addendum 6/16/10:
(So Chael Sonnen agrees with me that he is not fit for political office. Sonnen claims that it is due to some legal issues. I find it too coincidental that he drops out the same day that the Oregon based Willamette Week newspapers writes an oped slamming Sonnen for his tweets and his twitter denials. Check out the article Chael Sonnen: Tough Guy Loses to Tough Facts.
Enjoy this article which I believe helped lead to Sonnen's political downfall.)
This has not been a good week for Chael Sonnen the political candidate. Chael Sonnen has the unique position of being the Republican candidate for Oregon's State Legislature and top contender for the Ultimate Fighting Championship middle weight title. While promoting an upcoming August fight, Sonnen has been making outrageous statements. Sonnen is now trying to backtrack from some of these statement's, denying responsibility for a twitter account in which there is video of him promoting but which he now says he has nothing to do with.
In response to Sonnen's tweet, "Ed [a Brazilian American MMA manager], pray to whatever Demon effigy you prance and dance in front of with your piglet tribe of savages that I decide not to crucify you", two Portland newspapers took up the issue of a candidate for public office using this type of controversial language. The Portland Observer published a brief piece by Jake Thomas titled "State rep candidate wants to 'crucify' his opponent." This was published June 4th and was the first Oregon news site to bring to light Candidate Sonnen's words and my critique that these words were racist and xenophobic. Nigel Jaquiss of Willlamette Week was the next local reporter to follow this story. The Pulitzer prize winning journalist, Nigel Jaquiss, asked for Sonnen's response to my concerns over his twitter messages. In an email, Mr. Jaquiss wrote "in view of the fact that you're running to be one of the people who make laws and important budgetary and policy decision for nearly four million Oregonians who include a broad diversity of ethnic and religious backgrounds, I wanted to ask you whether terms like 'Demon effigy' and 'piglet tribe of savages' are terms you think are appropriate for public discourse?" Sonnen responded by email that he did not have a twitter account. Mr. Jaquiss, to clarify, asked, via email, if Mr. Sonnen was denying the twitter account was his and Mr. Sonnen again said he has nothing to do with the twitter account.
This led me to publish my blog "Who Is The Real Chael Sonnen: 'ultimate' racist or 'ultimate' faker?". My blog made its way around the mixed martial arts internet forums and within hours I received messages from MMA fans particularly those who follow one of the leading MMA websites, Sherdog.com. These MMA fans sent me video of Chael Sonnen publicizing the twitter account he has said he has nothing to do with. I sent this information to Mr. Jacquiss and he then wrote the piece "Fighter, Candidate Chael Sonnen Lies About Twitter Account."
So there is evidence that Chael Sonnen is an "ultimate faker" but there is still much debate about whether Sonnen's remarks were racist. I am sure there is nothing I can write in this brief blog to convince everyone of my assessment that Sonnen's remark amounts to racism but I will make my case. (For a history of racism I highly recommend Audrey Smedly's "Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview.") In my research into the history of racism and racial inequality I found that much of white supremacist or European racism had as its justification a belief in religious superiority and what I will call civilizational superiority. Whether it was in relation to Native Americans or Africans in America, justification for mistreatment of these people were that they were pagans or non-Christian and were not as advanced as Europeans, in other words savages. Countries such as Brazil, Haiti, and Cuba, that have incorporated African religious and cultural traditions into their national identity and way of life, have long been seen as inferior for allowing non-European traditions to "taint" their respective national identities. So when Chael Sonnen spoke of the Brazilian manager Ed Soares as praying to "a demon effigy" and referred to Soares' "piglet tribe of savages," this was right in line with racist rhetoric that has been used for centuries.
This past Friday at the UFC 115 weigh-in, after all of these revelations have come forward, Sonnen continued his denial about having a twitter account and continued his disrespect for Brazil (See Chael Sonnen UFC 115 Q&A Highlights). Mocking Anderson Sivla, the Brazilian UFC middleweight champion, Sonnen says "he [Anderson] doesn't come from a bowing culture, in Brazil if you bow they knock you over your head and take your wallet." Maybe Sonnen has come to realize that politics doesn't suit him and he would rather just be the trash talker of MMA. This is probably the right choice for Mr. Sonnen. His words and lies are unbecoming one running for office, in fact they are even overboard for an MMA fighter but since Sonnen is too small for professional wrestling I guess the UFC is his best option.
Follow Dedrick Muhammad on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DedrickM
Either way, nice work Dedrick for helping to expose this two-faced clown.
He's a coward. If a person makes a statement about someone they should own it. In one interview he spells out his twitter account then after he makes a comment that some construe as being racist he denies that he ever had that account.
You may think he a tough guy but he's a coward for not sticking to his statements.
see for the full article http://www.cagepotato.com/serious-question-it-possible-chael-sonnen-suffers-multiple-personality-disorder
# 2 - People who follow the UFC could care less what he does when he's not fighting. Which is a large % of the people that don't live in Oregon.
I mean really the comments about piglets dancing is hilarious, and doesn't mention race at all. My advice to the author is to find something else to do with his time. With a black president in the 21st century his views are completely archaic.
Dedrick, I follow current events, both political and MMA-related, on a daily basis. I've watched this whole debacle unfold. Personally, I feel there's no place for people like Chael Sonnen in politics or MMA. He brings a level of classless behavior to both endeavors. I would like to commend you on your thorough coverage of this from both sides. As mentioned in the article you cited, it is, indeed, inappropriate for people with Sonnen's mindset to represent millions of Oregonians on such a crucial level. Great work exposing his duplicitous, divisive behavior.
After watching some of Sonnen's schtick, I think its just that. I do think that the people in Oregon have a right to hear what he has said however. My guess is that like me, they will just see it as part of the fight game, and either vote for or against him on the basis of his stands on the issues.
Trash talking to somebody who happens to be from another country is apparently xenophobic, and if you criticize someone who happens to have a different skin colour you're racist.
xenophobia: intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries
racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief
(both definitions from New Oxford American Dictionary)
ed sores is white, chael sonnen is white. no one can deny a wretched present and past of racism that infects our world, but racism is simply the wrong word for what sonnen has engaged in here.