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.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

. Myself, a Caucasian who grew up in the hood in North Carolina, who spent many days running home from the bus stop because I was white, especially during the Rodney King riots, I have very little understanding of this. One day when playing pick up football in my neighborhood, after being called a cracker, honky, whitey all day long, laid out a guy on a pass play, and said something to the affect of, "keep your black ass down." 7 boys none white, beat my ass down.
.

They actually beat your ass down because of your affinity for game managers.

[Iowanian]

Originally Posted by Rausch

If he's dumb enough to let it get under his skin, throw him off his game, or make him act stupid they should.

He's a ****ing football player - not an international diplomat.

Wait....so it doesn't count if he's insulted?
He's just a football player and not a diplomat? Then why is he being paraded around on an apology tour to keep his job?

[Discuss Thrower]

In b4 HoustonWhodat calls someone a ninja

[Mav]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

They actually beat your ass down because of your affinity for game managers.

You could never beat me down period. You will always think you have won verbal sparring. Congrats......That's the only beating down of anyone you have ever done.......Take it how you want it. Just don't let your ego run too wild.

Its funny, the only qb that is wearing a chiefs uniform that I have AN AFFINITY FOR, play wise, is BRAY......

and to the THEY part. They beat me down because I loved STEVE YOUNG? He was the 49ers qb at the time.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

Ex. Rauch, you're a big, fat German.

Uh, yeah...

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Wait....so it doesn't count if he's insulted?
He's just a football player and not a diplomat? Then why is he being paraded around on an apology tour to keep his job?

HE made that decision.

It may not be fair but his employer clearly felt that's what he needed to do.

He can always choose to be employed elsewhere...

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Rausch

If he's dumb enough to let it get under his skin, throw him off his game, or make him act stupid they should.

He's a ****ing football player - not an international diplomat.

you are thinking about this as a one sided equation. Its not about getting under someones skin. I know it, when I went to the line of scrimmage as a wide receiver, I heard im shutting your white ass down regularly. If I was to walk up to a black receiver, and say im shutting your black ass down. Im a racist......

Its a stupid stigma that has been accepted.......

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

you are thinking about this as a one sided equation. Its not about getting under someones skin. I know it, when I went to the line of scrimmage as a wide receiver, I heard im shutting your white ass down regularly. If I was to walk up to a black receiver, and say im shutting your black ass down. Im a racist......

Its a stupid stigma that has been accepted.......

Did it bother you?...

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

I just watched the movie 42. They say the N word a million times as well as in Django unchanined. I think this is far more repulsive. Put on a rap record and it is filled with it- but does that make it okay since they are black? I guess I don't understand- the word is offensive and demeaning no matter who says it IMO.

Of course. They embrace the word, its like us saying BRO, or dude to each other, but how dare anyone not of their race say it. If you aren't comfortable saying it to anyone, it shouldn't be said period.....

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Did it bother you?...

Motivated me. Ive always been short, white and couldn't jump. Never bothered me, my competitiveness always got me by.

I always loved walking into a gym full of brothers, and hearing, don't let the white kid shoot. That was a proud moment......

But no, racial undertones like that typically didn't bother me, what made me laugh, was when schooling the shit talker, and hearing his teammates clown him because the white boy made him look like shit.

[The Franchise]

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

I just watched the movie 42. They say the N word a million times as well as in Django unchanined. I think this is far more repulsive. Put on a rap record and it is filled with it- but does that make it okay since they are black? I guess I don't understand- the word is offensive and demeaning no matter who says it IMO.

WRONG! Blacks CAN get away with saying it because they are black and have experienced racism first hand from their own unique perspective. The rest of us aren't qualified because we are not black and do not understand. The media will tell you that. On the flip side, often times if blacks say something racist against whites, it's acceptable because that's how they talk so its not "really" meant as racist. The media will tell you that as well. There is clearly a double standard in this country regarding who says what and can get away with it but don't dare suggest that because then YOU will be considered RACIST. CLEAR???

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

You could never beat me down period. You will always think you have won verbal sparring. Congrats......That's the only beating down of anyone you have ever done.......Take it how you want it. Just don't let your ego run too wild.

Its funny, the only qb that is wearing a chiefs uniform that I have AN AFFINITY FOR, play wise, is BRAY......

and to the THEY part. They beat me down because I loved STEVE YOUNG? He was the 49ers qb at the time.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by TEX

WRONG! Blacks CAN get away with saying it because they are black and have experienced racism first hand from their own unique perspective. The rest of us aren't qualified because we are not black and do not understand. The media will tell you that. On the flip side, often times if blacks say something racist against whites, it's acceptable because that's how they talk so its not "really" meant as racist. The media will tell you that as well. There is clearly a double standard in this country regarding who says what and can get away with it but don't dare suggest that because then YOU will be considered RACIST. CLEAR???

Can I ask a question? What part of slavery, did any NFL player active today, have a perspective from to experience from it?

MLK wanted badly for both whites and blacks to move away from the animosity that was built over a word. When people still use it as a common slang you are defeating that purpose. You are hanging on to a negative that really has nothing to do with anyone alive today.


The original word was a derogatory word used to display the unequalness between slaves, and their owners. The slaves then embraced the word as their own, but for us to come together as a country, we have to move past such terms.

It seriously is blowing my mind that while Donte Stallworth killed a guy, Leonard Little killed a guy, yet they were barely blips on the radars as far as being public enemy number one, yet a word, a VERY STUPID ACT BY A DRUNK STUPID IDIOT, has incited this much of a controversy.....Unbelievable......This is getting more backlash, than the George Zimmerman trial, or that woman who got off in Florida.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Very, cant you tell?