Racial Profiling–Revisited
Stories of racial profiling of whites by blacks, however, also occur, especially in sports –the truism or stereotype being that black athletes are superior to white athletes.
This was made much of in “White Men Can’t Jump” and was the basis of a “con”, or “hustle”, perpetrated by the characters played by Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in the movie.
Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, brought this matter up on his talk show recently as a possible reason why wide receiver Jordy Nelson –who is white—continues to get one-on-one coverage compared to Packer black wide receivers.
As is customary when the topic of “race” is offered as a theory or explanation of why something happens, it immediately and automatically gets downplayed, as either being false –it’s dismissively called “playing the race card” by whites at work when blacks bring it up—or, as shown in subsequent media coverage on Rodger’s comment, too provocative to discuss, reflecting the U.S. mainstream cultural orientation that puts “peace before truth”.
This, in contrast to the more forthright African American cultural orientation that puts “truth before peace”, to which our black colleague often adds, “Without truth there can be no peace.”
One could also add, that without “truth” there can also be no further discussion of the topic –a form of putting one’s head in the sand– a rule of public social etiquette that disallows, by fiat, any opportunity to explore further what’s “out there,” and “really going on”.
For example, we might begin to deal with the black view of white and black athletic ability as a source of pride for blacks. I remember, years ago, when a black commentator grudgingly had to admit (for Blacks, culturally, “truth” above all, even if it hurts) that the best guard in the NBA at the time (before Michael, Kobe, et.al.) was Jerry West.
We might also learn that whites who live and work in contexts (athletics, jazz) that are heavily influenced by black cultural norms learn and adopt the prevailing cultural style that gets you “over” (like African Americans and other ethnics have done in the U.S. mainstream workplace).
Thus, it is not surprising to see Aaron Rodgers expressing a standard black held view, anymore than it is surprising to learn that Larry Bird was one of the best “trash” talkers on the basketball court.
As blacks often say, “What goes around, comes around.”
The question is, can we deal with it when it does?
5 Responses so far
Janet Grims
January 12th, 2012
5:18 PM
This is a very interesting article on black and white racial profiling. I came across a website (http://OnlineCEUcredit.com/edu/racialprofiling-bb) that offers a lot of good information on cultural diversity in general if anyone is interested.
Michael Villanueva
January 20th, 2012
8:47 AM
Just imagine what it’s like for a transgender African-American who transitions from female to male…
Adrianne Gomez
January 28th, 2012
2:29 AM
I think that the saying “What goes around, comes around” is not something that blacks often say, but that everyone in general has come to learn, and can be a fact of life. I think that it is unfortunate that it always has to be brought back to a comparison of the skills of different races. Why can’t it ever just be a comparison of skill between different players? If a player is great, it shouldn’t matter what race he/she is, and that player shouldn’t be limited in the media exposure they are allowed to get because it would bother another race. It also shouldn’t come down to gifting a players skill to their race, rather than their own God given talent.
Thomas Kochman
January 28th, 2012
12:36 PM
I agree with you that matters of skill and accomplishment are owing to individual talent and hard work above all. What’s also interesting to consider, however, that, based on Jordy Nelson’s individual talent and skill, he should be getting double coverage, rather than single coverage. The question is, then, how come? If Nelson’s race is a factor in that decision, then racial thinking, despite being stereotypical, becomes real, and at the very least, should be addressed and talked about. Don’t you think?
Sam Mendez
February 2nd, 2012
12:09 AM
I think [the blog] makes some interesting points. In sports, people make it a point that Black people are excellent athletes, but really I believe it does not matter the color of their skin. For example one of the best point guards in the NBA is Steve Nash a white player. He puts in the time to be the best. Even at the age of 37 he is consider one of the premier players. It mostly depends if a player puts in the time and has had success doing it.
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