we just need a few more white guys
I like to think we, as a society, are moving forward...making progress. I like to think we don't pay near as much attention to the color of someone's skin as we do the content of their character. I like to think our consideration of other people has nothing to do with race, creed, color or political affiliation, and more to do with actions, conversation and how well they can keep a straight face while attempting to pull off a practical joke.
Every now and then, though, someone comes along and just takes a baseball bat to my half full glass.
This morning I'm listening to the sports talk guys. One of the Jaguars' players was pulled over in Tennessee for speeding and carrying an unlicensed gun, and the basic topic was...Do you care? Does it matter to you if your players have strong moral character? If so, how bad do they have to be before it would be a deciding factor in whether or not you'd support the team, buy tickets and jerseys and car flags and stuff? Do you just not care how much trouble they get in, as long as they win?
So this guy calls up and says (not a direct quote, because I can't remember, but I have the context), "If Florida is playing Butler in the NCAA Tournament, I pull for Florida, because I'm from Florida and that's who I identify with. If there's an NFL game between the Vikings and Redskins, and the star receiver for the Redskins is from Jacksonville, I'll root for the Redskins because I identify with him. So I'm a white guy. If the Jaguars had more white guys, I'd be more inclined to support them because I identify with white guys. Some people say that makes me a bigot, but I don't see it. I'm just more comfortable with people like me."
I get the geographic affiliation, wanting the Florida Gators to do well because you live here, because you see those guys on TV and hear them interviewed, and you start to feel like you know them. You pull for the team that represents your city...because they represent your city. The same goes for guys who come from your town. Where, though, do you make that leap to skin color? How do you take that concept of "guys who come from here" and transfer it to "guys who look a lot like I do?" How do you take the team that's representing your city and decide you don't want to support them because they don't have enough white guys? It's still your city and your team, and if you'd be otherwise inclined to support them, who cares what their skin color is?
I dunno. I like to think we're getting past crap like this, but every time I give us too much credit, someone comes along and proves me way too much an optimist.
Every now and then, though, someone comes along and just takes a baseball bat to my half full glass.
This morning I'm listening to the sports talk guys. One of the Jaguars' players was pulled over in Tennessee for speeding and carrying an unlicensed gun, and the basic topic was...Do you care? Does it matter to you if your players have strong moral character? If so, how bad do they have to be before it would be a deciding factor in whether or not you'd support the team, buy tickets and jerseys and car flags and stuff? Do you just not care how much trouble they get in, as long as they win?
So this guy calls up and says (not a direct quote, because I can't remember, but I have the context), "If Florida is playing Butler in the NCAA Tournament, I pull for Florida, because I'm from Florida and that's who I identify with. If there's an NFL game between the Vikings and Redskins, and the star receiver for the Redskins is from Jacksonville, I'll root for the Redskins because I identify with him. So I'm a white guy. If the Jaguars had more white guys, I'd be more inclined to support them because I identify with white guys. Some people say that makes me a bigot, but I don't see it. I'm just more comfortable with people like me."
I get the geographic affiliation, wanting the Florida Gators to do well because you live here, because you see those guys on TV and hear them interviewed, and you start to feel like you know them. You pull for the team that represents your city...because they represent your city. The same goes for guys who come from your town. Where, though, do you make that leap to skin color? How do you take that concept of "guys who come from here" and transfer it to "guys who look a lot like I do?" How do you take the team that's representing your city and decide you don't want to support them because they don't have enough white guys? It's still your city and your team, and if you'd be otherwise inclined to support them, who cares what their skin color is?
I dunno. I like to think we're getting past crap like this, but every time I give us too much credit, someone comes along and proves me way too much an optimist.
Labels: Bizarro World, Politics, Pop Culture, Sports
John put this out here at 1:00 PM
2 Comments:
you're not really LOOKING for comments here, are you? I think the guy should go hang out with people who look like him. He'd be standing in a big line of assholes. Really. Assholes.
I'm not really looking for comments. The whole thing just hits a raw nerve and a lot of emotions...none of them good. It angers, but it saddens and disappoints as well.
I like to think we're smarter than this, but because of incidents like this I realize how un-smart I am for thinking we are. I found myself pulling for the guy..wanting him to redeem himself, saying "C'mon dude. You can't really be serious. Tell me this is a bad joke gone worse." because I really want to believe the folks that low on the food chain have already fallen victim to intelligent design/evolution/whatever. I just shook my head thinking, there are really people like this out there, and they're ignorant enough to call a radio show and spew this garbage out over the airwaves and not know how nasty it sounds.
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