in a piece titled A Verdict on Comments, but the Conversation Isn’t Over
and subtitled "Sterling’s Remarks Offer Chance to Examine Racism."
I am not going to offer a great deal of commentary of my own. The only purpose to this post is to get you to read what Rhoden, an African-American sportswriter, has to offer. I have seen him commenting on this story on television, and was impressed by his cogency, and thus when I read his column this morning decided if it were not featured in the pundit roundup I would take time to make it more visible.
So if you will, follow below the fold for some sample material and explanation of why I think you should read it.
After the appropriate introductory material, including noting that Silver had to do what he did, given the reaction of both sponsors and players, Rhoden transfers to the main thrust of his article, which can be seen in these two paragraphs:
On one level, the Sterling story is about athletes’ demanding respect from a team owner who does not necessarily want black people at his games or in his “culture.” But more than that, it is a continuing narrative about structural racism in professional sports and beyond. The problem is less about words used in a private conversation and more about institutionalized bigotry expressed in action.
I think about this when I walk into press boxes across the country, with waves of news media members and only a handful of black faces, if that.
The problem also exists in the front office of professional sports franchises. It exists elsewhere in American society, where the participation of minorities seems to be being rolled back, as Rhoden makes clear in this paragraph (from which I have not included the hot links, to further encourage you to go to the original):
The N.B.A. may be more enlightened than most pro leagues when it comes to diversity. Still, the sport comes up short. A former N.B.A. general manager lamented what he saw as a declining number of black executives, even as the percentage of black players is climbing. During the Final Four, black college coaches bemoaned their declining numbers. I have had similar conversations with partners in law firms and financial firms.
There is an additional issue raised by Rhoden, which is that if we are going to hold people to account for how they use language, that will include those of color who themselves use inappropriate language. Rhoden argues that black players need to drop the use of the N word in their conversations with one another:
Players cannot rail at Sterling for disrespecting black people and then debase one another with a slur on the grounds that it is being used as a term of endearment. You can’t have it both ways.
Here it is worth remembering that regardless of what he may previously have said, in the tapes that brought this issue to a boil Sterling did NOT use the N word or any parallel insult.
I note that even though I may be white, when I have had students or athletes who use such pejorative language, I challenge them on it. For similar reasons I will not use the name of the Washington NFL franchise - it is insulting and demeaning.
Rhoden acknowledges that what Silver did was appropriate, that it represented a good day for the NBA, and takes some pressure off sponsors and the players. But it does NOT end the issue of institutionalized racism,
Silver did the right thing Tuesday. But racism is not dead. Not by a long shot.
This fight is just beginning. Ultimately, for the sake of a continuing conversation about racism, that may prove to be a good thing.
We have an opportunity AGAIN. We had one with Obama's remarks as a result of the Jeremiah Wright issue. We had another when Skip Gates was arrested in his own house. We certainly have had the opportunity with the continued OVERT RACISM directed towards the President - and similarly toward the Attorney General.
If this country is not going to come apart, perhaps violently, we need to be honest about the continued racism, to challenge those who foment it for their own political and/or economic purposes.
The NBA players have an opportunity to help lead the nation on this issue.
Hopefully the journalists (like Charles M. Blow) and sports writers (like Bill Rhoden) who challenge us on this issue will also include those who are not themselves African-Americans, because this affects all of us, it eats into the soul of this nation.