2 Minutes for Terrell Owens and Stanley
Love it or hate it, the media controls perception with limited
self-control or regulation. The media felt that O.J was guilty
and persuaded the unofficial court of public opinion to the same
conclusion. The same went for Michael Jackson. I am not here to
say that there is racism to the same level as either the Abe
Lincoln or Luther King Jr era's, but it sugar coating the facts
that the very fabric of America's current pop culture has grown
from the seeds of racial intolerance. Take 2 minutes to think
about the 2 biggest stories in the last several months involving
African Americans.
There was no secret that Mr. Owens was a verbal ticking time
bomb, and the media would rush to his house just to watch him to
sit ups outdoors waiting for something stupid to come out of his
mouth. Now, no one put a gun to his head or pulled a string
behind his back to force him to talk (although his last press
conference with his agent was about as close as you can get), so
the fault of speaking without thinking, or worse still, speaking
nonsense even after having thought, is 100% his. The Eagles knew
what type of person they were getting when they signed him to a
contract. Terrell had literally attacked the manhood of Jeff
Garcia and was consistently openly critical about the
organisations and team mates he played with. Let's be clear
about this however, as we are in no way condoning the statements
made by Terrell. We are simply stating that it is not a news
story if a cow goes "moo". Especially when you are interviewing
a superstar athlete during a season when a championship calibre
team is not playing up to expectations, you can't expect him to
be talking about candy and roses. The media calls Jeremy Shockey
a playboy and someone who can enjoy the New York limelight when
he starts speaking out, or will call Peyton Manning a leader
when he verbally berates his team mates during the game. Joe
Namath makes a sexual pass at a female reporter while
intoxicated on Monday Night Football, and the story is barely
picked up and then sent to the back pages within days. Terrell
Owens is not a likeable guy, if you are unlikely and black, the
media will be on you until you are destroyed.
Switching gears, you have the recently executed formal
gang-leader, but Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Stanley "Tookie"
Williams. Tookie Williams was convicted in 1981 for the murder
of 4 individuals in two separate incidents. The interesting
thing about 1981 is that it was not long the various Black
Awareness movements and the newly revealed police planting of
evidence that is coming to light were running rampant. We doubt
there is much debate on whether you can rise in a gang without
having committed murder, and Tookie has never said he never
committed murder, only not those specific murders he was
sentenced to die for. The question though, as CNN continues to
play interviews with the mother of one of the victims, and gives
more air time to people that are for the death penalty, is not
whether Tookie should not die in prison, but how and when that
should happen. Tookie was doing much in gang relations as he
helped mediate codes of conduct for gangs to follow, and was
very active for the impoverished youth by teaching them how NOT
to end of joining gangs. There is no doubt that Tookie Williams
was not going to be released, but it is important to note that
there was not one shred of evidence to show that Tookie was
actively involved with any criminal activity. What a waste. How
many more lives could he have saved by keeping kids out of
gangs, who will eventually take the life of another in order to
gain status. By changing the hearts of one individual, Tookie
was saving at least 2 lives.