Race and Sports:
Fairly Unjust
By Joseph Walters

Black and white. There is no grey area when it comes to race. Itdoesn’t matter if you are brown, light brown, dark skinned, or white. There isjust no in between when it comes to skin color. The only time when most becomecolor blind is when sports is involved. When it comes to sports, it becomesclear that the division is blurred until an athlete gets in trouble andenters not only the legal system, but the media as well.

Lastnight, I had the pleasure of watching one of the most intriguing documentaries I’veseen in a while. ESPN’s 30 fo 30: No Crossover, The Trial of Allen Iverson.Much of what I saw last night about him as a person and sports icon in thearea, I pretty much knew. He grew up in the rough parts of Hampton and NewportNews. He was a two season athlete, playing basketball and football and leadingteams to state championships in both sports. What I didn’t know was the fullstory behind his trial. How it turned a city that once celebrated the successof mixed local athletic teams into a city filled with racial tension.

Now, Iwill not excuse the actions of anybody because they are deemed a popularathlete. Just because you have an opportunity to “go pro” doesn’t mean youdon’t take responsibility for your actions. If you break the law, you must bedealt with accordingly. I know regular folks not gifted with talentedathletic skills have to endure the long arm of the law, so what makesan athlete better than them? Right? Right. Doesn’t matter if you’re blackor white (Michael Jackson said that). What needs to be addressed is the way inwhich athletes are dealt with in the judicial system and in the media. Justiceshould be fair and as I do not excuse the actions that lead to entering thejudicial system which lead to, I do not excuse an unfair system which can beinfluenced by the media.

Dependingon the community you go to, some may call it “making an example” out ofsomeone. Clear across town, others may say it’s a deserved punishment. With theAllen Iverson situation, my first example of racial division, itseemed like the first of the two. A “mob” fight, black versuswhite, incited by racial slurs in a bowling alley led to 3 felonyconvictions for the then 17-year-old Iverson. It carried a punishment of 15years, 10 suspended and with good behavior could be out in 10 months. Was thisa just punishment for a high school kid allegedly involved in a fight? Evenwith injuries, most high schools I know of will suspend you for a few days. Butwith him being an athlete in a “Good Ol’ Boy” system in the south, he was madeout to be a malicious character from the hood that needed to be taught alesson. Would this have been the case had Iverson been white and from thesuburbs? We’ll never know. Luckily Gov. Douglas Wilder stepped in and correctedthe situation granting clemency to Iverson and the other defendants that weresentenced.

Secondexample: Michael Vick. Historically, dog fighting has been a southern sport fordecades and decades. Yet, a black athlete gets found out and is put through a public media trial before heactually went to a court trial. Yes, I said it. He was convicted before histrial because of the media. Some fellow journalists wouldn’t like to hear that,but hey, it is what it is. With the coverage he received, PETA playing theirpart (oops, just killed an annoying fly), and plenty of political influence, itcould be said that the minds of anybody paying attention to the trail was madeup (this includes judges and prosecutors). To this day, dogs are still beingfought all around the nation. I was in Farm Fresh the other day andoverheard a Caucasian man talking about how he fights dogs, which lets me know,it happens. Would anything be different if Vick was caught fighting chickens(cock fighting)? What if the man I heard in Farm Fresh got caught fightingdogs? Would he have endured the same trial and tribulation that Vick endured?We may have heard about it in the media for one night. It probably would haveended in a heavy fine.

Now let’sthink. The last caucasion athlete to be in the news and endure a lengthly trialthat would affect his career was…….sorry, I’m drawing a blank. BenRothelisberger is about the closest to being that person. He’s been involvedallegedly in two seperate sexual assualts and has hardly had ANY coverage (maybeone
report and a follow up to let you know there are no charges).Probably because he wasn’t charged in either instance.

Thingswill probably never change when it comes to the racial divide of how black andwhite athletes are dealt with. Its been this way for years. Does it mean thatit’s right? Not at all. Is there anything we can do about it? Yes, as amatter of fact there is. Be a role model for young athletes today so theywon’t have to be a headline tomorrow. It’s up to parents, coaches, and thecommunity to keep athletes grounded now so they can stay out of trouble later.If you’re not in trouble, you can’t get crucified in the media and you don’thave to endure what can be termed as an “unfair” trial in the justice system.Until that day comes, we can look forward to more Allen Iversons and MichaelVicks being made an example.
 
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