It’s so easy to pile on Rob Parker right now; an ill-informed
comment that makes white folks bitterly call Race Card is the gift that keeps
on giving in the public forum. ESPN, in justifying their zero tolerance (for a
certain “type” of voice) was in propaganda mode by ending their relationship
with Parker and following the public sacrifice with an “Outside The Lines”
piece (last Sunday) opining if Griffin is the first “Post Racial” sports star. Accurately
Michael Wilbon reminded in the piece that there’s no such thing as “post racial”
and anyone my age and older would have to remind the viewer there once were men
named Ali and Jordan. There will always be race hatred, and only a few minorities
who are successful enough to afford rare exemption. Propaganda is designed for
the ignorant masses and the best propaganda is the kind that rings of truth,
just disseminated with a slant to achieve a certain purpose. ESPN (Disney) is
no shrinking violet in the political arena and I find it irresponsible when
they elevate sports to a level of utopian frontier, while omitting the fact
that Black Athletes excel in sports to escape manufactured poverty. While RG3
is a hero to young Blacks a higher % of them are unemployed despite college
degrees and privatized prisons await the ones ensnared by a phony drug war
emphasized by the criminalization of young black manhood. In the town RG3 plays
in a President declares he isn’t the President of Black America while making
sure to “settle accounts” with other parts of the coalition that won him the
white house… twice.
Hip Hop-the second arena by which a Black Man can become
“Post Racial” is vastly becoming a battlefield where actual criminal background
can accelerate a rappers market value while white counterparts don’t have to
“move weight” to go platinum. For the penthouse elite, the Rappers who achieve the
highest level of status there is the chore of projecting dark, ominous, often occult
symbolism to a nation of young black people already trapped in a dystopian
reality. The Rappers have a unique credibility in a country where they could
easily have been rendered invisible, the same goes for Football Players. ESPN
is blessed with omnipotent credibility and if they want to blackball Parker or
turn Griffin into a post racial icon the deed is practically done. I applaud
Griffins parents for their service to our country and the “no excuses” way they
raised Robert but to laugh dismissively about the unfortunate dichotomy black
stars face is mirroring the indifference larger society has regarding the
complexities of the hood. Race will always be a prevalent topic in Sports and
unfortunately no amount of Griffins great Character or PC dogma will change
that, and ESPN will never make a documentary strong enough to make the social
disparity go away. When you make a piñata out of Rob Parker you may have done
something that makes you feel better but the brotha’s in the barbershop are the
ones who see the real side of America experienced by many despite the content
of their character.
Robert Griffin is a delightful young man and talent and I
applaud his lofty ideals but this injury is only the first adversity he has had
to deal with in his new role as post racial superstar. In the years to come
there are many different ways that he can struggle and only then will we find
out just how the content of his character cannot move the needle. Remember, NFL
fans skewered the President of the United States with racially insensitive
barbs when he interrupted their right to watch black men colliding with one
another and shortening their lives. Football fans can be a unique brand of delusional
and they aren’t far from crying over their all black defense being robbed by an
unfair call nor suggesting a free agent on said defense “go back to the ghetto”
when he makes a dumb play. Race is always just beneath the green grass and the
green money mostly white attendee’s pay for overpriced beer. If ESPN is so sure
that the PC universe they create on their platform is a safe place for the
likes of Griffin let us examine a few of the ways his conduct in coming years
can wake up the ghost of George Preston Marshall.
#1 Underperform while making ill-advised mistakes
Luckily for Griffin he’s clearly more cerebral as a rookie
than Michael Vick ever was, but injuries dictate this pistol/read option hybrid
won’t be rolled out next year. This makes the emphasis on reading coverage’s
more demanding and if he struggles in certain spots there will be an immediate
attack on his intellect. Don’t think for one minute ignorant sports fans, you
know the ones who called Obama racist names for interrupting their football
wont “go there”. Griffin can easily go from being a great Quarterback of the
future to merely being an “instinctual athlete” by the same ESPN talking heads
who rave about him now. Rarely are white Quarterbacks outright labeled “stupid”
but It won’t take long if Griffin throws a few “pick 6’s” of the kind that made
Brett Favre and endearing “gunslinger”. He’ll be Black then, if he can’t bother
with being black now how will he have the perspective to deal with veiled
racism when it hits him in the face? Rob Parker won’t be there to kick around,
and when the heat comes down every black personality at ESPN knows they better
not come to his defense nor get into any “racial stuff”. Quarterback is the
most mentally demanding position in the game and few black QB’s get credit for
mastering this aspect of football, if things break down and Griffin isn’t able
to make reads there will be low lives on Twitter suggesting that it’s because
people like him “cant” read.
#2 Become Injury Prone while becoming a Financial Burden
The sports fan primate is not fully civilized, he actually
yells at grown men for ruining his chance to win the enormous 200$ pot in his
fantasy league. There is a lack of empathy and human connection between the guy
on the field and the guy who believes his ticket gives him the right to decide
if you should be there for the birth of a child. The fan is notorious for
cheering a player’s injury and openly rooting for the maiming of a player they
don’t feel is producing. In 2012 Bears fans would call Gayle Sayers “soft” and
not even blink, just how “post racial” would RG3 be if he tore up the same knee
in say week 4 of next year?. Would all of the right responses (he gives good “leader
guy” talk) mean as much if fans had to deal with the fact that he just may be
like that other black guy who can’t play a full season?, you know the one who
used to dogfight?. What if RG3 earned a nice chunk of change the next couple of
years standing next to Shanahan and shooting really cool Adidas “rehab”
commercials?. What then would shield him from blue collar white guy who gets it
in his head that “those guys” don’t work hard like he does pouring cement for
cousin Cooters Construction Company? Once you become a financial burden people
change and they cross lines they wouldn’t have crossed even when you were
playing poorly. It’s worse when you’re a black QB who will be compared to what
looks to be an incredibly durable Andrew Luck.
#3 Say anything remotely Critical about the Military or
foreign Policy
Griffin is a Military brat and he has the MJ/Tiger/Jeter
playbook to being lifeless and Apolitical but he does view himself as an
inspirational figure. You can’t be inspirational without putting it on the line
and saying some things that you strongly believe in against wide opposition.
However he probably knows that saying anything about world affairs will not win
him any friends and may set off a firestorm, and in DC FBI surveillance. When you’re
rich and black benign is best because the minute you say anything provocative you’re
reminded of how grateful you should be, by the IRS personally. It’s been that
way since Ali and it won’t change anytime soon; the implication will always be
shut up, play ball and be happy white folks like you. There’s a reason Jim
Brown aint walking through that door folks, and it doesn’t have a damn thing to
do with conditions being better for Black people. Remember Steeler Running Back
Rashard Mendenhall’s 9/11 tweet? or the time he compared the NFL system to the
Slave Trade?. Americans aren’t big on any kind of critical analysis that isn’t
in the realm of what they want to believe about themselves and Black Athletes
after Brown and Ali have learned it’s a lot more profitable to stick to the
talking points. One little slip in this area will get RG3 in the kind of “shit
storm” whereby the N word is certainly going to come his way, if it’s good enough
for the other “post racial” guy in Washington DC its good enough for him.
#4 Cheat on his Wife
Tiger Woods played the post racial card all the way to the
bank and when his ex-wife was done with him he made another trip, a 750 million
Dollar withdrawal trip. Honestly I don’t believe white fans care about the
Black Athlete with the gorgeous white wife because it reaffirms their ideals of
what having the best America can offer “is”. But if you have that idealized
white mate the last thing you want to do is disgrace her in a public way. Griffin
seems like he’ll make a great husband and dad but if things go sideways he will
learn about just how black he is. Black men of prominence disappoint black
women all the time but when they tarnish non-black trophies their Q Rating goes
way down; just ask Tiger how sullying the Nordic ideal went for him. Tiger
Woods had no idea what Elin represented until the sponsors had him on the
phone, his public downfall was unusual and emasculating when you consider
Athletes are routinely unfaithful. “Post Racial” Money is different than normal
money and your spouse does matter, just as much as it does for a politician.
Cheat on Lashanda and your just another stud jock, cheat on Mindy or Becky and
you’ve got yourself an issue with public perception. Cheat on Mindy or Beth and
ancient stereotypes about black male sexuality come to the surface, I mean only
some kind of animal could cheat on such a nice young girl right?
#5 make any concerted effort to identify with Black Children
who look up to you
To be post racial you have to ignore the pride and
identification people of your race place in you, trading away a certain
intimacy you were born with in exchange for generalized more profitable love.
Muhammad Ali identified with and tried to inspire Black children, but his love
for humanity made him irresistible to all races of people. But the Champ was an
outlier, the modern athlete inspires through foundations and causes, Lance
Armstrong sold yellow wristbands but Ali talked freely about what Black
children are facing. Ali would be a nightmare for a PR Firm today because they
would be frustrated with his insistence on the “black stuff”. Black people who
have a certain degree of mainstream appeal are encouraged to be an inspiration
to all, but one word about the realistic disparity in the lives of black
children and white children can get you labeled a racist. Washington DC is the
perfect backdrop for this kind of misstep because if RG3 ventured beyond the guidelines
of his handlers he would correctly see that children who look like him need him
the most. And maybe this experience would stop all of this “content of
character” talk; because there’s nothing like seeing the starkness of poverty
up close to drag the privileged out of this mythical “Post Racial” America.
