Racial Slurs Won't Derail Linsanity

For NBA fanatics in America, Big Apple Linsation handily cancelled any recall of last year’s lockout lows. For communities occasionally rocked by world uncertainty, Linderella delivered a welcomed celebratory distraction. Black, white, brown or yellow people across the globe were united in “rah rah sis boom bah”until Linsanity yielded to media insanity. 

When the Asian-American NY point guard failed to engineer a team lin, Max Bretos, an ESPN anchor cited “a chink in the armor” for cause. “Oh no he didn’t,” I huffed when one considers the racial slur “chink” is earmarked for those of Asian descent. But yes, I’m afraid the media maggot did. Sadly, he wasn’t the lone blow fly.  

Anthony Federico, the writer responsible for the ESPN.com headline has since been fired while Bretos’s slip of the tongue netted a 30-day suspension. What’s puzzling is the lack of admonishment levied against Spero Dedes, the play-by-play voice of the Knicks, whose loose lips parted the same phrase via ESPN Radio New York. And this is supposed to be a team? Clearly those aboard the Lin train seem to execute this concept better than the executive team.

What about Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock who recently tweeted “Some lucky lady is going to feel a few inches of pain tonight”? Plain and simple, the statement opened a stereotypical attack on Lin’s masculinity. So unnecessary and unprofessional, but the columnist hasn’t been ejected from his throne when a suspension is justified. Never mind the apologies since issued by Dedes and Whitlock as provoked afterthoughts.   

Jeez, where’s the accountability in media these days? I see it slip-sliding away along with established editorial constraints requiring continuous enforcement.  

Past the professional roar of cultural insensitivity, you have to admit that lin or lose, the Jeremy kid is something special. Harvard’s grad is not only a ball of “I Can” fire on the court but gentlemanly enough off of it to forgive and forget. Perhaps he’s teaching us far more than we bargained for.               

Roland Martin’s Tweet-sanity: Mantalk or Malice?

Not since Janet Jackson’s “Boob Bowl” has the super sport of football been upstaged by controversy until now. It wasn’t the politically-charged Chrysler ad or the post-game tirade launched by Tom Brady’s supermodel wife. Instead, it was CNN commentator Roland Martin’s salty tweets that unleashed a cyber Katrina.

Who knew David Beckham’s itty bitty tighty whiteys would surge such strong reactions? Some say the resulting suspension by CNN was justified and others cry foul. I think a dissection of Martin’s tweets on the basis of (1) context and (2) perception might lend a greater understanding.    

CONTEXT:

No matter how you dice it, context matters. Here context refers to the circumstances in which an event occurs. Behind closed doors, Martin’s testosterone-packed tweets amount to mere mantalk. It’s a fact that conversations far removed from political correctness take place in venues where men congregate daily.

The award-winning journalist erred, however, when he committed his thoughts to public record. Yes, Twitter is as public as it gets and some private conversations are unsuitable for mass consumption. Based on reactions I’ve read, some in the public expect Martin to wear the reporting hat 24/7. Is the expectation extreme? For a journalist, whose profession is erected on an unbiased foundation, I think not.  

PERCEPTION:

Few eyes blinked when Brady vowed to kick some New York butt in the 2012 Super Bowl. Why? Because the bravado he expressed is a sports culture commonality. Conversely, Martin’s language, “smack the ‘ish’ out of him” and “Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass” inflamed, because to some, it implied any man gone gaga over Beckham’s buffed bod in H&M’s underwear and the preference for pink might be dissuaded through violence.  

It’s no secret the color pink has endured a historical bashing by heterosexual men who cite it unmanly. Plus, we can’t ignore gay men are fashion’s fiercest from head to toe. Hello!

Although I remain unconvinced that malicious intent lurked behind Martin’s words, it’s been said “as a man thinketh, so is he.” Perception - how one processes messages - is a powerful thing and this Martin, a trained communicator, should know.  

        

      

Cracking the 'Cracker Counties' Code

Did you happen to hear Politico’s Jonathan Martin say ‘cracker counties’ during an MSNBC interview with Chuck Todd recently I missed it, but when I read the account, my reaction meter registered OMW as in “Oh my word.” Literally. Are you kidding me?! This can’t be professional journalism. Right?

As Martin later explained, ‘cracker counties’ is an endearment central to Floridians, referencing residents with long term generational ties to the region. Since America at-large is likely unfamiliar with the term, Todd bore the journalistic responsibility of clarifying its meaning. To my knowledge, he didn’t.     

Now if we detach the word ‘counties’ from ‘cracker,’ we’re left with the pejorative commonly used as a vile distinction for poor, uneducated whites. Fast forward to 2012 and the expression ‘let’s get crackin’ slung by hip hoppers has nothing to do with color. For the unhip, it means let’s proceed. 

Given mainstream media’s premature proclamations and blatant misstatements, including John King’s recent gaffe where he referred to Mitt Romney as Governor Mormon, it’s mildly shocking that many called ‘cracker counties’ into question. And don’t overlook the fact that the messenger matters and if a minority had spewed the term publicly, a backlash behemoth would’ve resulted.  

Let’s be clear, political immersion doesn’t make one a journalist: Todd attended George Washington University without graduating and the Hamden Sydney College from which Martin graduated doesn’t currently offer a journalism program.      

Although journalism, once the bedrock of peeling fact from fiction in an unbiased manner, has obviously sputtered, audience expectations remain the same: Stick to the facts and shed the bias. 

MSNBC Interview with Chuck Todd and Jonathan Martin

See John King's 'Governor Morman' Gaffe