When Seattle
Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman startled a white female sideline reporter,
and the television viewing audience, with his verbal chastising of San
Francisco Forty Niners’ wide receiver Michael Crabtree, I elected not to write
nor publicly say anything. The night
amateur athlete and Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart shoved a loyal Texas Tech
fan after being verbally assaulted (be it a racial slur or not), I was so quiet
you could hear a rat piss on cotton. Then, University of Missouri defensive end
Michael Sam “came out” and proclaimed his homosexuality to the world in an
interview, and I decided it was time that I say something. Something needed to be written. I needed to
write something. I needed to compose
something that illustrates what I believe is going on in this post-racial
America courtesy of the almighty Obama’s election and reelection. There seems
to be a deconstruction and reconstruction of the Black American male athlete,
and this reconstruction may very well void the only positive stereotype that
exists and persists in the American and international psyche as it pertains to
the self-worth of the Black male.
Via
extensive media coverage there is no need for me to intricately detail or do a
play-by-play analysis of what occurred with Sherman or Smart, but I must state
that, in my thirty-five years as a United States resident, the only African
American stereotype that doesn’t wreak of inferiority, criminality, and
minstrelsy is that of the Black male’s athletic/physical prowess, prominence,
proficiency, and superiority. Asians are
smart. White people are rich, powerful,
and intelligent. Latinos have a rich
heritage and culture and are hard working.
Italians are Catholic and have a love of family and familial traditions
(ok, yes, they have mafia connections). But, outside of the Black American
being fast, coordinated, and can jump high, we have been inundated with the
notion of Blacks being dumb, thuggish, absentee or neglectful parents, and are
the face of poverty and welfare in the U.S.A.
Yet, Sherman, Smart, and Sam, or at least the media’s portrayal of them
and the audience’s response to them, may be the undoing of the image of the
Black athlete as a heroic figure in American folklore.
I
intend to do something within the next four-hundred to six hundred words or so
that is something that is studied, analyzed, dissected, celebrated and
commodified in the halls of America’s upper tier academic institutions, mainly
private, white, and economically exclusive, is a claim for scholastic fame and
intellectual adoration for Black scholars who have terminal degrees in African
American Studies and anything “AfAm” and have extensive research experience and
publications because of this—the “freestyle”.
Rappers have bars that are pertinent, poignant, and profound, and my bars
are sentences. I just want to construct
a brief, cold-blooded rhetorical foray, without the fire (phi) beat, into the
negative depiction of African Americans, specifically and explicitly athletes, by
mass media once they roam outside the zoo of American sports
entertainment.
Because Richard Sherman was animated and aggressive and braggadocios and
insulting to his individual opponent, a wide-receiver, being that he is the
defensive antithesis to the position of wide receiver in football, and startled
the white female reporter in front of thousands in attendance and millions in
the viewing audience, Sherman was labeled a thug, out of control, and “out of
line” by many in the media after his alleged tirade. I always felt like the
media was upset with his aggression even in the mere presence of the white
female reporter whether or not his tirade and aggression was aimed at her or
anyone else. Sherman had the nerve to be
hostile in the mere presence of a white woman.
He was no longer tamed. The game
was over. The money was made. The fans got their monies worth. And this Black robo-animal should be able to
hit the “stop” button and get a hold of himself and act with some sense. Be seen and not heard. And Sherman, Smart, and Sam are doing neither
of the aforementioned. These three
talented Black athletes, who happen to be top tier in their respective fields
or level of athletics, will be seen and heard as long as they maintain the
skill level required to have an extensive career in the American sports
workforce.
Marcus Smart violated the code of relieving
himself of his duties as zoo animal and spectacle by putting his hands on a white
customer, a white ticket buyer, when he responded to the verbal insult that was
hurled at him. Note to America—you are
paying to be entertained not paying to verbally abuse the athletes who you
vicariously and voyeuristically want to be like and salivate at their physical
abilities and coordination. Whatever
sadistic thought is in the live and viewing crowd’s psyche should not be acted
out upon these gladiators that perform for the viewer’s pleasure. A “boo” here or there is fine, but, please,
no name-calling. Particularly in
college. They are amateur athletes. They aren’t getting paid to endure your
internal and malicious ire. Oh, and Michael Sam should not have to be worried about whether or not his potential employment by an NFL franchise is predicated upon his sexual preference or orientation. He has informed us that he is a homosexual male athlete months before the NFL draft, so that the league and its family of teams cannot blackball him because of a "secret" that has been known for months in collegiate football circles.
Yet the media and residents in the universe of social networking outlets are condemning the actions, some warranted, of the aforementioned athletes. Sherman should have more class and shut up. Smart shouldn't have put his hands on that fan regardless of what kind of insult was hurled at him. Sam shouldn't tell because we didn't ask. The American media wants to tame if not destroy individualism and free speech and free think and harness the physical capabilities of the Black male athlete once he is done playing the game. Be humble in an interview. Be quiet about your sexuality. Don't put your hands on a white fan no matter what he or she says, or, I assume, does to you. The mystique of the machismo connoted with the image of the Black male athlete is being deconstructed for the 21st century. No longer is the superior athlete someone to admire. He is now someone to revile and detest because he seems not to know his place like Cassius Clay changing his name, becoming a member of the Nation of Islam and refusing to be inducted into the U.S. military because of his anti-Vietnam War sentiments. Lik John Carlos and Tommie Smith and their hoisting of the Black Power salute. Jim Brown's constant stance against discrimination in America and American sports, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's refusal to hold his hand over his heart and sing the national anthem during pre-game NBA rituals. In essence, just run, nigger, run.
-Gee Joyner
Yet the media and residents in the universe of social networking outlets are condemning the actions, some warranted, of the aforementioned athletes. Sherman should have more class and shut up. Smart shouldn't have put his hands on that fan regardless of what kind of insult was hurled at him. Sam shouldn't tell because we didn't ask. The American media wants to tame if not destroy individualism and free speech and free think and harness the physical capabilities of the Black male athlete once he is done playing the game. Be humble in an interview. Be quiet about your sexuality. Don't put your hands on a white fan no matter what he or she says, or, I assume, does to you. The mystique of the machismo connoted with the image of the Black male athlete is being deconstructed for the 21st century. No longer is the superior athlete someone to admire. He is now someone to revile and detest because he seems not to know his place like Cassius Clay changing his name, becoming a member of the Nation of Islam and refusing to be inducted into the U.S. military because of his anti-Vietnam War sentiments. Lik John Carlos and Tommie Smith and their hoisting of the Black Power salute. Jim Brown's constant stance against discrimination in America and American sports, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's refusal to hold his hand over his heart and sing the national anthem during pre-game NBA rituals. In essence, just run, nigger, run.
-Gee Joyner
