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Sports and the Uncivil Society
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Barack Obama, Kanye West, Michael Jordan, Racism, Serena Williams, Tea Bagging, Tea Party,
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This week, the grand media theme from USA Today to ESPN has been that "we have lost a sense of civility in US society." The examples have ranged from Serena Williams' expletive-infused outburst at the US Open and Michael Jordan's brutal basketball Hall of Fame speech to Rep. Joe Wilson bleating "You lie!" and the tea bagger "Up with Racism" parade that plagued my hometown of Washington DC.
The idea that we are all just a bunch of uncivil goons sounds like common sense especially when you toss in the worst of reality television and anything done by Kanye West. But this conventional wisdom is not only wrong-headed, it's downright dangerous. At the risk of sounding uncivil, the much hyped moments of Serena, Kanye, and Michael Jordan have zero in common with the confederate carnival of hate brewing on the edges of the far right. The efforts of the media to conflate "black people behaving badly" alongside "tea baggers on the march" should be soundly rejected.
I was on ESPN discussing this very subject alongside Juan Williams of Fox News who was bemoaning the "lack of civility" our culture (it's worth noting that working for Fox and voicing this complaint is like working for Oscar Mayer and preaching that meat is murder.) Juan said the incivility is connected to the presence of "reality television and people behaving badly."
Somehow I don't think Rep. Joe Wilson's been at home viewing The Real World or Flava of Love. Instead he's reading the political moment and understands that the power in the Republican Party is not invested in civility but the heat on the street. I felt the heat this past weekend and it was a blast furnace. Yes there was nowhere close to the 43 kajillion people tweeted by Michelle Malkin and friends. But even to see 50,000 people with signs like, "We come unarmed THIS time" and "The tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants" was chilling. I saw one placard that read, "I'm not a racist, I'm a patriot" standing right next to someone in black face and I saw groups of them mock and shout down a group of immigrant rights activists. To witness those signs alongside ugly caricatures of Obama with a bone through his nose was to see an open declaration of the attempted hate crimes to come.
Just because the Obama administration, due to political calculus or cowardice, refuses to call this out as racist and dangerous doesn't mean we should remain silent. But for the media, it is downright irresponsible to try to weave this lunacy into the same fabric as a tennis player misbehaving on the court.
Yes, Serena Williams cursed out and threatened a line judge in the US Open semi-finals. Yes, it was inexcusable. But before we reach for the smelling salts (a profane woman! In tennis no less!) let's remember that she is hardly the first athlete to lose their head in the adrenaline-addled world of professional, organized play. Long before reality television, when the Kardashian sisters were even a gleam in someone's bloodshot eye, Ty Cobb went into the stands to beat up a disabled fan. In 1965, Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal beat catcher John Roseboro with a bat right at home plate. And as long as there has been hockey, there's been blood on the ice. Violence has always been a part of what thrills and disgusts us about sports. If anything, the Serena case reveals a gender double standard more than any "absence of civility."
As for Michael Jordan, Rick Reilly of ESPN.com reflected almost the whole of the sports media on the subject when he wrote:
Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame talk was the Exxon Valdez of speeches. It was, by turns, rude, vindictive and flammable. ....Nobody was spared, including his high school coach, his high school teammate, his college coach, two of his pro coaches, his college roommate, his pro owner, his pro general manager, the man who was presenting him that evening, even his kids!...Jordan had decided that this was the perfect night to list all the ways everybody sitting in front of him had pissed him off over the past 30 years...It was the only one-man roast in Hall of Fame history. Only very little of it was funny.
I can't believe I'm writing this, but for the first time in my life I feel sorry for Jordan. The historic critique of His Airness is that he is more a brand than a man. I have been critical of this guy since he first laced up sweatshop hightops. Now on the Hall of Fame stage, he actually removed the veil, and showed us his true self. The sports media has recoiled in horror at discovering that Jordan is exactly who we thought he was: competitive to the point of emotional sclerosis. He's not the first ex-jock to find himself at a loss once the cheering has stopped. But that's a far cry from showing up armed to town meetings. It blows up the importance of Jordan and Serena and tamps down the violence being brewed on the right. By saying it's all the same stew of incivility, we are just giving political cover to an inflamed minority that needs to be peacefully confronted and not coddled.
Follow Dave Zirin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edgeofsports
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A good post, but the Serena Williams paragraph was forced--and unnecessary. Why mention the brutal physical violence of Cobb and Marichal in an attempt to put Williams's behavior in context? To segue effortlessly from Williams's rant to wanton acts of cruelty perpetrated by infamous psychopaths not only does Williams a disservice by association, it makes no valid point whatsoever. There's "adrenaline-addled" behavior, and then there's assault with a deadly weapon.
A better comparison would be with John McEnroe. Willliams has been chastised for her boorish behavior, and rightfully so, just as McEnroe was for his outbursts. Mac's antics seem funny today, but in his prime barrels of ink were spilled by the press condemning his behavior. The press and public have been remarkably consistent in this regard: They don't like tennis players besmirching the sport's genteel, sportsmanlike image, whether the indiscretion was committed by a white man in the '80s or a black woman two weeks ago.
Okay, I watched Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech on YouTube and all I can say is WTF are you sports "journalists" bitching about?
I wasn't expecting a Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Michael Jordan was an amazing athlete and little more. Perhaps it was the "little more" that offends and even surprises you, but this was a basketball gladiator who probably from the first time he picked up a basketball was directed, coached and molded into a warrior. Personality played a big part obviously, but the competitive spirit was his driving force and he explained how his drive was reinforced throughout his life.
To equate professional athletes with the twisted "tea party" revelers is comparing apples and oranges. I understand that the article warned against doing just that, but come on.
If Michael Jordan's speech was so shocking to the sports media, then they've been covering jocks for way too long. Time to join us in the real world, guys and girls.
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To be clear: Of course it doesn't make you racist to oppose Obama. I strongly oppose the war in Afghanistan, the banker bailouts, the non-support for EFCA, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act. i have libertarian friends who oppose Obama and public-option healthcare on fiscal grounds:
Do you know what makes you racist? Racism. To be more specific here is a little quiz: if you proudly defend a movement that wallows in:
1 - racist caricatures,
2 - racist slogans,
3 - racist art-work
4 - the occasional blackface
You are probably a racist.
Also, if you love a radio commentator who
1 - Calls for segregated buses
2 - Once told a caller he thought was black to "take the bone out of his nose"
3 - Loves a song called Barack the Magic Negro
4 - Is a racist pig
Then you're probably a racist.
If you dance to the dog whistle of racism that opines that
1 - Obama was born in Kenya
2 - Obama was born in Kenya
3 - Obama was born in Kenya
4 - Obama was born in Kenya
Then you're probably a racist.
How's that for a starting point?
Most of the protester ave done nothing you described and yet you try to generalize them for what a minority of them have done.
50,000 people did not have signs of those type no matter how you try to dishonestly paint it as such.
Dave, as a Latino i gotta tell you, you got it right my man; thanks 4 the article and the comments!
It's kind of odd that you bring up "black people behaving badly" as I viewed them as athletes or celebrities rather than looking at their skin color. During the elections, I looked at Obama as a man running for president rather than possibly "the first Black President." Can we just stop calling out colors?
As for the "teabaggers, etc." whatever you want to call them, this comes from both sides of the media. You can go through the tens of thousands of people who marched or attended those townhalls and specifically look for those that are outwardly racist carrying signs of hate and focus primarily on them to get the point of a story across. But, I've also seen people with true concerns and signs such as "Republicans Suck Too!" that had nothing to do with skin color.
We do ourselves a grave injustice by combing the fringe with those with legitimate concerns. I am not denying racism, ugly racism exists, but it is a disservice to our nation and our people to constantly divide the majority of us into black and white. Let's all just be colorblind, please.
Wonkette: I for one would love to live in a country where skin-color, though not invisible is not important. But to so many of us, it still is. And for those of us who it isn't the most important thing to, we have to stand up and call it out as we see it.
Now, there are plenty of people who genuinely have difficulties with the notion of big government, no matter who's in charge of that government, who have problems with policy from this Administration. Unfortunately, those who have darker issues, issues of race, etc. sort of hijack all the conversation from those who really have questions.
It is MSM fault for focusing on the looneys and not the ones with real issues. They look for the people in the crowds with the crazy signs, and the guns strapped to their legs. And you know what, all those people who are out there for a real purpose get smothered out, just like all those out there in favor of the Administrations aspirations get smothered out.
One at a time. You and me Wonkette. And maybe a few more will sign on to join us in keeping race the least important thing that makes a man a man and a woman a woman.
Exactly.
Bull! The media should report the abundant racism among the teabaggers. That's their job. It's up to the leaders of the movement to call them out. Until that happens, they are all complicit.
What are the legitimate concerns of the teabaggers? Death panels? Socialism? Obama being a closet Muslim from Kenya? Please, feel free to enlighten me. Seems to me you couldn't focus in on more than one person at Glenn Beck's 9/12 rally without seeing evidence of racial bias. You're just pretending not to see it.
Total lie.
Most sign had no racial over tnes and most did not even have signs, so what you say just shows YOUR bias.
Worrying about taxes and dept is legitimate even if they overblown it. Some people actually care about those things even if you don't. Sorry, thats the way it is. Some have different concerns than you. Deal with it.
But it's soooo much easier to explain things away with a simple stroke of the brush. We as a society don't want to have to think about things like "nuance" and "details." Keep it simple for the stupid.
Besides, by saying everyone's uncivil these days in society, the media do not have to call out these nut jobs for what they are: uncivil and uninformed thugs whose behavior is antithetical to decent society.
One of the things I'm worried about is where the extreme right wing has to go at this point. It's only 9 months into Obama's first term, and the wingnuts have already ratcheted up the rhetoric past the point of insanity. What else is left for them except committing actual violence against their perceived enemies?
We've already seen a few individual wingnuts murdering people since Obama took office. What if this kind of thing becomes an epidemic?
Listen folks, because there is so much injustice in the United States at this time in our history with the top 1% holding 90% of the wealth, you ain't seen nothin' yet!!!!!!!!!!!
People are tired of keeping quiet. The outbursts seem unconnected, but at their base, they are not.
The teabaggers are evidence that the 1% holding the lion's share of wealth are manipulating the fear and prejudices of those angry, disaffected mobs to deflect attention from themselves through the Corporate Media and right wing pundits.
and man did not land on the moon
Can someone tell me exactly what was wrong with Michael Jordan's speech? I listened to it and didn't hear anything that a rational person could have construed as negative.
agreed, and i am not a mj fan.
I think there needs to be a little historical perspective here. Were your eyes closed the last 8 years while Bush was hammered by every comedian, newcaster, movie star, writer, activist and everyday liberal trying to make a name for himself. I remember quite a few distasteful signs at antiwar, antiglobalization, animal rights and environmental rallies. As far as becoming violent, the left in this country just about has a monopoly on riots. Watts, Detroit, L.A. following the Rodney King trial, Chicago during the '68 convention, a multitude of antiwar rallies and the trashing of various cities during the big globalization rallies. These left wing nuts acted out on their hate, something that only a few individuals on the right have done.
The difference is that when liberals protest, we do it respectfully and focus on ISSUES.. not race or scare tactics..
That is all that needs to be said.
You mean like when PETA commits battery by throwing fake blood on people? Or like when Code Pink vandalizes public property by scrawling things on recruiting offices? You mean like when animal rights activists break windows in people's homes when children are home? Or like when ALF commits arson that results in $14 million in damages? You mean that kind of respectful?
neither do i recall them bringing guns in a show of protest on a regular ongoing basis
I think that there needs to be a little rational perspective here. Think back on all the hammering done to Bush and the cronies and I think you'll find it was about their actions, not an inherent physical trait. You state it yourself--it was about antiwar, antiglobalization, animal rights and enviornmental tights.
The historic riots you mention were about issues and events, not just about someone's skin color. And while property may have been damaged, they were not as deadly. (I realize to the right personal property--especially when owned by the rich--is more important than human life. I'm just saying....)
"These left wing nuts acted out on their hate, something that only a few individuals on the right have done."-- I give you the Doctor TIller murder and the shoot up of the Holocaust museum. In just the last couple of months. Then add Matthew Shepard. Then go back to Mascone and Harvey Milk. (Oh--sorry--that wasn't about gay, that was about sugar in a twinkie.) Go back a bit further and you get KKK lynchings.
The difference is that the left gets angry about issues. The right get angry (and deadly) against humans. (While Dr. Tiller and abortion may be an issue--the anti-abortion crew moved from burning down clinics to killing to providers.)
Did you see a picture of Condi Rice or Colin Powell as a witch Dr? An ape? Not from the left.
You say "not as deadly." Did I miss something or didn't several hundred people die in the riots in Watts, Detroit and L.A.? The right is angry about issues, also. Issues like the huge expansion of government, more taxation, more power given to government regulators, unions and corporations who "pay to play." The right is correctly concerned about the stocking of the government of far left radicals who bring a destructive 1960's perspective to the issues of the day. The leader of this self proclaimed "transformation" just happens to be a self proclaimed black with half white ancestry. If the truth be told, Mr. Obama absorbed his radical teachings from a mother who swallowed the whole pile of leftist crap from the 60's.
Regarding Serena, she got off lightly. McEnroe was defaulted and fined during the 1987 U.S. Open and suspended for the rest of the year.
Uh, are you missing the point on purpose or just being silly? The question was not about whether her behavior was bad and her penalty. It was about whether it is a good idea to link her behavior with the behavior of 'teabaggers' carrying signs of th president as a 'lyin African' and so on. Yes, what she did was wrong. Yes, she got penalized, and perhaps there is still more to come. But is Serena a 'TeaBagger'?
I don't think so.
I'm not linking her to the teabaggers.
As a person who has worked in corrections, law enforcement, teaching and social work, I can tell you that polite society as been infiltrated by the social norms of prisons and detention facilities. The prison mentality has seeped into our free society. No slight, or perceived slight, can be ignored; we must face these things with aggression so as not to be considered weak. Having manners and being polite and considerate are signs of weakness in our present culture. The Russian philosopher Feyodor Dostoyevsky said, "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." He has it right.
WOW! Great quote
Maybe if we stopped warehousing criminals, especially non violent drug offenders, treating them like animals and instead focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment, perhaps we could bring back civility to our department of corrections and society as a whole.
Wait a minute, that would cut into the profits of a fairly new privatized cottage industry and disrupt our social order.
Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech was nothing more than various examples of what fueled him to become the player he eventually became. There was nothing inappropriate about it. The people he named were simply involved in motivating him at various points in his life. It wasn't hateful or disrespectful in any way. I believe those who were called out were proud that they played a significant role in Jordan's life. For some reason the only people who weren't laughing was the press.
Great article.
The thing that all of these recent outbursts have in common is that they make me think of what I say to my children if they have a temper tantrum... "control yourself". There is no excuse in any of these cases to behave in the manner that they did. They are in the public eye. Therefore, wether they like it or not, they are role models. However, that is not what concerns me. It's the fact that there seems to be an over all cultural acceptance of loss of control. Without self control there is no tolerance, no listening or discussing, and uncivil behavior. Oh, BTW, sorry doesn't erase their behavior. Their behavior expresses their true personalities.
The GOP is succeeding in making Americans believe that they don't need and shouldn't want, affordable health care. That is insane. They are doing this by tapping into some Americans fear of the "other". Thus all the teabagging, hate protests. They are egged on by the talk show hosts on HfAoTxE T.V., who are spreading lies about the contents of the Bill. After months (actually much longer) of spreading hate and fear and stirring the pot of uncivility they have the gaul to say that Pelosi is starting violence? Again, I say that is insane. As your sister to the north, I am concerned about the loudness of a radical few who could potentially start something that won't easily be finished.
No, the GOP is succeeding in convincing Americans that the government shouldn't take over health care. There needs to be reform, of course.
I think we are an uncivil society, as evidenced by the sentiments of this article, with people playing political games with issues as serious as racism.
There weren't 50,000 people with racist signs. Sure, there were some racists out there, but those are FRINGE idiots. They don't represent the feelings of all involved, any more than ANARCHISTS represented the feeling of everyone at the WTO march in Seattle.
I think the Obama White House understands this, which is a good thing.
Until those within the movement call out the crazies on their racist behavior, the rest of us will continue to see it as part of the movement.
I sympathize with some of the views expressed by the movement, but I'm not about to associate myself with it, due to the "fringe" idiots. If you want the movement to succeed without resorting to violence, you have to remove said idiots. Only then will you get enough Americans on board to make a difference.
Excellent analysis. It's ironic that in this same edition is the piece on Fox News and their lie in a full-page ad, "chest-thumping about its coverage of this past weekend's Tea Party protests in Washington, DC." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/18/fox-news-newspaper-ad-mak_n_291494.htmll)
Simply more of the hate speech.
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