When I was at The Ohio State University, I would take these black studies classes, not because I was trying to work on my blackness like Fake Intellectual Arian Foster, but because that is where all the pretty black girls were (took so many accidentally got a minor in it). Every once in a while there would be an interesting nugget you would learn in these classes.
They did this study, that in my 18-year-old mind was fascinating to me.
They had 20 white people and 20 black go on a job interview. They were all interviewed by white people and the set up was the black candidate was slightly more qualified than the white candidate. Just slightly, it was obvious, but not overly obvious.
When it came down to getting the job 18 of the 20 people who were hired was white. After the study, they went back and talked to the people who did the hiring. They all denied being racists, but gave the similar answer of.
“Their qualifications were similar, but I just felt a bit more comfortable with the white candidate.”
Racist? Probably not, but either consciously or subconsciously they felt more comfortable with the person that looked like them. Who knows, if you flip that around and a black person was doing the hiring, maybe the numbers are reversed for same reason, but there is a certain prejudice in our society when people are doing similar things, but one looks like you and the others don’t.
Which brings us to Mr. Deez Nuts.
https://youtu.be/L7pQ3GBXOXw
For the record, GRONK doesn’t bother me, he isn’t committing any crimes, so if he wants to be a meathead, more power to him. My issue as usual is with sports media, who happens to be 90% white men. Now, if you are one of those media people who don’t have a problem with athletes expressing themselves, partying or doing whatever (as long as it isn’t criminal), then I am not referring to you.
But, if you are a high horser, who loves to put down Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, JR Smith, DeSean Jackson or whoever and get your panties in a bunch because a player likes to Tweet or dance (yes Colin Cowherd talking about you), where is your outrage about GRONK basically telling the NFL and media to suck his dick? Gronk first appeared on the scene with a porn star, let Geno Smith be photoed with a porn star and see what happens.
If the teams were reverse and the Seahawks were involved in Deflategate and Sherman or Lynch told the NFL and Media to “Deflate DEEZ NUTS”, I know 100% that 1000 of posts would be flooding my TL this morning and words like “Thugs”, “Hood”, “Ghetto” would be dropped even if the context would be all wrong. The NFL tried to ban Lynch for holding his, GRONK to them to SUCK HIS and nothing will happen.
The Patriots won the Super Bowl & GRONK is an outstanding player on the field, so with that comes a certain level RING PROTECTION from the media, but there should be a limit to that. Not saying GRONK should change, he can do what he wants, I want the media to be consistent in their criticisms and praise.
I don’t think Deflating balls is that big of a deal, but it is clear the Tom Brady knew what was going on, but the media especially in Boston are acting like there was a crime committed against Brady. If that was Cam Newton or Colin Kaepernick would they get the same benefit of the doubt even if it was blatantly clear they were in the wrong?
This isn’t about the players, it is about the hypocrisy in media. Are they racist, I don’t think so, are they more comfortable giving passes to players that look like them and they have a slight (strong) male crushe on, absolutely. The media are the bigger groupies than IG MODELS. They literally want to hold mirrors for these athletes like Jerome. Their envy for someone like GRONK is admiration whereas their jealousy of Black athletes leads to more venomous takes on their success. Never want a black man doing better than them.
They don’t understand Marshawn Lynch, they wish they were GRONK. Marshawn Lynch is someone who in their stereotypical mind they were taught to fear, while GRONK is someone they were taught to look up to and that comes across in their reporting.
Someone once said they wished Johnny Manziel stop acting black. It was said in such a way that anything negative Manziel was doing, meant he was acting black, when in reality Manziel was acting rich and spoiled. But, rich and spoiled didn’t fit the narrative, because if it is bad, it has to be blamed on black culture. That isn’t just a white media thing, Jason Whitlock is basing a whole website off that notion. So, they couldn’t just critique Manziel for just being Manziel, they had to associate Manziel with black culture, before they could really go after him, basically saying if he acted white, this wouldn’t have happened to him. Manziel is cool, he hangs with rappers, Gronk is Frat, he chugs beers, they are doing the same thing, but one associated with black culture and the other isn’t, so treated differently. You see how stupid that sounds.
When the majority of players are black and the majority of media are white men, even if it is unintentional you are going to get some racial bias.
Like most situations it isn’t as simple as Race or Ring, like I suggest in the title, but there is a cultural, racial and media bias not just in sports but in society. You as the fan, need to recognize that and base your opinions not on the media, but common sense.
The only thing consistent about the media is how inconsistent their opinions are and that is clear black and white.