As a die hard Virginia Tech Hokies football fan and transplanted Washington Redskins fan, I knew Sean Taylor as an opponent to my beloved Hokies and as an all pro player for one of my favorite NFL teams, the Washington Redskins. When I heard about Taylor’s death, I was shocked just like anyone else. Even though we have seen this type of tragedy before, every time it happens, it still sends shock waves through the sporting community.
I have listened to the talking heads try to make sense of this tragedy – Taylor was only 24 years old and had an 18-month-old baby girl. The talking heads have been dancing around the obvious questions surrounding his murder until I read an article today on Fox Sports by award-winning columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black. And yes, his race is relevant to what I am going to write about later in this column.
Taylor had his share of problems on and off the field including fines for illegal hits on the field and DUI and felony assault arrests off the field. And it is beyond my comprehension how the investigators into Taylor’s death can come out and say they think that his murder was nothing more than a burglary gone horribly wrong. I don’t have all of the facts of the case, but here is what we all know: 1) A break-in at his home took place eight days before his murder. Nothing was taken and a knife was left on his bed. 2) Who burgles a home at 1:45 a.m. when people are home? What kind of burglar goes straight for the bedroom and shoots someone, then leaves, without taking anything? No burglar I know … not that I know many, but you see where I am going with this.
There has been talk that Taylor was trying to separate himself from his “boys” from back in the day because they were bringing him down – maybe a lesson he learned after the Michael Vick arrest and felony conviction. If that is the case, I admire him because I cannot imagine that is an easy thing to do. My guess is that Taylor was targeted and murdered by former affiliations that were not happy with his new direction in life.
His teammates on the Redskins said he had really turned his life around and if you think about it, we haven’t heard much about Taylor outside of his play on the field in nearly two years. It would appear that he was indeed making the right decisions … but it also appears that they came too late.
Back to the Jason Whitlock column on FoxSports.com. Whitlock throws out all of the politically correct crap and gets right to the point … the black culture is killing the black community. More specifically, the “black KKK” is killing the black man. That takes guts, Jason. You said what needed to be said.
Any white man that would dare utter or write those words would be labeled a racist at worst and at the very least, insensitive to the plight of black America. Whitlock says it is time for the black community to stop focusing its efforts on curing the hate in other races’ hearts and cure the self-hatred that is destroying the black community.
Whitlock goes on to talk about a new HBO documentary about how just 50 years ago, nine black kids in Arkansas needed the National Guard to keep the peace so they could go to a good school. Now, that same school is “60 percent black and located in a poor black community.”
Whitlock goes on to write about, “Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the ’50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poor black kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.”
What really hit home with me in that article was how black athletes are considered “sell outs” if they speak proper English, dress “like a man,” or appreciate your eduction. And who do you think perpetuates that “sell out” mentality and label? If you believe Jason Whitlock, it is the hip hop community.
Read the article for yourself and see what you think. If you decide to respond here, leave the PC comments at the door and speak your mind.
