Monday, May 12, 2014

Donald Sterling vs. Adrien Broner


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

No comments:

Post a Comment