Ersatz Activism II
Like most sequels, this one gets worse.
Professional geo-politcal ambulace chaser Jesse Jackson last night took up the cause of Barry Bonds. He claims that since the slugger had never failed a drug test, the public dismissal of his record quest as a cheater's errand amounted to, you guessed it, racism. Jackson particulary objected, as I understand it to SI"s latest cover with an aterisk after Bonds' career home run mark. Shall we examine the Reverend's brief analytically? Well, a white man, Mark McGuire, has already been reduced to the status of baseball paraih for refusing to admit or deny that he took steroids before Congress. Needless to say, McGuire never failed a drug test, but baseball fans, not being complete idiots (at least not all the time) were able to read between the lines. Bonds himself has actually confessed, in a limited fashion, to taking steriods before the BALCO Grand jury, so why shouldn't he be treated as a paraih as well. Because he's black? But that would be...uh...racism. What's more, the career home run record threatened by Bonds' cheating is held by a black man, who faced real, virulent racism in his pursuit of Ruth. Why pray tell is it racist to insist that Aaron be protected from accomplishment-theft just because the perpetrator of that theft also happens to be black? Interestingly, few are questioning Bonds right to the single season home run record, largely because he took it from McGuire, another cheater, and Sammy Sosa, another cheater. It seems such a long way back to the real holder of the single season record, Roger Maris, a man who endured every bit as much emnity as Bonds, despite his whiteness and his committment to fair play, just becasue he was deemed unworthy of displacing the Babe (who by the way is still the only man to hit 60 home runs in 154 games without benefit of the juice.)
Unlike Aaron, who suffered the rants and threats of racial injustice, and Maris, who suffered the rants and contempt of icon injustice, Barry Bonds is suffereting the rants and fury of a public rightfully indignant that he looks to ascend to baseball immortality on synthetic wings.
Jackson's fight against the profound justice of public opinion in this case indicates how little he knows about the sport, the situation, and the ethical questions to which he speaks. That is of course a convenient position for an ambulance chaser--prevents the facts from getting in the way of the torts.
Professional geo-politcal ambulace chaser Jesse Jackson last night took up the cause of Barry Bonds. He claims that since the slugger had never failed a drug test, the public dismissal of his record quest as a cheater's errand amounted to, you guessed it, racism. Jackson particulary objected, as I understand it to SI"s latest cover with an aterisk after Bonds' career home run mark. Shall we examine the Reverend's brief analytically? Well, a white man, Mark McGuire, has already been reduced to the status of baseball paraih for refusing to admit or deny that he took steroids before Congress. Needless to say, McGuire never failed a drug test, but baseball fans, not being complete idiots (at least not all the time) were able to read between the lines. Bonds himself has actually confessed, in a limited fashion, to taking steriods before the BALCO Grand jury, so why shouldn't he be treated as a paraih as well. Because he's black? But that would be...uh...racism. What's more, the career home run record threatened by Bonds' cheating is held by a black man, who faced real, virulent racism in his pursuit of Ruth. Why pray tell is it racist to insist that Aaron be protected from accomplishment-theft just because the perpetrator of that theft also happens to be black? Interestingly, few are questioning Bonds right to the single season home run record, largely because he took it from McGuire, another cheater, and Sammy Sosa, another cheater. It seems such a long way back to the real holder of the single season record, Roger Maris, a man who endured every bit as much emnity as Bonds, despite his whiteness and his committment to fair play, just becasue he was deemed unworthy of displacing the Babe (who by the way is still the only man to hit 60 home runs in 154 games without benefit of the juice.)
Unlike Aaron, who suffered the rants and threats of racial injustice, and Maris, who suffered the rants and contempt of icon injustice, Barry Bonds is suffereting the rants and fury of a public rightfully indignant that he looks to ascend to baseball immortality on synthetic wings.
Jackson's fight against the profound justice of public opinion in this case indicates how little he knows about the sport, the situation, and the ethical questions to which he speaks. That is of course a convenient position for an ambulance chaser--prevents the facts from getting in the way of the torts.
posted by joe valente | 10:31 AM
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