By Paul Strauss: In one of Floyd Mayweather, Jr’s latest little tidbits, he offers his opinion that Larry Merchant was under the influence when covering fights. Little Money’s loyal fans carry things a step further and call Larry a racist, someone who has never given black fighters proper credit. Ouch!
Apparently Larry has been able to hide that trait pretty well, because he has had quite a distinguished hall of fame career. How did he get away with being a racist for so long, only now to be unveiled as the dastardly Simon Legree who beat poor Uncle Tom to death! “Down down with you devil.”
But, wait a minute. Some say we’ve got it wrong. It’s not Larry who is the racist, it’s Little Money. These people go on to explain it was Little Money himself who made that fact abundantly clear when he refused to jump on the Linsanity (sic) band wagon. In fact, Little Money feels there shouldn’t even be a wagon! Instead, he said Jeremy Lin wasn’t deserving of all the attention he has been getting. After all, Little Money reasons, haven’t blacks being doing the same thing Lin has been doing without getting the same amount of recognition? Little Money then threw in the clincher when he said, the only reason Lin is getting so much attention is because he’s Asian! Yep, that’s it alright.
So, who is right? What the hell is racism anyway? Is it that word that’s thrown around carelessly and used as the phrase suggests…….”He/she threw down the race card.” Oh, oh!
One such abuse occurs when a person falls back on it as an excuse for acting like an annoyingly stupid or foolish person. Simply put…..a jerk! It’s those times when anyone of us who has been critical of bad behavior (or policy) can be labeled a racist.
On the other hand, the definition of racism is:
a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
So, consider the possibility that when someone gets criticized for acting like a jerk, it might not have anything to do with his or her skin color, ethic background or social status. It might simply be that people don’t like what you’re doing or saying. Shocking!
Consequently, if Larry criticized Little Money for his less than fan friendly style, or his ability to carefully select his opponents, he wasn’t being a racist. He was just re-stating common knowledge. It had nothing to do with Little Money’s skin color. Pointing out that the knockout of Victor Ortiz was within the rules (protect yourself at all times), but still a sucker punch is not racist. It’s stating a fact.
What Little Money is doing with Jeremy Lin is a little different. In the case of Linsanity, Little Money attempts to downgrade Lin’s accomplishments, not with facts, but with the “race card”. Simply put, Little Money is upset because of all this attention that is being given to an Asian, or maybe better put……..a non-black. He wonders, how dare the media and the public behave so foolishly? Don’t they understand their excitement and appreciation are being misplaced? It’s not fair. According to Little Money and his sycophants, it’s just another example of racism. No matter that the public likes Lin and enjoys seeing the underdog experience some success.
People, it’s not complicated, but apparently what Little Money and his entourage will never understand or refuse to accept is that people really do care about how you behave or what you say. Chances are if you act like a jerk, people won’t like you. Worse yet, you might go to jail!