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Brown v. Woods
I have always said that the lines of racism will never go away until people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrkahn stop pointing at them. Now I am going to have to add Jim Brown to that list. I guess I have really always known he was a racist(that's right, people of color can be racists too)and I have certainly always known he was a disgruntled and miserable man. I honestly can't remember him ever being upbeat or positive in any interview and I can't ever remember seeing him laugh or even smile. I have never heard him be gracious or magnanamous toward another player in the NFL. I have only seen him being grumpy and it's really getting old. When his rushing records(which he would never have set in todays NFL) were broken he had the audacity to make light of Walter Peyton's accomplishment because Peyton had missed a couple of games in his career. The article that got my briefs in a bunch made the statement that Brown is "widely hailed as the greatest player in NFL history". Really? Hey, the guy was definately a stud, but the greatest player in history? Come now! I hated O.J. Simpson before the general public jumped on that bandwagon, but "The Juice" was as good as, if not better, than Brown. Walter "Sweetness" Peyton was twice the football player(and twice the human being) Brown was and Brown knew it. Brown had no moves, all he did was plow down the field against linemen who, in many cases, weighed less than he did. Today he would make a decent full back and I think that is one reason he is miserable. Then there was his failed attempt at an acting career. Well..The guy couldn't act. He was just his ever pleasant self onscreen and people obviously didn't care to listen to him mumbling and grumbling his way through films that were bad enough to begin with. I mean seriously, can anyone name one of his cinematic roles. Well, there WAS his stellar performance in Mars Attacks! It didn't matter if it were an interview or a role in a film, his demeanor never changed. That's not acting. The guy had the disposition of a billy goat and he seemed to think that was good enough. It served him so well in the NFL...Guess he was wrong. Another possible reason for his misery. I don't remember exactly when he began to show his racist side, but it was prior to his dissing of Walter Peyton. I think it was around the time he started dressing in the African heritage fashion, with which I have no issues, I just think that was another way to show his disdain for anything not African American. There have been a few times I heard him make off color comments(no pun intended)about high profile blacks being "lackeys" or "whiter than their black heritage" because they refused to take a position, or just outright disagreed with him on certain issues or incidents, which brings me to the point that got me to writing today. Last week, golf analyst Kelly Tilghman made the statement that the only way to beat Woods today would be to "take him to a back alley and lynch him". Admittedly a poor choice of words based only on its pretext of violence, but racist? A lynching is a hanging without the benifit of trial. A summary execution. The civil rights movement made the nation aware of its use in the south against blacks, but lynchings were very common throughout the history of America. Chineese, Jews, even Irishmen were commonly lynched during Americas tumultuous growing pains of the 19th and early 20th century. It just depended on where you lived as to which group of people you chose to see as unworthy. I could go into the very common practice of lynching alleged criminals, some certainly not guilty during that time, but I digress. Brown's gripe is that Woods should have spoken up in outrage at the comment, demanded Tilghman's head on a platter, or at least get her fired, but Woods did none of that. He saw the comment for what it was. An oratory mis-step. He didn't even ask for an apology and considered the whole thing a non event. Kelly Tighman is obviously not a racist. She wasn't trying to get in some snied, underhanded racist comment in hoping no one would notice. What she was doing was saying that Tiger Woods is so good you'll have to kill him to beat him. There isn't a person in the world who golfs that doesn't realize the stellar player Tiger Woods is. He truly is the greatest player in PGA History and he is still young and he is that good because he is that good, not because he is African- American..Let's not not forget the Asian blood he has too! Brown and others who feel Woods is being too P.C. about it all say he is afraid of losing endorsement money should he take a stand and make an issue of it all. Well, he DID take a stand. He stood up and said, "I wasn't offended by the comment and I have nothing else to say about it". And even had he taken a stand on the other side sponsers don't drop catches like Woods, arguably one of the most popular men in America, not just the sports world, for standing their ground. No, it is highly unlikely anyone would have backed away from him had he been upset. I'm no fan of golf at all, and although I admire his accomplishments, no big fan of Tiger Woods, or any other golfer for that matter. It's just not my game. But this incident has made me admire him as a man of true character. In my opinion he took the higher ground in this issue, realizing that we shouldn't have to worry about ruining our lives by using the english language. He chose not to stir the racial pot and not to point at the lines at which people like Jim Brown spend so much of their time and energy pointing out. I'm not dogging Brown as a "bad guy". He has done many good deeds with his money and fame and I admire that. What I can't and won't admire is the way he seems to want to create racial unrest rather than racial equality. If he was offended by the remarks that Tilghman made he is certainly allowed to say so. Tilghman apologized for her poor choice of words, but that didn't seem to asuage Browns vengeful nature. He couldn't get Tilghman fired so now he is going after Woods? Brown got to stand up and voice his opinion and that is his right. Isn't it Tigers right NOT to be upset about it all? I say the bigger person here is Tiger, even though Brown outweighs him by 150 pounds! 3 comments from 3 users
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posted by
gr8scott
on Jan 24, 2008 at 07:57 PM
Wow, that was a long one :) Racism was around a long time before Jackson, Sharpton and Farrakhan and will be around a long time after. These gentlemen are not the standard and they do not speak for anyone but themselves, regardless of what you or America thinks. My question is why does the media run to these guys to get a quote whenever a real or perceived insult has been made against a Black person? What better way to keep racial tensions tense, than to ask a fool a question? What did Brown say that was racist? Is it because he felt Eldridge should have spoken up sooner? Because he says Eldridge has never taken a stand on any social issue that is seen as a "Black issue"? Tiger is a grown man and he can say and or do whatever he wants. Brown and any other social activists can also have an opinion on an issue, different from yours, but that doesn't make him a racist. What I find funny...kind of, is when I listen to the radio sports talk shows is how the hosts and those who call in, defend what the golf announcer said. They insist that she said a stupid, ignorant thing, but that she isn't a racist. LIKE THEY KNOW THE LADY!!!!! I don't know if she's a racist or not, but perhaps she's a racist who said a stupid, ignorant thing. It's not outside the realm of possibility. And people say (not verbatim) lynching was used for horse thieves, card sharps or any other criminal act, when anyone over 5 years old knows the context and history of that word in this country. It is painful for America to look at the past, but it's there and it's not always pretty. Blacks were lynched as a form of intimidation and retaliation and simple hatred. We all know the context. Lastly, to think that advertisers won't do exactly what the consumers say is a bit naive. Do you think that if Tiger (or that lying, cheating, degenerate gambler Jordan, O.J. or Ralph Bailey...well, not O.J. so much anymore) actually took a stand that was seen as a "Black issue" advertisers wouldn't toss him over the side???? I think not my friend. Paz
posted by
luisadobbs
on Jan 24, 2008 at 10:11 PM
You are absolutely right; Blacks are responsible for racism in If history was written the right way Blacks owe the country for having so many white men kill white men during the civil war. As for sports let’s go back to the days of Red Grange, Johnny Unites and crazy legs Hirsh when they played real football. Jim Brown was a cry baby and got all the publicity when Jon Arnett and our own Frank Gifford were the real stars that are why hockey is so exciting today…it is so white. It is time Jesus Christ, finally a voice of reason on the blog. posted by
adampayne
on Jan 25, 2008 at 07:52 AM
I don't think Jim Brown wants to create racial unrest. I don't believe that he is a racist either. I think you forget the context of Jim Brown's life and time. A time when segregation was very much alive and ingrained throughout much of America. A time when black football players were not allowed the same accommodations as white players were. You are too young, and maybe have not read many of the horrible accounts that major black stars in the 1950s and 1960s in football, basketball and baseball had to endure. You might want to research what players like Bill Russell, Jim Brown and Hank Aaron all had to deal with throughout their playing days before you rush to judgment regarding Jim Brown's outspoken appeal to Tiger Woods. The term this young woman, who hails from the country club set in South Carolina, used on air is blatantly racist and offensive. It is particularly sensitive given the recent Jena, LA episode with the noose strung from the local tree on campus and the Golf Digest cover. Tiger Woods is a great human being, but for many of the old guard who waged the battles to achieve civil rights in this country it is not enough to excel in your profession if you won't stand up to hurtful language broadcast on major media. Tiger Woods is a humanitarian and prefers to work through his educational foundations, which is a wonderful thing. He certainly can make his own decisions about which fights he chooses to have over injustices. Jim Brown is old school and confrontational in standing up for what he believes. You don't have to agree with his point of view, but he is not a racist for publicly speaking out on behalf of many people who still see a separate and unequal America. Also, since you have probably only seen clips of highlights from his career, you have no concept of how awesome his achievements in pro football were over his career. He was exceptionally fast, elusive and powerful. There was no player in the league even close to approaching the skills he brought to the game. The only player in the modern era who could dominate a game from the running back position and approximate Jim Brown was Eric Dickerson, who could only do it for a few short years. There were no steroids or HGH or many of the pain medications modern players use today available in the 1950s and 1960s. There was no stopping a play when forward progress had been reached until the runner's knee or body had touched the ground. This meant the defense could stand a runner up and punish the guy at will on any given play. Piling on, head-slapping, clotheslining, and other dirty tactics were routinely allowed during this era. He never missed a game and played for chump change compared to what the modern athlete makes today, and the NFL pension plan is the worst of any major sport in America for older players who built the game. You might not appreciate grumpy old men, but you should understand where they come from and why they sometimes feel a word from experience is worthwhile.
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