Sean Taylor Redux
I was hipped to an article by David Zirin, sports writer, on the subject of Sean Taylor's untimely demise (thanks Maria, and Jalila). In essence, Mr. Zirin took the fourth estate to task for its insinuation that Mr. Taylor somehow deserved his death, as a result of his previous immaturity and run-ins with the authorities. Mr. Zirin, in short, ripped the popular press a new one, on their racist reactions to his murder. Thank God.
But the press' morbid assumption of "death-by-previous-action" should leave none with any sense of surprise. Of course, there was a typical rush to judgment with regard to Taylor's death, and it should be neither unexpected, nor a surprise. America has this weird dichotomous relationship with black male athletes.
On one hand, as black men, we're all thugs in disguise. Don't get me wrong, there are many folks of all colors, and creeds that can separate the bad actors from the good people. But we'd be completely ridiculous to think that there isn't a significant portion of the "mainstream" that "just knows" deep down, that black men are sprunging/raping/deflowering white chicks with our Mandingo penises, dealing drugs, brandishing firearms, and pimping our ho's on the stroll when we step out of the light, regardless of what our true occupation is, or how much we make doing it.
On the other hand, black athletes/celebrities/stars are loved and cherished by the hoards of fans that worship at the altar of our country's secular religions: football, basketball, and baseball. Those same assumed block-huggin' hooligan negro men are the heroes of millions, veritable Roman gladiators, who when they die, are eulogized and mourned like royalty. With the hero-worship culture here in America, it's totally understandable how Taylor's death would lead many a Washingtonian to pilgrimage over to Ashburn, and leave flowers at Redskins Park, or cause literally thousands of people from all over the country to pen a mini-obituary at miamiherald.com (yeah, I read the Miami newspaper online everyday).
Sure, we could mourn the deaths of thousands of HIV victims in D.C., or each of the 270+ murder victims in Baltimore, the homeless who freeze to death, or the soldiers who've died for nothing in Iraq, but that's not sexy. 'Cuz then, people have to look around them and come to the sad realization that we live in a country with a truly fucked up value system.
That's not fun.
As for the commentary by the so-called journalists and pundits, their reaction just mirrors what the greater society thinks. They are not thought-leaders, as much as they are thought-regurgitators. They basically eat what society feeds them, and then they spit it back up, albeit in a more...acceptable...fashion.
I remember when Chris Benoit, the wrestler, killed himself, his wife AND his seven-year old earlier this year. The first reactions in that case, were that his family was victimized by assailants unknown, and that there was fear for Benoit himself. And then what did they find?
He'd hanged himself, the coward, after brutally killing his sedated wife and child.
But what you DIDN'T hear a lot about was how he was an avid steroids user, who was probably on the juice when he killed his family, in 'roid rage. That was completely swept away, with the ME saying he wasn't "actively" taking steroids at the time of his death, and instead, it was suggested by his friends that years of head blows from wrestling led to some dementia-type disorder. Where was the outrage that this star wrestler, adored by millions, was a junkie basically, who KILLED HIS OWN FAMILY??
Nah, cuz.
He was a good wholesome boy who just made some mistakes. But didn't Taylor make mistakes too, like years ago? And better yet, wasn't he cleaning up his life, after some relatively minor run-ins with the law? And the topper...he wasn't a murdering bastard. He was a victim of some greedy kids, for goodness sake.
Instead, we get a steady dose of how Sean Taylor caused his own demise because he was "hood," and went to The "U," which is supposed to be the collegiate sports equivalent of Sing Sing.
I'm glad Zirin had the guts to call a spade a spade but, you know, the next high-profile black athlete to die under sketchy circumstances will bring us right back to this point again.
But the press' morbid assumption of "death-by-previous-action" should leave none with any sense of surprise. Of course, there was a typical rush to judgment with regard to Taylor's death, and it should be neither unexpected, nor a surprise. America has this weird dichotomous relationship with black male athletes.
On one hand, as black men, we're all thugs in disguise. Don't get me wrong, there are many folks of all colors, and creeds that can separate the bad actors from the good people. But we'd be completely ridiculous to think that there isn't a significant portion of the "mainstream" that "just knows" deep down, that black men are sprunging/raping/deflowering white chicks with our Mandingo penises, dealing drugs, brandishing firearms, and pimping our ho's on the stroll when we step out of the light, regardless of what our true occupation is, or how much we make doing it.
On the other hand, black athletes/celebrities/stars are loved and cherished by the hoards of fans that worship at the altar of our country's secular religions: football, basketball, and baseball. Those same assumed block-huggin' hooligan negro men are the heroes of millions, veritable Roman gladiators, who when they die, are eulogized and mourned like royalty. With the hero-worship culture here in America, it's totally understandable how Taylor's death would lead many a Washingtonian to pilgrimage over to Ashburn, and leave flowers at Redskins Park, or cause literally thousands of people from all over the country to pen a mini-obituary at miamiherald.com (yeah, I read the Miami newspaper online everyday).
Sure, we could mourn the deaths of thousands of HIV victims in D.C., or each of the 270+ murder victims in Baltimore, the homeless who freeze to death, or the soldiers who've died for nothing in Iraq, but that's not sexy. 'Cuz then, people have to look around them and come to the sad realization that we live in a country with a truly fucked up value system.
That's not fun.
As for the commentary by the so-called journalists and pundits, their reaction just mirrors what the greater society thinks. They are not thought-leaders, as much as they are thought-regurgitators. They basically eat what society feeds them, and then they spit it back up, albeit in a more...acceptable...fashion.
I remember when Chris Benoit, the wrestler, killed himself, his wife AND his seven-year old earlier this year. The first reactions in that case, were that his family was victimized by assailants unknown, and that there was fear for Benoit himself. And then what did they find?
He'd hanged himself, the coward, after brutally killing his sedated wife and child.
But what you DIDN'T hear a lot about was how he was an avid steroids user, who was probably on the juice when he killed his family, in 'roid rage. That was completely swept away, with the ME saying he wasn't "actively" taking steroids at the time of his death, and instead, it was suggested by his friends that years of head blows from wrestling led to some dementia-type disorder. Where was the outrage that this star wrestler, adored by millions, was a junkie basically, who KILLED HIS OWN FAMILY??
Nah, cuz.
He was a good wholesome boy who just made some mistakes. But didn't Taylor make mistakes too, like years ago? And better yet, wasn't he cleaning up his life, after some relatively minor run-ins with the law? And the topper...he wasn't a murdering bastard. He was a victim of some greedy kids, for goodness sake.
Instead, we get a steady dose of how Sean Taylor caused his own demise because he was "hood," and went to The "U," which is supposed to be the collegiate sports equivalent of Sing Sing.
I'm glad Zirin had the guts to call a spade a spade but, you know, the next high-profile black athlete to die under sketchy circumstances will bring us right back to this point again.
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