Whitlock with a good article on the Riley Cooper situation

[Fat Elvis]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/w...d-learn-080113

We, the media, will blow this Riley Cooper teachable moment. It’s what we do when it comes to race. We look for good guys and bad guys, villains and heroes. We choose the politically correct path rather than the road to understanding.

Riley Cooper
RILEY'S RUNAWAY MOUTH



Riley Cooper, a receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, did and said something very, very stupid and disgusting. Drunk and partying in a sea of whiteness, Cooper apparently lashed out at a black security guard and threatened to "fight every n****r here".

A cellphone camera captured Cooper’s ignorance. It took a month, but the blogosphere unearthed the video and broadcast it to the world. The Eagles reacted responsibly, fining Cooper and forcing him to confront his mistake publicly with the media and privately with his teammates.

Watch what he said. Warning: Language is universally considered to be offensive . . .

I don’t expect the media to respond as responsibly. Too many of us will think the solution is for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Riley Cooper. Too many of us will think Riley Cooper in no way reflects on all of us.

Well, I’ve been young, drunk, filled with athletic testosterone and partying in a sea of blackness. I’m glad there were no cellphone cameras then. I’ve been middle-aged, drunk, filled with non-athletic cholesterol and partying in a sea of blackness. I’m glad no one recorded the foolish thoughts I’ve uttered when I assumed no one around me would be offended.

Maybe most of the people working in the media are perfect, immune to impure, biased thoughts or actions. I’m not. And no one I know is. What happens with age and maturity is we get better at combatting our biases and keeping them from spilling out of our mouths. When we intellectually evolve, we get better at seeing the stupidity of our biases and not letting them dictate our actions.

I’m extremely distrustful of anyone who claims they’re free of biases. They’re dishonest or delusional.

For the most part, Riley Cooper handled his apology flawlessly. He forthrightly expressed the proper remorse and humbly answered every question.

“This is the lowest of lows,” Cooper said. “This is not the type of person I want to be portrayed as. This isn’t the type of person I am. I’m extremely sorry.”

There’s no room for Cooper to be totally honest. The media — social and legitimate — won’t allow Cooper to be transparent. What was captured on tape is a reflection of what type of person Cooper is.

He’s flawed. He’s a product of America’s conflicted melting pot. That is not a knock on America. We have racial issues because we’re the most diverse nation on the planet. We have trouble working through those issues because dishonesty and simple-mindedness are rewarded.

Like all of us, Riley Cooper is biased. He needs to admit that to himself so he can adequately combat his biases and be a force for positive change.

I used to be proudly homophobic. I used the F-word regularly. In 1998, while sitting in the New England Patriots press box, I got in a back-and-forth exchange with Pats fans and cracked a “joke” that ended with me asking, “Drew Bledsoe gay?”

The ensuing controversy started the process of me recognizing and realizing the utter ignorance of my homophobia. I used to be offended when people analogized the struggle for gay equality with black people’s struggle for equality. I now get it and understand their struggle benefits our struggle and the overall fight for fairness.

I hope Cooper is allowed to evolve. I hope we don’t demonize him to the point that he becomes John Rocker II and more entrenched in bigotry. I hope Cooper confronts who he is. He didn’t threaten to fight every n****r because there’s no bigotry in his heart and mind. He did it because he has failed to deal with who he really is.

He’s in the same denial most of us are in. I’m talking about all of us — black, white, brown and yellow.

I want to make one other point before I finish. Cooper’s transgression isn’t much of a locker-room issue for the Eagles. There are bigots of every color on sports teams. The beauty of sports is that teams force participants to put aside their biases and work together. Working together is different from liking or respecting each other.

Cooper isn’t a coach or executive with the power to hire and fire people based on his racial biases. Cooper is a player. He’s a 25-year-old kid with immature thoughts. His teammates will move on as long as he plays at a high level.

Racial slurs fly on football fields somewhat regularly. It’s a violent game that brings out the worst in people. My junior season at Ball State, I played against a white Northern Illinois defensive tackle who N-bombed me most of the afternoon. I kept shouting at his mostly black defensive teammates about why they would tolerate such a flaming idiot. The next year, the same guy was the most courteous opponent I played against all season.

Let’s help Cooper evolve and mature. We might be surprised by the results.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by AdumbGuy

Alright, I'll take a crack at this. Not a perfect analogy, but let's see if this gets everybody a slightly different perspective.

Scenario 1: Walk up to somebody and start a sentence with, "hey, shithead!" Probable outcome: Fight, dirty looks, etc.

Scenario 2: Walk up to a sibling/close friend and start a sentence with, "hey, shithead!" Probable outcome: Light hearted joking/bonding

Scenario 3: Walk up to random siblings/friends that just called each other shitheads and call one of them a shithead: Fight, dirty looks, etc. and it's probably started by the one you DIDN'T call a shithead.

One's a harmless gradeschool insult and the other's a racist slur, but both work in essentially the same way in that they can be adopted. The difference is that calling somebody a shithead is a generic insult, calling somebody a n***** evokes a long sordid history of brutality and oppression. It's like making a dead baby joke to a woman that just had a miscarriage. Sure you can make it, but don't be surprised if it brings out a shit ton of emotion.

Another thing I want to point out is the very natural human reaction you'll see throughout this thread. The idea that it's unfair, that it's hypocritical for black people to be able to call white people a name with no repercussions. That it's unfair that a black entertainment channel is fine, but a white entertainment channel would cause public outrcy. I never did anything to black people, so why can black people do something that I, a white person, can't do. Congratulations, you have just experienced a small sliver of what it's like to be a black person. Except the things a black person can't do in the same way as a white person can are significantly more problematic. One of my good friends from college - a goofy looking 160lb. six figure earning lawyer in pittsburgh told me about some woman at the grocery store not only pulling her purse tighter, but moving her cart obviously in between her and him. Or my friend from Cameroon finishing up his grad school work leaving a fancy restaurant late at night, waiting 20 minutes while every cab passed him by until he finally gave in, came back in to get our blonde friend that he always had to enlist, and then promptly caught a cab to go home. And the coup de grace - Levar freakin Reading Rainbow Burton has a routine just to ensure he doesn't accidentally get shot by police because he gets pulled over so often.

I don't think Cooper is a racist simply because in my experience, most real racists generally have only minimal or strictly professional contact with other races. But he did do something incredibly stupid. He used a word that essentially encapsulates for black people all of that frustration and all of that anger in all of that time of not being able to do the same things everybody can else can do.

I like what whitlock wrote. He is a contrarian and this is the perfect time to be a contrarian. Cooper did an incredibly stupid thing, but he should be forgiven, most certainly. But that might take some time. In the meantime, to insist that Black people "just deal with it" would be as ridiculous as everybody in this thread that displayed the normal human reaction of disliking hypocrisy, being told to just shut up and deal with it themselves. All we would do is stoke further pointless division.

We need to come together, and all together hate Peyton Manning and the ****ing Broncos.

To the bolded. I have a huge problem with that. All of my friends that I play hoops with, a lot of my friends, even the most educated, and proper ones, use the slang version of this when talking to each other. Hell, just not to feel left out, I have been called "my n***a", and I was uncomfortable with it then, and im uncomfortable with it now. Of course there is a double standard. The only way to get rid of it, is to get rid of the word, and understand that its poison in every form. I have never understood why people waste the energy to hate someone based on skin color. It really is disappointing.

[9er guy]

Originally Posted by Clayton Bibsby

I heard Stephen A. talk about this story and said something like "the bruthas in the locker room..." and I was like wth is this? I'm not your brother. You don't know me. Dude needs to talk objectively, not like an idiot. Man that dude is a joke, along with the network that employs him. Makes me so angry.

He's a coon as well. He's always hanging out with black celebrities and trying to be cool with the rappers when they come on the show. He goes to the Shaq All-Star comedy jam and sits in the front row.

And then he has the gaul to throw the rappers and comedians under the bus in respect to the "N" word today on First Take.

He also is one of those "only we can say it" dudes. He makes my ****ing blood boil when he talks about that stuff.

It's like, "Yo man. Fall back. You're not the spokesman for the black race"

SMFH

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by 9er guy

Naw son. I can't do anything with a girl that skinny.

I need a girl that eats her cornbread.

hi black guy!

[Mav]

Originally Posted by 9er guy

He's a coon as well. He's always hanging out with black celebrities and trying to be cool with the rappers when they come on the show. He goes to the Shaq All-Star comedy jam and sits in the front row.

And then he has the gaul to throw the rappers and comedians under the bus in respect to the "N" word today on First Take.

He also is one of those "only we can say it" dudes. He makes my ****ing blood boil when he talks about that stuff.

It's like, "Yo man. Fall back. You're not the spokesman for the black race"

SMFH

Truth. the only person on espn I wanted to hear from was HERM. that's it.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by AdumbGuy

Alright, I'll take a crack at this. Not a perfect analogy, but let's see if this gets everybody a slightly different perspective.

Scenario 1: Walk up to somebody and start a sentence with, "hey, shithead!" Probable outcome: Fight, dirty looks, etc.

Scenario 2: Walk up to a sibling/close friend and start a sentence with, "hey, shithead!" Probable outcome: Light hearted joking/bonding

Scenario 3: Walk up to random siblings/friends that just called each other shitheads and call one of them a shithead: Fight, dirty looks, etc. and it's probably started by the one you DIDN'T call a shithead.

One's a harmless gradeschool insult and the other's a racist slur, but both work in essentially the same way in that they can be adopted. The difference is that calling somebody a shithead is a generic insult, calling somebody a n***** evokes a long sordid history of brutality and oppression. It's like making a dead baby joke to a woman that just had a miscarriage. Sure you can make it, but don't be surprised if it brings out a shit ton of emotion.

Another thing I want to point out is the very natural human reaction you'll see throughout this thread. The idea that it's unfair, that it's hypocritical for black people to be able to call white people a name with no repercussions. That it's unfair that a black entertainment channel is fine, but a white entertainment channel would cause public outrcy. I never did anything to black people, so why can black people do something that I, a white person, can't do. Congratulations, you have just experienced a small sliver of what it's like to be a black person. Except the things a black person can't do in the same way as a white person can are significantly more problematic. One of my good friends from college - a goofy looking 160lb. six figure earning lawyer in pittsburgh told me about some woman at the grocery store not only pulling her purse tighter, but moving her cart obviously in between her and him. Or my friend from Cameroon finishing up his grad school work leaving a fancy restaurant late at night, waiting 20 minutes while every cab passed him by until he finally gave in, came back in to get our blonde friend that he always had to enlist, and then promptly caught a cab to go home. And the coup de grace - Levar freakin Reading Rainbow Burton has a routine just to ensure he doesn't accidentally get shot by police because he gets pulled over so often.

I don't think Cooper is a racist simply because in my experience, most real racists generally have only minimal or strictly professional contact with other races. But he did do something incredibly stupid. He used a word that essentially encapsulates for black people all of that frustration and all of that anger in all of that time of not being able to do the same things everybody can else can do.

I like what whitlock wrote. He is a contrarian and this is the perfect time to be a contrarian. Cooper did an incredibly stupid thing, but he should be forgiven, most certainly. But that might take some time. In the meantime, to insist that Black people "just deal with it" would be as ridiculous as everybody in this thread that displayed the normal human reaction of disliking hypocrisy, being told to just shut up and deal with it themselves. All we would do is stoke further pointless division.

We need to come together, and all together hate Peyton Manning and the ****ing Broncos.

This is a very good post, while i may not agree with every sentiment, i duly recognize a civil, thoughtful take full of perspective.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Clayton Bibsby

This is a non-story. Stop talking about Gators. We don't care about you and you don't care about us.

[9er guy]

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

To the bolded. I have a huge problem with that. All of my friends that I play hoops with, a lot of my friends, even the most educated, and proper ones, use the slang version of this when talking to each other. Hell, just not to feel left out, I have been called "my n***a", and I was uncomfortable with it then, and im uncomfortable with it now. Of course there is a double standard. The only way to get rid of it, is to get rid of the word, and understand that its poison in every form. I have never understood why people waste the energy to hate someone based on skin color. It really is disappointing.

First I want to say I definitely understand your position.

However, I do think it's unfair for white people to introduce a word to demean a group of people, and then we take it and make it something that can be a positive,unifying, term. But because it makes white people uncomfortable now, so "Nobody should say it."

I kind of feel like that's a group outside our race trying to dictate how we should interact with each other. Or just how to act in general.

I don't think that's reasonable. Especially in all-black neighborhoods. You're not going to get those people to stop saying ****a based on how it makes white people (or anybody) feel.

I do agree that black people haven't made it easy by creating a double standard. That's bullshit. But that's gradually melting away. But I disagree that it's "poison" or a negative term in all it's forms.

I feel like I've had several positive experiences with people that aren't black using the word.

[9er guy]

Originally Posted by scott free

hi black guy!

What's crackin?!

[9er guy]

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

Truth. the only person on espn I wanted to hear from was HERM. that's it.

Maybe Dawk too. Just cause he was an Eagle as well.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by 9er guy

Maybe Dawk too. Just cause he was an Eagle as well.

Good one.

[ARROW2]

**** Riley Cooper!!!!

[Pitt Gorilla]

We applaud mr. Cooper's bravery in offering such inspiring words./cp

[Easy 6]

RACE... i've often wondered whether or not to make my own thread, or post it in the Zimmerman thread or what, but since i'm here now and the ideas are flowing freely in this thread, here is my honest question...

When are black people going to finally say... yep, we've done it, we now feel as one with and equal with all of America, what in the name of God is the final measurement?

Everything i've ever experienced, read or watched in my life tells me that black people truly permeate every strata of our society at the very highest levels... in business large and small, local and national politics, the military, police forces, Supreme Court judges, entertainment of every kind... sports, music, newscasters, tv and movie stars, authors, US statesmen of international renown.

We have black universities, black websites, black television, black movie stations (which i have 0 problems with, as Dane said, there are pretty much 300 white entertainment televisions), lobbyists for black causes of every kind... in essence, black representation at every single level of our society at this point.

I mean, when is this idea of unequal representation going to end?

I'll now discuss two well known arguments that blacks often make...

1) "Its the shoddy public education systems that arent preparing our youth for the world" - first off, i went to public schools, and while not even close to rich, i enjoy my life. For the most part, i paid attention in school and got the education i deserved, pretty much every moderately to wildly successful person i know is the product of public schools... from business owners, to states attorneys, policemen, to district judges... public school graduates all.

I've heard it before that "yeah but inner city kids get the worst teachers, apathetic school boards etc"... is anyone reeeally going to tell me that school boards across the nation sit down and deliberately say to one another "ok, we're going to ship our best teaching minds out to the white neighborhoods and send our thoughtless idiots to the blacks!"... if you believe that, i want a ****ing link to help bolster your hunch. If there IS some kind of dedication disparity in teachers, its because the teachers themselves choose it to be so, as far as i know,... maybe many dont want to deal with the apathy, violence and inner city attitude that cannot be denied that says being smart, talking proper english and basically paying attention isnt "keepin it real", that its "stupid" to try and be smart.

2) "There is a massive disparity between blacks in incarceration and whites in incarceration, particularly when it comes to drugs" - several years ago, a longtime policeman and i were having drinks together and i posed this question... "i've been to atleast 100 wild college parties and know for a fact that there is a crap ton of drugs in a given dorm or frat house, why do i never hear about massive drug raids on those guys?"... his answer was short... "thats because college kids arent blowing holes in each other over it, its the violence that keeps police cracking down on black neighborhoods". I'm just unable to listen to arguments that say the police are -FLAT OUT- out to get black people in particular, they hammer down on black neighborhoods because of the extreme amount of violence and nothing else, IMO.

I'm open to any interpretation of this post, if you wanna knock me or the ideas contained here, knock yourself out... but i simply DO NOT see this massive apparatus that consciously holds down blacks.

Is the idea to get rid of every single white person who just cant stand a darkie no matter what they do or who they are?... we all know thats not going to happen, you just cant rid the world of idiots, there's hundreds being born every day.

You cant get rid of them any more than you can get rid of the black people who hate a cracker ass cracker for what they do or who they are... there is no perfect world outside of Heaven, but is there a world in which black people get an entirely fair shake? I believe it exists right now.

[9er guy]

Originally Posted by scott free

RACE... i've often wondered whether or not to make my own thread, or post it in the Zimmerman thread or what, but since i'm here now and the ideas are flowing freely in this thread, here is my honest question...

When are black people going to finally say... yep, we've done it, we now feel as one with and equal with all of America, what in the name of God is the final measurement?

Everything i've ever experienced, read or watched in my life tells me that black people truly permeate every strata of our society at the very highest levels... in business large and small, local and national politics, the military, police forces, Supreme Court judges, entertainment of every kind... sports, music, newscasters, tv and movie stars, authors, US statesmen of international renown.

We have black universities, black websites, black television, black movie stations (which i have 0 problems with, as Dane said, there are pretty much 300 white entertainment televisions), lobbyists for black causes of every kind... in essence, black representation at every single level of our society at this point.

I mean, when is this idea of unequal representation going to end?

I'll now discuss two well known arguments that blacks often make...

1) "Its the shoddy public education systems that arent preparing our youth for the world" - first off, i went to public schools, and while not even close to rich, i enjoy my life. For the most part, i paid attention in school and got the education i deserved, pretty much every moderately to wildly successful person i know is the product of public schools... from business owners, to states attorneys, policemen, to district judges... public school graduates all.

I've heard it before that "yeah but inner city kids get the worst teachers, apathetic school boards etc"... is anyone reeeally going to tell me that school boards across the nation sit down and deliberately say to one another "ok, we're going to ship our best teaching minds out to the white neighborhoods and send our thoughtless idiots to the blacks!"... if you believe that, i want a ****ing link to help bolster your hunch. If there IS some kind of dedication disparity in teachers, its because the teachers themselves choose it to be so, as far as i know,... maybe many dont want to deal with the apathy, violence and inner city attitude that cannot be denied that says being smart, talking proper english and basically paying attention isnt "keepin it real", that its "stupid" to try and be smart.

2) "There is a massive disparity between blacks in incarceration and whites in incarceration, particularly when it comes to drugs" - several years ago, a longtime policeman and i were having drinks together and i posed this question... "i've been to atleast 100 wild college parties and know for a fact that there is a crap ton of drugs in a given dorm or frat house, why do i never hear about massive drug raids on those guys?"... his answer was short... "thats because college kids arent blowing holes in each other over it, its the violence that keeps police cracking down on black neighborhoods". I'm just unable to listen to arguments that say the police are -FLAT OUT- out to get black people in particular, they hammer down on black neighborhoods because of the extreme amount of violence and nothing else, IMO.

I'm open to any interpretation of this post, if you wanna knock me or the ideas contained here, knock yourself out... but i simply DO NOT see this massive apparatus that consciously holds down blacks.

Is the idea to get rid of every single white person who just cant stand a darkie no matter what they do or who they are?... we all know thats not going to happen, you just cant rid the world of idiots, there's hundreds being born every day.

You cant get rid of them any more than you can get rid of the black people who hate a cracker ass cracker for what they do or who they are... there is no perfect world outside of Heaven, but is there a world in which black people get an entirely fair shake? I believe it exists right now.

Sooooo your point is what again?

[Setsuna]

Originally Posted by 9er guy

What's crackin?!

I'm not convinced. You're white for all intensive purposes until proven otherwise.