Sports not always able to soothe racial prejudice
- Tom Rife: Livin' the Team
- October 1, 2020
- 709
Common sense warns us that much of what we see on social media these days must be taken with a grain of salt — or tossed aside altogether.
That having been said, it is reasonable that many of the comments posted daily on Facebook, for example, serve as a barometer for what people are thinking, how they are feeling and even what they are doing. If you want to take the pulse of America, simply log in. Let the clicking begin.
When it comes to politics, it’s a given you’re going to see a mixed bag of opinions and reactions. As difficult — and as troubling — as it may be, avoid working yourself into a tizzy over a two-party system that has run amuck. There is nothing to be gained.
Escape, instead, to sports, one of the ointments conceived to soothe our souls and take our minds off of life’s many encumbrances, right?
If only it was that easy.
Case in point: the recent news flash that basketball icon/businessman Michael Jordan had purchased an available NASCAR charter from Germain Racing and, with William Darrell “Bubba” Wallace as his driver, will debut a new top-level stock car racing team at the beginning of the 2021 season. Jordan’s partner in the challenging venture is to be current championship contender Denny Hamlin, who drives for the well-established Joe Gibbs Racing organization.
Almost instantly, the vitriol began to spew. The Facebook comments revealed a much larger impasse that continues to stain American values. The feedback let me know that, despite gains made possible through the efforts of activists Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis and myriad sports leagues, there remains an agonizing amount of work to be done when it comes to resolving racial prejudice in this country.
As innocent as Jordan’s announcement may have seemed, the result was a social-media torrent of posts targeting almost everyone involved. The overtones were excruciatingly obvious.
NASCAR itself was criticized by those claiming the governing body’s sole aim was to create an appearance of more diversity within its ranks. Jordan was criticized for his decision to team up with Wallace, considered by many to be lacking the talent to win at the sport’s highest level. Wallace was criticized for leaving Richard Petty Motorsports (where he was generously offered part ownership of the team) to pursue a new opportunity in his racing career.
Race fans — and others who bragged they don’t even follow NASCAR — poked fun at Jordan. They said the celebrity, whose net worth exceeds $1.6 billion, formed the new one-car race team simply because he (and Hamlin, his longtime friend) needed a tax write-off. Surely the financial losses that would be accumulated on the track would be heavy, the naysayers claimed, resulting in the ideal shelter for Jordan’s vast wealth.
The posters belittled Wallace, finding fault with a driver whose stance on racial justice grew more pronounced throughout the 2020 season. The comments ridiculed Wallace for his lack of winning performances throughout his four years of Cup racing.
One post in particular said Wallace couldn’t “drive a nail.” OK, understandable, and not too bad.
But then there was the post that said Wallace should “stick to lickin’ chicken bones and watermelon seed-spitting contests” and another that said “they are going to have little kids from China as their pit crew.”
Bigoted comments by the hundreds. Just plain hateful and nauseating.
Inexcusable. Disheartening.
But, oh, so telling.
Need we be reminded, that in America, individuals such as Jordan and Wallace are citizens free to act and invest as they wish as long as there is no harm or burden imposed upon others. For them to be judged otherwise simply isn’t playing by the canons of our cherished democracy, which is under enough attack already.
The claims levied against Jordan and Wallace simply are too grim, too alarming and too threatening to be taken with a grain of salt.