It appears that the age of pseudo outrage and hyperactive
political correctness has found its way to the Sweet Science, of all places.
Following his lack luster showing vs. Carlos Molina, boxing’s resident would be
rapper, porn star and unapologetic Jackass, Adrien ”The Problem” Broner in his
post fight interview with the usually honest Jim Gray, somewhere around his profanity
laced post fight rant declared: “Anybody can get it. Africans, I just beat the
fuck out of a Mexican,” to which Jim Gray, supposedly so disturbed by what he
just heard urged Broner, “…let’s show some class and dignity…” Which was about
the time I vomited in my mouth, because as we all know “class and dignity” is
an Adrien Broner trademark. No doubt inspired by the likes of the NBA and the
NFL who are now being pressured into being more socially tolerant, the WBC has
suspended the three time champion, Adrien Broner, until he offers a formal
apology (which is no apology at all), because as we all know May 3rd
will be a day of infamy for the people of Africa and Mexico who were just
beside themselves with dismay at the comments made by Adrien Broner. Who knows,
perhaps Boko Haram will be moved by Broner’s newfound humility and release the
near 300 Nigerian girls they kidnapped.
We all should have seen this coming, thanks in large part to
the National Basketball Association being shamed into finally having to
confront their longtime resident racist Donald Tokowitz of the Los Angeles
Clippers (“Sterling” was added later. I suppose he just wanted to fit in). The
NAACP award recipient’s now infamous diatribe against Blacks supposedly came as
a shock to the suits at the NBA despite his very public track record of racist
activity, which is evidenced by lawsuits brought against him by the government
of the United States and housing rights groups, as well as, a lawsuit brought
by his former GM Elgin Baylor. To believe that NBA brass were surprised by
Sterling’s racist convictions is as authentic as their sudden open armed
endorsements of all things LGBTQ.
The problem with doing the right thing at the wrong time is
that it ends up being all wrong.
The right time to have ousted Sterling was
when he was knee deep in his nefarious practices, which were authentically
racist, not when your league is shamed into making an example of him to save
face, despite knowing what he was and what he’d done for decades. Adrien Broner
may be labeled many things, even a bigot, but a racist he most certainly is
not. Racism requires power. Thus, it is impossible for most people to be
racists, and that includes a large majority of white people. Although the
argument can be made that many have enjoyed the benefits of racist policies
prevalent in employment, education, housing, etc. The fact is, many of us do
not possess the power to create or even endorse policies that could harm a
person or people based on race. We may feel or express ourselves anyway we
like, which may very well be bigoted, but bigotry has no power. Only when a person or a society endorses
behavior that creates an environment of racial hostility ala those famous
soccer games in Europe where Black players are pelted with bananas and spat
upon or legislation such as the infamous Crack Laws designed specifically to
target particular communities for mass incarceration or when property moguls
such as Sterling engage in discriminatory practices, etc. do you have racism.
Those who marched, bled and died for basic human dignity did not do so because
they didn’t take well to what people said or might have thought. They sat in,
boycotted, risked their very lives, etc., because they were systematically
restricted from rights and opportunities based solely on the color of their
skin.
Broner for all his antagonistic brash enters his place of
business versus a variety of men, within parameters designed to give each
participant a leveled playing field, the antithesis of racism. Boxing as an institution is rife with a
legendary history of flaws, some of which is race based, yet, the ultimate
realm of equality has always been in the squared circle. Therefore, the best
thing for the sport and its respective sanctioning bodies would be to adhere to
the standard it requires of its combatants, and thus, not be lured into joining
the chorus of corporately operated sports leagues in what promises to be an
insult to those who endured and valiantly fought the stain of authentic racism.
After all, as George Foreman soundly reminds us, “boxing is the sport to which
all other sports aspire.”
© 2014
