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Latest J. B. Cash column:
How Not to Get Fired for Racist Comments
Michael Irvin, the former Dallas Cowboy receiver, ex-con, and current sports announcer, got into some hot water recently for comments he made about Tony Romo, the new starting quarterback for the Cowboys, who is white.
On Dan Patrick's ESPN radio show, Irvin, who is employed as a broadcaster by ESPN, laughingly suggested of Romo: "He doesn't look like he's that type of an athlete. But he is. He is, man. I don't know if some brother down in that line somewhere, I don't know who saw what or where, his great-great-great-great-grandma ran over in the 'hood or something went down."
Patrick tried to suggest to Irvin that he shouldn't go there, but Irvin was having none of it, continuing:
"If great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn, 'Come on in here for a second,' you know, and they go out and work in the yard. You know, back in the day."
Irvin's treatment so far is illustrative of the double standard that applies to black and white people in America. Whenever a white broadcaster or public personae brings up sports and race, even in an innocuous way, they usually end up fired.
Imagine if a white announcer was to say something like, "Boy that Donovan McNabb sure is smart, he might have some white in his background, maybe his great, great, great grandmother went behind the shed and invited one of the local white 'braniacs' to partake of some brown sugar."
Now that would be a controversy! The media outcry would be deafening. Al Sharpton would have to clone himself so he could simultaneously be at the scene of that crime and those of all his other racial extortions.
Here are some comments about sports and race over the last couple of years. Notice a pattern?
Rush Limbaugh: observation about the media's love for black QB's. Result: fired.
Paul Hornung: says Notre Dame has to lower academic standards to attract more blacks. Result: fired.
Steve Lyons: innocent remark about hispanics. Result: fired
Talk-show host Larry Krueger: says Giants manager Felipe Alou has "cream of wheat for brains" and the Giant hitters are Caribbeans that "hack at slop nightly". Result: fired.
And:
Joe Morgan: says the Houston Astros are too white. Result: media adoration.
Eric Dickerson says that running back position belongs to the black man. Result: media adoration.
Bryant Gumbel: says Winter Olympic athletes aren't really athletes. Result: media adoration.
Charles Barkley: a lot of white guys are in the NBA just because they're white. Result: media adoration.
This absurd double standard and chilling effect on free expression has had the effect of creating an extreme difference in how the media covers athletes of different races. The double standard is rigidly enforced and bizarre in its application. What it means is that the expectations for white athletes and the interpretation of their skills has been completely colored by the sports media's fear of accusations of racism.
To the modern sports writer the white athlete is expected to behave in a certain manner. He is carefully conditioned to be deferential to blacks and other minorities. In his personal life he is expected to be the "All-American boy" or better put the "All-American white-boy". In this role he is required to be plain in his manners and fashion. He is discouraged from being flamboyant or different in any way.
The requirement is for him to be as bland as possible so as not to distract from the outrageousness of the typical black athlete. It is demanded of him that he be well mannered, polite, shy and humble. Never a braggart, he can only possess "quiet confidence" and he can never, ever, in the slightest way seem spoiled, selfish, or self-centered. If he is foolish enough to break this artificial code then woe unto him. He will soon find himself on the negative side of every media outlet in the country.
Contrast that to the typical black "superstar." He is expected to be selfish. It must be a desired quality because practically all of the most popular black athletes are famous for their selfishness. Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Alan Iverson, Kobe Bryant. They practically define the concept of the spoiled, selfish athlete. And advertisers love them and the image they personify, which by all rational measure is exactly the opposite of what SHOULD be desired.
Consider the case of running back Brian Leonard of Rutgers. Leonard had a standout year in 2005. He was virtually the only white running back allowed to be his team's primary runner in major college football, though even Leonard basically had to split carries with a black tailback. He was so good, and his future so bright, that the Rutgers publicity department felt he might have a shot at the Heismann Trophy in 2006. Before the season began they planned a media campaign to stump for him.
What happened next? In a move that could only happen in the anti-white era that we currently live in, his coach decided to make a black runner, who had been a back-up, the primary runner for the team. So Leonard, the team's best runner, a returning senior, a man who had earned the respect that comes with accomplishment, would be demoted to blocking back.
It was an act of such disrespect that it has almost no modern comparison. The one white runner in the game of football was told to block for a black back-up. Leonard was expected to give up the one thing he had wanted most in his life, something he had spent countless hours working on. The move would guarantee that a big contract and a stand-out professional career would forever be abandoned, merely so a black player, who had done nothing to take the spot from him, could instead bask in the glory.
Once again if the races were reversed.......but of course they could not. It would be impossible to visit such a blatant insult upon a black player without the usual media sources and race card players coming out of the woodwork to intervene.
A black player in Leonard's situation would have bitched and moaned, and been no good as a blocker anyway. He would have probably just up and quit or switched programs. But Leonard? He eagerly accepted the slight like a well-trained puppy. Apparently, despite his future as a runner being tossed on the trash heap of football history, the most important thing was that no minorities had their feelings hurt. And as a bonus the artificial dominance of the running back position in professional football can be continued on through perpetuity.
The media was effusive in its praise of Leonard throwing away his life for a black man. They gushed over his "team spirit," a subject that never comes up when some black athlete is not happy with the amount of playing time or touches he is getting. Recently the New York Giants' Tiki Barber was widely quoted in the press as saying the Giants needed to give him the ball more if they wanted to win. Message to Giant coaches: "It's all about me, me, me."
What was Leonard's choice? Any thing other than total appeasement to the order for him to give his future and rightful place up would have been a violation of the Caste System's cardinal rule: "White men are second class citizens as befits their inferior status." Thus society has been turned upside down. At one time blacks were supposed to be deferential to whites, polite and accommodating in all situations, now it is whitey that is the 21st century's "Step n' Fetchit".
This continuing double standard has led to the following situation: Blacks, who are above criticism from the media except in the most outrageous situations, especially from white media members, are encouraged to be as childish and self-centered as possible. The more they pout and complain the more they get rewarded for it.
Terrell Owens is famous, rich, and popular, not just because he can play football, but because he is such a whiny crybaby. Other black players are not blind to the phenomenon. Complain, whine, and act selfish, and white society will "Show you the money"! First year rookies with absolutely nothing to base a reputation on routinely act as if they are the be all and end all of their athletic specialty. And why not? With a syncopated white media unable to complain too stringently, there is no downside to bad behavior.
White players suffer too from another affect of the double standard. Since criticism of black athletes puts one's job in jeopardy while criticism of white athletes is consequence free, it leads to a situation where it is open season on white athletes. In our crude and rude culture where announcers base their popularity on how insulting they can be, the white athlete becomes the hapless victim of any criticism the media wants to level at them.
Who is going to object if systematic discrimination is practiced against the white athlete? Nobody. Thus every little mistake by the white athlete is magnified. The errors are repeated in slow motion, the tired cliches of the white athlete being slow or clumsy  even when it is obvious to all that he is not  are repeated ad naseum. The announcer has to hold his tongue when the mouthy, overpaid black receiver drops pass after pass after pass or doesn't hustle when his number is not called. But he can let loose, and then some, when a white athlete makes any kind of mistake.
Is society any better when it enables generation after generation of black kids to be punks? And what does it say about the real way the media feels about blacks if they refuse to criticize them out of fear of the truth.
But back to Michael Irvin. Here is a guy that has been busted for crack cocaine possession and solicitation of prostitutes. He speaks poorly, he says a lot of stupid things. He even dresses like a clown. Are there no intelligent, well-spoken black ex-players that could be given his high profile spot? Sure. Yet the network continues to parade this walking embarrassment out in front of millions of fans as if he was a modern day minstrel show, tap dancing for the enjoyment of the masses.
The masses get a steady dose of Michael Irvin and others like him, such as Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, and Eric Dickerson, that only reinforce the very stereotype we are told doesn't exist. And if one were to point it out (as this article does) one would be condemned as racist for bringing it up!
Thus the media expects and enables blacks to behave like overgrown children or violent street thugs. Why? Have they given up on ever demanding decent behavior from them? Are they too afraid to offer the "tough love" necessary to reform a group of people that seems to sink further and further into a social morass from which there is no return?
When the people that control the media get delight in insulting whites, and refuse to offer fair criticism towards blacks, and when the image of the black man is celebrated as either a selfish, boorish clown, or a dangerous murderous thug, how can one expect relations between whites and blacks to ever improve?
picture: A happy Michael Irvin poses for a mug shot:
How Not to Get Fired for Racist Comments
Michael Irvin, the former Dallas Cowboy receiver, ex-con, and current sports announcer, got into some hot water recently for comments he made about Tony Romo, the new starting quarterback for the Cowboys, who is white.
On Dan Patrick's ESPN radio show, Irvin, who is employed as a broadcaster by ESPN, laughingly suggested of Romo: "He doesn't look like he's that type of an athlete. But he is. He is, man. I don't know if some brother down in that line somewhere, I don't know who saw what or where, his great-great-great-great-grandma ran over in the 'hood or something went down."
Patrick tried to suggest to Irvin that he shouldn't go there, but Irvin was having none of it, continuing:
"If great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandma pulled one of them studs up out of the barn, 'Come on in here for a second,' you know, and they go out and work in the yard. You know, back in the day."
Irvin's treatment so far is illustrative of the double standard that applies to black and white people in America. Whenever a white broadcaster or public personae brings up sports and race, even in an innocuous way, they usually end up fired.
Imagine if a white announcer was to say something like, "Boy that Donovan McNabb sure is smart, he might have some white in his background, maybe his great, great, great grandmother went behind the shed and invited one of the local white 'braniacs' to partake of some brown sugar."
Now that would be a controversy! The media outcry would be deafening. Al Sharpton would have to clone himself so he could simultaneously be at the scene of that crime and those of all his other racial extortions.
Here are some comments about sports and race over the last couple of years. Notice a pattern?
Rush Limbaugh: observation about the media's love for black QB's. Result: fired.
Paul Hornung: says Notre Dame has to lower academic standards to attract more blacks. Result: fired.
Steve Lyons: innocent remark about hispanics. Result: fired
Talk-show host Larry Krueger: says Giants manager Felipe Alou has "cream of wheat for brains" and the Giant hitters are Caribbeans that "hack at slop nightly". Result: fired.
And:
Joe Morgan: says the Houston Astros are too white. Result: media adoration.
Eric Dickerson says that running back position belongs to the black man. Result: media adoration.
Bryant Gumbel: says Winter Olympic athletes aren't really athletes. Result: media adoration.
Charles Barkley: a lot of white guys are in the NBA just because they're white. Result: media adoration.
This absurd double standard and chilling effect on free expression has had the effect of creating an extreme difference in how the media covers athletes of different races. The double standard is rigidly enforced and bizarre in its application. What it means is that the expectations for white athletes and the interpretation of their skills has been completely colored by the sports media's fear of accusations of racism.
To the modern sports writer the white athlete is expected to behave in a certain manner. He is carefully conditioned to be deferential to blacks and other minorities. In his personal life he is expected to be the "All-American boy" or better put the "All-American white-boy". In this role he is required to be plain in his manners and fashion. He is discouraged from being flamboyant or different in any way.
The requirement is for him to be as bland as possible so as not to distract from the outrageousness of the typical black athlete. It is demanded of him that he be well mannered, polite, shy and humble. Never a braggart, he can only possess "quiet confidence" and he can never, ever, in the slightest way seem spoiled, selfish, or self-centered. If he is foolish enough to break this artificial code then woe unto him. He will soon find himself on the negative side of every media outlet in the country.
Contrast that to the typical black "superstar." He is expected to be selfish. It must be a desired quality because practically all of the most popular black athletes are famous for their selfishness. Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Alan Iverson, Kobe Bryant. They practically define the concept of the spoiled, selfish athlete. And advertisers love them and the image they personify, which by all rational measure is exactly the opposite of what SHOULD be desired.
Consider the case of running back Brian Leonard of Rutgers. Leonard had a standout year in 2005. He was virtually the only white running back allowed to be his team's primary runner in major college football, though even Leonard basically had to split carries with a black tailback. He was so good, and his future so bright, that the Rutgers publicity department felt he might have a shot at the Heismann Trophy in 2006. Before the season began they planned a media campaign to stump for him.
What happened next? In a move that could only happen in the anti-white era that we currently live in, his coach decided to make a black runner, who had been a back-up, the primary runner for the team. So Leonard, the team's best runner, a returning senior, a man who had earned the respect that comes with accomplishment, would be demoted to blocking back.
It was an act of such disrespect that it has almost no modern comparison. The one white runner in the game of football was told to block for a black back-up. Leonard was expected to give up the one thing he had wanted most in his life, something he had spent countless hours working on. The move would guarantee that a big contract and a stand-out professional career would forever be abandoned, merely so a black player, who had done nothing to take the spot from him, could instead bask in the glory.
Once again if the races were reversed.......but of course they could not. It would be impossible to visit such a blatant insult upon a black player without the usual media sources and race card players coming out of the woodwork to intervene.
A black player in Leonard's situation would have bitched and moaned, and been no good as a blocker anyway. He would have probably just up and quit or switched programs. But Leonard? He eagerly accepted the slight like a well-trained puppy. Apparently, despite his future as a runner being tossed on the trash heap of football history, the most important thing was that no minorities had their feelings hurt. And as a bonus the artificial dominance of the running back position in professional football can be continued on through perpetuity.
The media was effusive in its praise of Leonard throwing away his life for a black man. They gushed over his "team spirit," a subject that never comes up when some black athlete is not happy with the amount of playing time or touches he is getting. Recently the New York Giants' Tiki Barber was widely quoted in the press as saying the Giants needed to give him the ball more if they wanted to win. Message to Giant coaches: "It's all about me, me, me."
What was Leonard's choice? Any thing other than total appeasement to the order for him to give his future and rightful place up would have been a violation of the Caste System's cardinal rule: "White men are second class citizens as befits their inferior status." Thus society has been turned upside down. At one time blacks were supposed to be deferential to whites, polite and accommodating in all situations, now it is whitey that is the 21st century's "Step n' Fetchit".
This continuing double standard has led to the following situation: Blacks, who are above criticism from the media except in the most outrageous situations, especially from white media members, are encouraged to be as childish and self-centered as possible. The more they pout and complain the more they get rewarded for it.
Terrell Owens is famous, rich, and popular, not just because he can play football, but because he is such a whiny crybaby. Other black players are not blind to the phenomenon. Complain, whine, and act selfish, and white society will "Show you the money"! First year rookies with absolutely nothing to base a reputation on routinely act as if they are the be all and end all of their athletic specialty. And why not? With a syncopated white media unable to complain too stringently, there is no downside to bad behavior.
White players suffer too from another affect of the double standard. Since criticism of black athletes puts one's job in jeopardy while criticism of white athletes is consequence free, it leads to a situation where it is open season on white athletes. In our crude and rude culture where announcers base their popularity on how insulting they can be, the white athlete becomes the hapless victim of any criticism the media wants to level at them.
Who is going to object if systematic discrimination is practiced against the white athlete? Nobody. Thus every little mistake by the white athlete is magnified. The errors are repeated in slow motion, the tired cliches of the white athlete being slow or clumsy  even when it is obvious to all that he is not  are repeated ad naseum. The announcer has to hold his tongue when the mouthy, overpaid black receiver drops pass after pass after pass or doesn't hustle when his number is not called. But he can let loose, and then some, when a white athlete makes any kind of mistake.
Is society any better when it enables generation after generation of black kids to be punks? And what does it say about the real way the media feels about blacks if they refuse to criticize them out of fear of the truth.
But back to Michael Irvin. Here is a guy that has been busted for crack cocaine possession and solicitation of prostitutes. He speaks poorly, he says a lot of stupid things. He even dresses like a clown. Are there no intelligent, well-spoken black ex-players that could be given his high profile spot? Sure. Yet the network continues to parade this walking embarrassment out in front of millions of fans as if he was a modern day minstrel show, tap dancing for the enjoyment of the masses.
The masses get a steady dose of Michael Irvin and others like him, such as Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, and Eric Dickerson, that only reinforce the very stereotype we are told doesn't exist. And if one were to point it out (as this article does) one would be condemned as racist for bringing it up!
Thus the media expects and enables blacks to behave like overgrown children or violent street thugs. Why? Have they given up on ever demanding decent behavior from them? Are they too afraid to offer the "tough love" necessary to reform a group of people that seems to sink further and further into a social morass from which there is no return?
When the people that control the media get delight in insulting whites, and refuse to offer fair criticism towards blacks, and when the image of the black man is celebrated as either a selfish, boorish clown, or a dangerous murderous thug, how can one expect relations between whites and blacks to ever improve?
picture: A happy Michael Irvin poses for a mug shot:
