Uncle Jasons Cabin

To be clear, I'm not calling Jason Whitlock an Uncle Tom, I won't go that far because it's not true. No, Whitlock is not cow towing to white America with his recent, scathing article directed and Blacks in the NFL. In fact Whitlock has more often then not stood up for Black athletes. But his latest article blaming "hip hop culture" and "hip hop athletes" for leaving a tarnished legacy in the NFL has left a very bad taste in my mouth. The article does not expose Whitlock as a corporate yes man to white America, but as a man who has chosen to ignore some very sad truths in the United States and other parts of the world and some very positive truths about the men he's pointed his finger at.

Whitlock begins by pointing out the number of non African Americans on the starting rosters of both the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots with 23 whites and the Colts with 24. The inference is clear, they have more white players then other teams and are more successful. Funny how Whitlock ignores the simple fact that the key players for both teams are mostly black. Outside of Manning, Brady and Bruschi, the major components of both teams are men like Moss, Harrisson, Freeney, Maroney, Samuel and Wayne. Yes the rosters for both teams are nearly half white, but the majority of the players carrying the load are black, some with corn rows, dreads, tattoo's and big cars and it certainly isn't have an effect on the teams success.

Jason continues to heap blame on "hip hop athletes" and predict that in the future rosters will be nearly half white on all teams because of the actions of players like Vick, Jones, Johnson and Owens. Claiming that the NFL will stop using such athletes because they are not bankable, Whitlock then attempts to show his compassionate side by pointing out how America has failed young men like this. Once again, Whitlock is being very selective in the facts he is presenting.

Take Pac Man Jones, a favorite target for writers and talk show hosts. He is currently serving a year long suspension as well as criminal charges and civil litigation stemming from a strip club shooting in Las Vegas earlier this year. If these charges prove to be correct, then Jones will be, and should be, facing jail time. Whitlock uses Jones to paint the picture of an arrogant, defiant man who is selfish and doesn't play by the rules. really now? Well the Pac Man Jones I've read about also donated a chunk of his signing bonuses to a charity that helps families of firefighters and other emergency workers. After a car crash killed a player on the Pearl Cohn High School football team and injured another, Jones visited the school to offer encouragement as well as donating money to local police and firefighter departments for new uniforms.

So how about Terrel Owens and Chad Johnson? Obviously these are two easy targets because of their notorious show boating and camera mugging. The diamond earrings, gold grills on the teeth, antics in front of the cameras, they're easy targets. But does that have anything to do with "hip hop culture"? No, those two are merely egomaniacs who love the spotlight. Always have, always will. Got nothing to do with some lifestyle people like to label, that's just who they are.

While we're on the subject of lifestyles, let's take a closer look at this "urban" and "thug culture" label that keeps getting thrown around. Whitlock uses the term "hip hop athletes" to brand those he blames for making the NFL look bad, but once again ignores certain facts. Do a disproportional amount of Blacks in America look and act a certain way? Well, yes. But why they do is what Whitlock ignores, and by doing so sinks his own theory.

Let's face it, if you're a Black in America the deck is already stacked against you. You are more likely to be born into poverty or low income. You are more likely to live in an area with high crime and substance abuse. You are less likely to graduate from college or even high school(with public schools in your area crumbling and over crowded). You're also less likely to land a job. A Profesor from MIT and one from the University of Chicago sent out identical pairs of resumes to 1250 job advertisements in both cities. One group had more white sounding names like Fred and Betty, the other with names like Tyrone and Tamika. The white sounding names received 50 percent more return calls. British hip hop artist Tricky once said "Of course my heroes growing up were gangsters and drug dealers. They were the only people in my neighborhood with any money." Who would have guessed Bristol mirrored Detroit and LA so well.

Whitlock also points the finger at rap music, saying it rebels against the world for no other reason then to simply be rebellious. While there are some rappers who flaunt a certain approach to life to sell CDs, artists like Dr. Dre, Ice-T, Public Enemy, Grand Master Flash and KRS-One, seen as the Godfathers of rap, aren't dropping rhymes to glorify their experience growing up, but rather to let the world know that there are entire communities of Black people who live in constant poverty with the threat of violent death around every corner. Public Enemy and NWA's debut albums read like open letters to the USA telling everyone the plight of inner city people. That tradition continues with rappers like Jay-Z and Fifty Cent reminding everyone that the gang violence and hustler lifestyle still exists regardless of what Washington might tell you.

The point is that while Whitlock acknowledges there are problems in America for Blacks, he still chooses to label the athletes he views as trouble makers and jam them all together under one banner for all to see. Instead of looking at each one individually he lumps them into one category, puts a name to it then serves it up to the masses saying "Here's your problem. Get rid of them and all will be well again." Whitlock isn't being a race traitor, he's just being ignorant. He's not sucking up to his "white masters", he's just choosing to turn a blind eye and take the easy way. To matters even worse, articles like this one give yet another false hook for the more ignorant members of our society to hang their pointy hats on.


Writers Note

A few days after writing this I saw the interview of Chad Johnson by Keyshawn Johnson. After watching Chad's responses Keyshawns questions and near-accusations I have revised my opinion of 85. I no longer think he's an egomaniac, I think he's a very passionate football player who wants to win and has no interest in showboating during a losing season. You can count me in as one of Chad's supporters.