[...] Dungy was wise, and right, to bring up the racial issue.
A majority of N.F.L. players are African-American. He knows the stereotypes, and he knows how hard it has been for African-Americans to become executives and coaches.
Was I offended by the desperate-for-ratings stunt from a moral perspective?
Please.
I have a teenage daughter. I'm anesthetized to pop culture: the butt shaking, the skimpy clothes, all the fake thugs and gangstas.
I also wasn't offended that it depicted a white woman seducing a black man.
White women and black men have been jumping into one another's arms for centuries - and folks have been up in arms about it for centuries.
What I found troubling was the reaction to the whole episode. It reflected a biased system that holds African-Americans to different standards of behavior.
They are judged more harshly for the same offenses and given less credit for the same accomplishments.
Janet Jackson was involved in the infamous Super Bowl halftime episode with Justin Timberlake in February. He tore away a part of her costume and exposed her breast.
Yet Timberlake was portrayed as the naïve white kid, and Jackson as the oversexed black temptress.
Owens issued an apology Thursday; I haven't heard from Sheridan. A black woman has her clothes ripped off by a white man and she's demonized. A naked white woman jumps into a black man's arms, and he apologizes. [...]
| Go back for the rest of William C. Rhoden's New York Times opinion-essay "In 'Monday Night' Fallout, a Deeper Racial Issue"
posted in articles on November 21, 2004 6:11 PM | t (1)
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