[WillH]

Sorry, I may have been out of line. I will give up on this topic after this post because obviously Im a bit touchy on this subject. It just bothers me that there is still such blatant ignorance in this country, from both sides of the spectrum. It is a very strong desire of mine to see progress made in bridging the racial divide, but it seems there are so many people intent on keeping it the way it is. McNabb has seen alot of it. He has gotten it from both sides of the spectrum, from both whites and blacks, so I see what he is talking about. But I would have been much more impressed if he hadn't made himself out to be a victim (I already thought he was a victim in prior incidences, I didn't need to hear him complain), and had said that it was something that he regretted to have to encounter because of what it meant about that state of America. Rather he seemed to care more about what it meant for himself and his own career. Maybe there are some biases in sports that need to be resolved, but it seems to me that professional sports is a pretty good gig despite the criticism you are undoubtedly going to receive. Complaining about this crap is just not what is important in racial relations. I think it is more important to address the fact that white and black people seem to still be hell bent on distancing themselves from one another. In Jena, LA a tree was planted by two young men, one white and one black, as a symbol of unity. Many years later a group of white students and a group of black students fought over which group got to sit under the tree, this fight degraded into blatant hateful acts of racism. The tree was taken down. That is so sad to me. Rather then learning to hangout together and share the tree that their ancestors planted as a symbol of unity, they let the dream die. This dream IS dieing. There may be progress in racial equality, and some progress has been made in racial relations, but we still feel a need to segregate ourselves from one another. These are the things we should be concerned about. And frankly comments that engender ideas of divisiveness are a step in the wrong direction. And in some ways I think McNabb (and others) have leaned in that direction. The direction taken in racial relations should be toward bringing us closer together not towards pointing fingers at one another and creating more of a gap. Maybe what Mcnabb said wasn't blatantly wrong or damaging to anything other then his own career and public image, but it definitely wasn't in the vein of what the early civil rights activists were trying to accomplish. Therefore, I have lost a little respect for him (As I used to hold him in high regard). As for this thread, I spent way too much energy and emotion discussing something so trivial, but I guess it is because I hold race relations as of incredible importance, and to see others miss the point so badly makes me feel compelled to interject. I hope I haven't offended anyone, and I am sorry for getting all up in arms (sorry especially to you jsarno, it wasn't my place to judge, though I think you are completely misguided), sometimes passion can make us act like asses.