Mike Ditka is a 75 year old Caucasian male so I can’t say I’m shocked by his opinions regarding the escalating racial tensions in America and specifically Ferguson, MO. The former Chicago Bears coach sat down with The Chicago Sun-Times, characterizing a few members of the St. Louis Rams silent and peaceful protest of a no indictment against Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown as “embarrassing”.
“It’s a shame this thing has come to this,” Ditka told the Chicago Sun-Times for his weekly feature column. “The shame of it is, I’m not sure they care about Michael Brown or anything else. This was a reason to protest and to go out and loot. Is this the way to celebrate the memory of Michael Brown? Is this an excuse to be lawless? Somebody has to tell me that. I don’t understand it. I understand what the Rams’ take on this was. I’m embarrassed for the players more than anything. They want to take a political stand on this? Well, there are a lot of other things that have happened in our society that people have not stood up and disagreed about.
“I wasn’t in Ferguson. I don’t know exactly what happened. But I know one thing: If we dismantle and limit the power of our policemen any more than we have already, then we’re going to have a lot of problems in this country.
What do you do if someone pulls a gun on you or is robbing a store and you stop them? I don’t want to hear about this hands-up crap. That’s not what happened. I don’t know exactly what did happen, but I know that’s not what happened. This policeman’s life is ruined. Why? Because we have to break somebody down. Because we have to even out the game. I don’t know. I don’t get it. Maybe I’m just old fashioned.”
The strangest part about his statement is that he claims he doesn’t know what happened between Darren Wilson and Michael Brown but he “knows” that Michael Brown did not have his hands up like several witnesses who were in fact there claimed. He also speaks on the dangers of limiting police power but if you turn your TV on to news coverage in Ferguson, you’ll see military tanks and swat teams ready to pounce on anything they deem insubordinate. That is hardly what I’d call dismantling a police force.
We have to remember this is the same 75 year old privileged white man who sees nothing wrong with the Washington Redskins name despite the fact that a vast majority of the Native American community is highly offended by the term. He has never had to walk a day in the shoes of a black person or any minority in this country nor does he care to understand. Exactly why are we asking his opinion on racial tensions in the first place? His argument is old-fashioned among many other things like ignorant, uninformed, maybe even delirious, but at his age if he still doesn’t get it, he never will and we’re too busy trying to reach others who are willing to shut up and open their ears to understanding the black experiences in America in the hopes of the light bulb in their head going off.
Via: Deadspin