Jon Gruden is the racist norm--not the exception!
The Hump Day Hot Topics
Running off at the Android...
***Nothing, and I mean nothing, was surprising about former Las Vegas Raiders Coach Jon Gruden's racist, sexist, and homophobic e-mails.
Nothing!
But the e-mail dump was frustrating, nevertheless, for those of us who have had to deal with the exhausting reality of systemic racism and white supremacy in America. Those who have had white professors give a B+++—that's three plus signs—instead of an "A," like my mother once received on an essay when she was the only Black in her British Victorian Literature doctoral program at Florida State University. Or, that time when that old judge from Crestview, deep in Florida's panhandle, said to me "you're the most articulate colored fella I've heard" after a trial, knowing full well that decorum prevented me from cursing or asking him to step outside and call me "colored" to my face, which it took the Holy Spirit and the spirits of my ancestors to keep me from doing.
And those were macro-aggressions—not the multiple micro-aggressions and stones thrown by hidden hands that Black folks and other demographic minorities have to deal with every single day of our lives.
Yes, it gets tiring, bone weary tiring, but like the mythological figure Sisyphus who was doomed by the gods to roll a boulder up a steep hill—only to see it roll back down for him to begin anew, we, too, must continue to press on against bigotry in all of its rancid forms in these United States and answer the idiotic question, “How’s that racist,” each time some racist or racism denying troll has the gall to ask it.
***Speaking of Gruden, one of my oldest friends from Dear Ol’ Morehouse (and my good Kappa Brother), Dr. Michael "Bossman MB" Brooks, asked me the following questions this morning via text message:
1. Hobbs, when it comes to emails from a decade or more ago, do people, even Gruden, have a right to privacy?
Hobbservation: Yes (limited) and No! Yes in that there is an expectation of privacy in correspondences to one's medical provider, legal counsel, pastoral adviser, and depending on the issue, one's lawfully wedded spouse (not "wifey," "bae," or "spouse-like" friend). Otherwise, any and all e-mails that have been transmitted that provide relevant evidence on a case or controversy in court is fair game during the discovery phase of a legal proceeding.
2. How long is too long to be admissible?
Hobbservation: While there is no Statute of Limitations, per se, to the age of e-mail transmissions, when determining admissibility, a court would consider whether the e-mails are too remote (old) to be probative or otherwise relevant to the pending case. Meaning, Gruden' s e-mails from a decade ago very likely would be admissible because he was, at the time of their now becoming an issue, a coach in the NFL who coached multiple Black and at least one openly gay player. What would have been interesting, though, is whether Gruden would have been forced to resign from a TV network if he was still a sports journalist who had no direct influence on current players or contact with officials who he targeted with his bigotry? Still, there's a part of me that knows good and well that of 650,000 e-mails relating to the Washington Football Team matter, that I know that Gruden was far from the only person typing, responding, and laughing at racist, sexist, and homophobic jokes and nude pictures that he transmitted. That the NFL isn’t planning to dump anymore at this time is quite telling…
3. Where can we (The Blacks) go (place, etc.) and be free to be “apolitical?”
Hobbservation: My old man used to often say that while in the military, that he had been around the world one and a half times and had yet to find a place where folks truly loved American Black people. I, too, ponder with frustration not just the very real fact that racism still exists, but that so many whites (not all, but a good many) are totally oblivious to (or doubt) the disparate treatment that we, as people of color, still experience. Doubts that are made worse when some rent-a-slave like Jason Whitlock or Sage Steele use their media platforms to absolve whites of any fault or charge to make our nation one in which “liberty, and justice for all” is more than a catchy slogan.
***For a fleeting moment today, I was in awe like a child as actor William Shatner, the venerable Captain Kirk on Star Trek, blasted into space on Blue Origin at the age of 90-years-old. While his space flight was short, approximately 10 minutes, I can only imagine the thrill that the "Captain" must have had in being able to “boldly go where (few) civilians have gone before…”
Kudos, Sir!
***During my childhood, like most boys, I was a true fan of Superman in both comic book and movie form. The original Superman movie and its sequel that starred Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Marlon Brando remains one of my favorite films of all time!
But back then, whenever my five-year-old self would pretend to be Superman, I imagined Superman looking alot like I did—Afro and all! Such is normal for most minority kids, I believe, even though my generation was the last to grow up when the overwhelming majority of superheroes, Jedi Knights, war heroes, and cowboys were depicted by white actors.
Well, this week, the latest outrage on social media is that a new Superman comic has cast Superman and Lois Lane's son as a bisexual new "Man of Steel." And, just like a whole lot of Star Wars fans lost their minds six years ago when Jon Boyega was cast as a Black Stormtrooper who was hinted to have Jedi powers in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, today, a whole lot of Superman fans are losing their minds over the idea that Superman Jr. is attracted to women and men.
To this last point, actor Dean Cain, the star of the '90s era "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," expressed his dismay that DC Comics was "bandwagoning” while appearing on "Fox & Friends," adding,"I don’t think it’s bold or brave or some crazy new direction. If they had done this 20 years ago, perhaps that would be bold or brave. But brave would be having (Superman) fight for the rights of gay people in Iran where they’ll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay."
Well, beg your pardon, Mr. Cain, but you don't have to go to Iran to find gay repression or oppression—most of the Republican folks watching your segment on Fox News despise gays and have no qualms with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric or discrimination. Some Black Democrats can be bigoted, too; lest we forget that it wasn't that long ago when Morehouse College student Gregory Love sued fellow Man of Morehouse Aaron Price after Price beat him repeatedly with a baseball bat for allegedly looking at him in the open shower.
But as I often mention, the true value of any art is in the eye of the beholder and, when I find art offensive—I shun it. Thus, anyone who doesn't want to see a bisexual Superman in print or on the silver screen has every opportunity to not read or watch it—period!
*** Florida Gov. Ron Desantis has been up to his old shenanigans again this week, first in touting the achievements of explorer Christopher Columbus as his childish way of “owning the libs” by showing support for that genocidal murderer from Genoa whose "discovering" of the New World was as much fiction as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Next up for Ronnie was a $3.7 million fine that his Department of Health levied against my home Leon County Government for what it called a "blatant violation of the law relating to the ban of vaccine passports in our state." Said Desantis, "It is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees' medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions."
Sigh...All that I can say is that in a little over 12 months, Florida can right a grievous error made in 2018 by sending this easily angered, self-aggrandizing dilettante back into private life by voting for the Democratic nominee, be it U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist or Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, next November.
***If Florida's Governor is a deplorable, do note that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is his equally deplorable twin!
This week, Abbott, under relentless attacks for "supporting non-Texas values" due to his Department of Family Service's resource page for LGBT youth, has since had the page removed because his Republican opponent, Don Huffines, has claimed that tax dollars were being used to support transgender ideology.
Huffines, running as a far-right conservative, averred, “They’re talking about helping empower and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, non-heterosexual behavior. I mean really? This is Texas. These are not Texas values. These are not Republican Party values, but these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values."
Well, such really aren't Abbott's professed values, as he has been no real friend to the LGBTQ community in his public life. But peep this: I openly question whether Abbott or Huffines are in the closet themselves due to their non-stop demonizing of the LGBTQ community, because like the bard Shakespeare once wrote, "thou doth protest too much," and like folks in the Deep South often add, “a hit dog will holler…”
In Memoriam
I extend a moment of reflection upon the life of Eddie Jaku, the 101-year-old German born Jew who survived imprisonment as a slave laborer in the notorious Buchenwald and Auschwitz Concentration Camps during World War II. After escaping Auschwitz, Jaku immigrated to Australia, where he lived the remainder of his days.
During a 2019 interview, Jaku was quoted as saying, “I do not hate anyone. Hate is a disease which may destroy your enemy, but will also destroy you." When I read his words, they hit me deep down inside because while I have many admirable Christ-like qualities, I admittedly struggle with forgiving folks who have intentionally hurt me or my close kin and friends. I know that I am a work in progress, but reading the thoughts of people who have suffered greatly and persevered, like Mr. Jaku, gives me a glimmer of hope in humanity—and my own quiet contemplation of how to live life more abundantly while here on Earth.
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point! Have a great evening!
Excellent read, top to bottom.
Thanks for the mention, Chuck!