Respect Your Host

A visitor to my blog started his or her comment with the all encompassing declaration “Black people are fools!” Not too long ago I would have felt obligated to post this racist comment about black people and engage its asinine source in a nasty debate allowing myself to descend to his or her level. Instead, I discarded the comment and posted a comment to the writer that if they wanted to participate on my blog they needed to stay respectful. To my disappointment, instead of the commentator taking my suggestion to heart, he or she made another comment saying something to the effect that I was being hypocritical considering my comments against Jason Whitlock.

It should be no surprise to anybody who visits my blog that I am no fan of Jason Whitlock. The sports writer for the Kansas City Star as well as part time commentator on ESPN just so happens to be one of the top choices for some network news organizations as an expert on what black people should do to put emphasis back on the word community in the phrase black community. Mr. Whitlock is quick to dump all of the black community’s problems on hip hop and black people.

I first encountered Mr. Whitlock on a special show of Oprah called the Town Hall Meeting. It was supposed to be an expose on the steps the black community could take after Don Imus’ infamous racial and misogynistic slurs against the predominantly black Rutgers University women basketball team. Mr. Whitlock felt that members of the black community were out of line for attacking Mr. Imus when there are so many black rappers employing the same language in their rap songs. Mr. Whitlock’s message was that the black community needs to clean up its act before it points the finger at someone else.

After that I did a little research on Mr. Whitlock. I discovered that never did this man have anything negative to say about people in the white community in his race relations commentary. When Tim Donaghy was busted gambling on as well as for manipulating the outcome on games he officiated Mr. Whitlock was busy focusing on Michael Vick. In Mr. Whitlock’s eye, the old but continuing news on Michael Vick was much more important than the late breaking news of potential corruption that would shake the foundation of the NBA with an intensity measurable on the Richter scale.

Mr. Whitlock is firm in his rhetoric that black people who support hip hop are the major source of problems in the black community. But Mr. Whitlock has never uttered an unkind word about all the white people who support the gangsta rap industry. While the black rappers and their high profile entourages are an easy target for people to point at. But who is pulling the black rapper’s string? Would that not be the music industry that controls what and who gets developed, distributed, and marketed? And wouldn’t this be the same music industry that is controlled by the dominating corporate culture controlled mainly by white people? And isn’t it true that according to Mediamark Research Inc. that more than seventy percent of the revenue generated by the sale of gangsta rap comes from white listeners? So why does Mr. Whitlock continue to push an agenda that refuses to identify the white community as an accomplice in the black community’s subjugation?

Other people will disagree with me about the ultimate goal of Mr. Whitlock’s worthless opinion. Some will say he’s only keeping it real. Hmmph!! If by real people mean he’s keeping the black community in a real sense of confusion and division then I would be inclined to agree. So when I say Mr. Whitlock is a self serving tom that is trying to pass himself off as someone who is sincere about their concern for the black community take note that I have reason for my supposition. I will support my view with facts unlike the obvious racists who visit my blog and make blatantly racist comments like, black people are fools that need to shut up and get an education and try honest work for a change. Such a comment is nothing but bigotry and xenophobia at its worst. It has no place on this blog or on any other for that matter. The hypocrisy of a racist saying black people need to be educated while he or she demonstrates their ignorance of black people would be entertaining if the consequences of such racial intolerance wasn’t so damaging to the black community. And I do find it interesting how the networks give his opinion on race relations more weight than gravity gives his considerable girth.

And for the record I don’t go to Jason Whitlock’s website, blog, place of employment, or anywhere else that could be considered his home turf and make my less than flattering charges of his character or do anything else to make a nuisance of myself. I would expect nothing less than my comments to be discarded without any acknowledgment that they were ever made. I regard the man enough not to go into his house and start raising Cain. I would expect to be thrown out for my disrespect. People who disrespect me should expect the same when they come to my turf.

My mother taught me a long time ago that you always respect your host. Whether you like your host or not, whether you agree or not, it doesn’t matter. You are a guest in their domain. Unfortunately, there are just way too many people who use the anonymity of the internet to disrespectfully disagree. Thankfully, I don’t have to let them in my domain.