OPINION:
Well, as just about everybody knows, no social justice campaign would truly be complete without an appearance from the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
So now, here he comes, weighing in on the whole NFL anti-national anthem kneeling thang — finding racism, as he’s wont to do, where no racism actually exists.
And you thought this whole NFL brouhaha was fading. Not so fast, mister.
Jackson is going after Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, who reportedly told fellow team owners in a private, behind-closed-doors meeting about the players’ on-field protests, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
McNair probably meant asylum; that’s the more commonly known way of saying the crazies ought not be in charge. But either way, McNair’s point was clear — and commendable. It’s high time these players quit their politicking and return to playing. That’s what they’re paid to do, after all.
Moreover, McNair was only saying what all the fans have been fuming for months — as the drop in advertising and revenue dollars would seem to point.
Houston Texans, when they heard the prison reference, weren’t amused. Perhaps it hit too close to home; perhaps it reminded of the too-close-for-comfort fact that so, so many NFLers have criminal and jail records.
Either way, McNair has since apologized.
But Jackson isn’t accepting the mea culpa. He says the remark was rooted in racism, pure and simple.
Specifically, Jackson accused McNair, and any owners who agreed with McNair, of having a “plantation mentality,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
And — get this — he’s called for sanctions against McNair.
Here’s Jackson’s beef: “They really should make the minutes of that meeting public. I understand there were some other things said that were just as bad from other owners. They have kind of a plantation mentality. The players are objectified in some sense. Mr. McNair is a product of the South. They act like he’s a victim or misunderstood, but those players have made him a wealthy man. Mr. McNair said he’s sorry, but he also said what he said in an uninhibited way when he’s in a private meeting with the other owners. There should be some kind of sanctions. Other owners heard him talk that way, and they shouldn’t condone that kind of talk.”
Not to nitpick, but don’t black rap artists regularly objectify women in their lyrics and videos? And not to nitpick once again — but wouldn’t that reference to McNair as a product of the South be a stereotype — an unfair, even discriminatory stereotype?
But let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good social justice outrage, shall we? The whole argument might fall. ’Lest we forget: The entire NFL player protest mantra is built on deception — on the faux idea that police purposely target and shoot blacks without cause. Now comes Jackson with more of the faux same. What a perfect match, one made in heaven. Once again, it’s the fans who are left in the cold.
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