists: A rejection of REASON.
I gave you a dictionary definition of racism and you think it is ignorant... the most ignorant thing you ever read!
This accounts, in no small part, of the backwardness of the Muslim countries. You ignore reason, inquiry, and anything other than what you are taught to believe since birth. Submission!
How is it that there are no notable universities in all of the Muslim world? Some billion and a half people have no interest in real education or real learning. The only thing their universities excel in is Islamic studies. In other words, who can memorize the Koran the best. They have to send students here to learn any practical skills and information.
The number of books translated in Arabic over the last 1,000 YEARS is fewer than those translated in Spain (alone) in ONE year. Greece, with a population of less than 11 million, translates FIVE TIMES as many books into Greek than all the Arab states.
There is an inherent anti-intellectual strain in Islam... one that labels "ignorant" something that is a dictionary definition because he doesn't believe it.
It reminds me of the Muslim Student Union member I talked too who would not believe the map I showed him about the size of Israel. He was certain that it was much larger. It was the stunning lack of intellectual curiosity.
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"Your view has all the intellectual insight as 'Whatever, man.'"
This from a guy who parrots every right wing talking point.
"A racist is a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another. It has nothing to do with sweeping generalizations made."
Are you really this ignorant or are you having a laugh at me? Do you not see the correlation between the two?
I'll see if I can get somebody like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, etc. to say it, that way you can just accept it and repeat it.
Oh, and go ahead and call me "Paulie" that narrows down who I am just as much as "Miggie" narrows down who you are.
Anonymous is correct categorically, but what Findalis is talking about happens in a multiplicity of individual situations. She's talking about a form of racism perpetrated by people who have a twisted view of their black skin, a view actually invented by slave owners and overseers, but they don't know that.
Findalis: I am well aware that the trans-continental African slave trade was developed by Arab merchants, and it was this market that the European ships first tapped into. I am also aware that for most of the 18th century, slave traders humbly petitioned on their knees for permission from local monarchs to purchase slaves within their domains.
But the dichotomy "white / black" was nonetheless invented by Europeans. Assuming you are Ashkenazi, you don't have a dog in that fight. The role of Sephardim has been vastly exaggerated, but some were involved in Portuguese commerce, and Portuguese commerce did include slaves. More common were the Jewish children baptized and kidnapped, sent to be the clerks and such in the Cape Verde islands.
Its up to the person targeted to shrug off Rob Parker and let him know how irrelevant he is. Hearing an old Jewish woman, a retired "white" Protestant, or anyone else say it, won't have much impact.
Siarlys,
By your reasoning, who are you to call Rob Parker "irrelevant"?
I'm having an irrelevant conversation with a couple of crochety old white folks. I'm sure my opinion is irrelevant to Parker. Hopefully Parker's is also irrelevant to Griffin.
Miggie,
Why are you talking about Islam in this thread?
If you were following my exchange with Anonymous, you would see why. This is not my first exchange with this guy and his Islamic orientation always jumps out at me.
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