Whitlock Gives Opinion on Sean Taylor Death
Looks like Jason Whitlock is at it again. I received this article a couple of times from four different frineds of mine, so I thought it was something that needed to be discussed. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, check out “Taylor’s death a grim reminder for us all” on foxports.com. Whitlock goes to give his point of view on the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins. In his article, he discusses Taylor’s past and goes on to blame the problems we face as black people on the influence of the hip hop culture.
This whole debate over music and the hip hop culture is a hot topic and a lot of blame is being put on a genre of music that has changed the lives of many people. I’ll be the first to admit that every song out there ain’t right and it does have a lot of influence black culture. But let’s be honest with ourselves. Is society worse of because of what’s being played on the radio or is it something deeper than that? I have a three-year-old son and the one thing I’ve learned is that kids mimic what they see. If he sess me working in the yard, then he’ll want to come outside and work with me. If he sees me sitting around the house watching TV, then he’ll want to sit with me. If he were to see me disrespect my wife, then he would probably do the same as he got older. Kids are like sponges and are looking for someone to mimic.
If all they know is street life, then it’s a high probability that they will mimic that same way of living until someone intervenes and shows them an alternative. There are those who have risen above their conditions and have become success stories, but not everyone sees that potential within them. So they look around for examples and take what they see on television and around the neighborhood as their model for living. So who’s to blame? Is it hip hop, the parents, the media, the government or us as a whole?
Any death, be it at the hands of a white or black man is senseless and affects more people than we realize. We live in some crazy times and it hurts to see a young brotha, no matter what happened in his past, lose his life to violence. But black people, we do have some issues to work out. There are problems in our communities that we have to start bringing to the forefront. Even if Taylor’s death is due to some type of retaliation for something in the past, let’s continue to pray for this kid’s family and hope that others learn from it. Hip hop is not the cause of all our woes in the black community. Let’s start getting to the real issues and move to action from there.
Additional reading:
Sean Taylor’s legacy: Sad lessons never seem to kick in
December 1st, 2007 at 5:07 am
I don’t think that Whitlock is saying hip hop is the cause for all the problems. I think he’s blaming hip hop for encouraging the kind of thinking (“keepin it real”) that exacerbates the problem and prevents us from solving them.
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:33 am
I wrote an article, criticizing the way people like Whitlock responded to Taylor’s death for a black weekly here in Minneapolis. It appeared on a blog called Liberator
Let’s not cut A Brother some slack — even in death. (by Mac Walton)
I was saddened to learn of the death of Sean Taylor, a defensive back of the Washington Redskins who died from gunshots during a break-in into his home. But I was even more saddened by the responses to his death, especially by some African American male commentators. A good example is Jason Whitlock, black conservative sports writer for a Kansas newspaper prostituting for Fox News.
In an article entitled, “Taylor’s death, a grim reminder for us all,” Whitlock made a good point when he decried the sad fact that blacks are killing blacks. After that, Whitlock goes over the top, suggesting that Taylor got what he deserved for living in the ghetto and hanging around thugs.
“No disrespect to Taylor,” says Whitlock, “but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, the fact that a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are pertinent details when you’ve been murdered.” Oh really? Let’s take these one by one.
First, these are not details but allegations spoken in generality. Second, to say Taylor had “run-ins” with the law is not exactly a great indictment of a black man in racist America. Why a black man can have a run-in with the law just by getting into a nice car and driving down a freeway. It happens all the time. They call it racial profiling. Third, to say Taylor’s car was sprayed with guns is important to a police investigation but doesn’t necessarily suggests that Taylor did anything wrong. I got my car spray painted. Should I be accused of hanging out with Taggers or graffiti writers? Fourth: Taylor may have been “undisciplined” to his employers in Whitlock’s eyes, but Coach Gibbs, his boss, head of the Redskins and others around the Redskin said just the opposite. Here’s what the White media and some of its “boys” should remember:
1. The police don’t know who killed Taylor or why. They don’t know if the people who broke into his home knew him or not. It could have been so-called friends from the past or just a botched robbery committed by persons who didn’t know him personally but knew he was a rich athlete.
2. The police knew that Taylor had gotten into trouble and had hung around with people who got into trouble with the law some years before.
3. But they found out from people who knew him best that Taylor had changed in the last two or three years. He began giving back to the people who had been there for him: His father, the football program at the University of Miami, his fellow players on the Redskins football team, especially his three buddies on Redskins team who also played with him at the U of Miami. And get this: Coach Gibbs said Taylor was a role model player and the leader on his team. But, most of all, his girlfriend and those who knew them as a couple said Taylor was a loving partner and nurturing father. Some criminal, huh Whitlock?
Here’s the deal. We all make mistakes, but most of us mature and move on to be positive adults in later years in various roles: as men, women, fathers, mothers, citizens. Taylor may have done this before some of us, at age 21. But if you’re a black male, especially a rich black male athlete, white corporate media won’t let you forget the mistakes. So, even when you become a man, they won’t acknowledge it. Why? Because the negative sells, especially negatives about black men. Why? Because, deep down, we (White America, and some conservative “black” writers tap dancing for massa), don’t like black men either. But not only do we not like black men, we don’t like what they have come to represent: Violence in America.
Let’s be clear about this: No matter how this homicide turns out, it is Taylor, not the killer, who has been convicted of what? Being a rich black man in America? No. A scapegoat. If we’re going to get into the conviction business, let’s do it on the real, lay it down in the field and say straight up: We’re all guilty of being afraid of Taylor’s homicide represents: That America, the wealthiest country in the world, is also the most violent country in the western world; that this once-great country is in decline, with its middle class sinking into the lower classes and its lower classes becoming so desperate that it’s just about to go out of its mind; and a desperate people will kill not only a strong black athlete in his walled-off home with security—a desperate people will kill us. What we don’t want to come to terms with, and do anything seriously about, is that, in this new violent America, we’re all Sean Taylors now.
So let’s keep from addressing the larger issue of out-of-control violence in America by focusing on Taylor, especially his few “run-ins” with the law. Let’s keep it on him. That’ll sell.
Yeah. And let’s not cut a brother some slack, even in death.
.
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 am
Mac, thanks for sharing the article. It’s comments like this that add to the overall value of the website. I think it is time for us to be honest with ourselves about the issues we face as a people and as a country. It’s hard to do that without sounding insensitive, but I think it’s necessary. In statements from those that knew him, it does seem like Taylor had changed and it’s unfortunate that his life was taken at such a young age.