Jason Whitlock column on Taylor

[warriorzpath]

Originally Posted by dgack

Just like Deion, what Whitlock is saying may be true, but it doesn't mean it's relevant or appropriate right now.

I read the following post by WaPo's Eugene Robinson on their forums and I thought it summed up my feelings perfectly about 90% of the "analysis" that journalists have been spouting in the wake of Sean's death:

Now that's a great article. And ditto on summing up my feelings.

[ChuckPrez]

Whitlock is at it again spewing irrelevant bull just because he hates a genre of music. *SMH*

[JWsleep]

If this tragedy helps to bring attention to and helps to stop the epidemic of black on black violence, then I am all for it. That would be the one positive I see in this senseless act of violence. I do not want Sean to be misrepresented or slandered, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it takes a tragedy like this to get people to act. And Whitlock, as well as the others writing this kind of piece, are (all?) themselves black men. They are best positioned to address this issue, and if they don't do it now, the shock of the event will wear off, and the nation will go back to simply ignoring as just another statistic the next black man gunned down.

And even if we learn tomorrow that Sean was murdered by a crazed white female or a jealous eskimo, it would still be ok to make this point. 12,000 murders in the US last year, and a disproportionate number of them black men on black men. I learned that statistic yesterday by reading about Sean's murder. It's a staggering statistic--3 times the number of US troops killed in the entire Iraq war so far. And we are numb to it--it goes by with basically no comment. If the Taylor Tragedy helps wake us up, then that is a good thing, IMHO.

[JWsleep]

PS I am not endorsing Whitlock's claims about the causes of this violence--that is a matter of debate, no doubt. But raising the issue at all is not out of line.

[JWsleep]

My bad. It was not 12, 000 killed last year. It was 17, 000, 10, 000 by fire arms. That's more than 4 times the number of troops in Iraq killed.

washingtonpost.com

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by ChuckPrez

Whitlock is at it again spewing irrelevant bull just because he hates a genre of music. *SMH*

I seriously doubt he hates it. Its just it's taken a turn for the worse since the 80s and early 90s. While there are some rappers who rap about things OTHER than bitches and hos and my 9. There aren't many. I mean you can't fight fire with fire. This inner city violence and violence among the Black community isn't gonna go away while there are still people promoting it.

[djnemo65]

I love Hiphop - in fact I wrote my senior thesis in college on it's early development in New York - so I tend to get defensive when people attempt to blame it for social problems which exist independent of it. The problem is this: Hiphop wasn't foisted on the black community, it grew organically in response to worsening economic conditions and declining urban standards of living.

While Hiphop may have provided a style and discourse for articulating the everyday struggle, it didn't create the struggle. The problems in black communities are, were, and will continue to be economic first.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

I love Hiphop - in fact I wrote my senior thesis in college on it's early development in New York - so I tend to get defensive when people attempt to blame it for social problems which exist independent of it. The problem is this: Hiphop wasn't foisted on the black community, it grew organically in response to worsening economic conditions and declining urban standards of living.

While Hiphop may have provided a style and discourse for articulating the everyday struggle, it didn't create the struggle. The problems in black communities are, were, and will continue to be economic first.

Okay I'm not crapping on hip hop, cause I'm Black and I've grown up in not the best conditions, so I understand where it's coming from and of course the base of all problems are economic.

And yes, old school hip hop DID focus on economic struggles. I respect old school hip hop. Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, I'm all with that. But I really don't think the bitches and the hos and waving my tech-9 around have anything to do with growing up in poverty.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

While Hiphop may have provided a style and discourse for articulating the everyday struggle, it didn't create the struggle. The problems in black communities are, were, and will continue to be economic first.

No but it has since glorified it. It promotes the types of behavior that have shaped a culture of violence and crime. I fail to see how so many people are blind to this. Whether one likes hip-hop for its musical value or not it is ludicrcous to me that they can't see this.

And to argue that the problem is solely based in economics is to ignore evidence to the contrary. I doubt you'll find anyone who would argue the the problem BEGAN as a socioeconomic imbalance. And most would surely agree that the socioeconomic disparities remain a strong force. But the culture of violence and crime is driven by many factors. One of which is the reality that in the black community hip-hop glorifies it. Maybe hip-hop was born out of this "struggle" and simply reflects what has grown naturally but it has become a driving force in promoting the longevity of this negative culture and something needs to be done about that.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

No but it has since glorified it. It promotes the types of behavior that have shaped a culture of violence and crime. I fail to see how so many people are blind to this. Whether one likes hip-hop for its musical value or not it is ludicrcous to me that they can't see this.

And to argue that the problem is solely based in economics is to ignore evidence to the contrary. I doubt you'll find anyone who would argue the the problem BEGAN as a socioeconomic imbalance. And most would surely agree that the socioeconomic disparities remain a strong force. But the culture of violence and crime is driven by many factors. One of which is the reality that in the black community hip-hop glorifies it. Maybe hip-hop was born out of this "struggle" and simply reflects what has grown naturally but it has become a driving force in promoting the longevity of this negative culture and something needs to be done about that.

Nice post.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by warriorzpath

Sorry if anyone shares this guy's viewpoint, but it is ridiculous to use this to compare hip hop to the KKK. And to call KKK the parent organization to the Black KKK, which he uses as a name for hip hop, is offensive.

What the hell is going on? Is Sean Taylor's death, an excuse for self-righteous journalists to state their social opinions on varying subjects? These articles seem to be more about social commentary and less about Sean Taylor.

Frankly, it's high time for self-examination and social commentary when a young man like Taylor is snuffed out just when he's getting his life together. If you don't believe that hip hop culture glorifies murder, and de-sensitives black youth to violence, then you're not paying attention. I think that Whitlock is saying that if young black men were killed with today's regularity by the original KKK, there would be moral outrage. You don't sense outrage to the carnage against black men today. Instead, there's a "don't snitch" mentality, again perpetuated by hip hop culture that rationalizes self-genocide. Whitlock and others like Bill Cosby who have the courage to speak up on this issue are spot on.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

Frankly, it's high time for self-examination and social commentary when a young man like Taylor is snuffed out just when he's getting his life together. If you don't believe that hip hop culture glorifies murder, and de-sensitives black youth on violence, then you're not paying attention. I think that Whitlock is saying that if young black men were killed with today's regularity by the original KKK, there would be moral outrage. You don't sense outrage to the carnage against black men today. Instead, there's a "don't snitch" mentality, again perpetuated by hip hop culture that rationalizes self-genocide. Whitlock and others like Bill Cosby who have the courage to speak up on this issue are spot on.

And unfortunately ridiculed within that community.

I haven't been on this Earth a long time. Less than 30 years but one thing I slowly discovered is the rush to solely blame someone else for one's problems is usually counter-productive for two reasons.

First-
In most situations the root cause of a problem is never singular. One can almost always look inward to find causation. Not sole causation but at least part of the causation. This applies to people and communities. I believe strongly that the black community can look inward and find some causation within for their socioeconmoic and cultural issues they face. Addressing this causation could produce incredible strides toward eliminating the culture of violence and crime.

Second-
In those infrequent cases where there is no apparent causation within one can almost always look within to find solutions to the problems anyways. To look outward is to rely on others to do right by you. I'd rather fix the situation myself even if I didn't have a direct hand in causing it. Again, here the black community can fight this destructive culture that seems to be pervasive without even needing to accept some blame for it's existence. To lay blame outwad and therefore generate expectations that those to blame should fix the problem will never work. It hasn't so far has it?

[70Chip]

First of all, I followed the 2005 case from Florida very closely and I have never seen anything that would convince me that Taylor brandished a firearm. That was the claim of the men who had stolen his property and had prior criminal records. If people prefer to take their word over Taylor's, then they have taken sides and in doing so are open to criticism. Second, I'm not sure that having your car shot at is an indication of moral turpitude. Especially considering that that shooting was in all likelihood perpetrated by the same people mentioned above.

The other things that are mentioned against Taylor are missing the Rookie symposium, being charged with DWI (later dropped), and strangest of all, the fact that he has been fined by the league seven times for illegal hits and for spitting on that guy in the playoff game.

Taking those in order, missing the rookie orientation was a mistake. It was an immature thing to do, but this country is packed from sea to shining sea with 20 year old morons. Hardly unforgivable.

Second, the DWI also indicates a lack of judgement, but again, one that many have made. Sonny Jurgensen got one in the 1980s when he was well into his forties. Was he inviting disaster? Ditto John Riggins. Could #44 be next? Being pulled over on the beltway near Tysons Corner on suspicion of DWI is hardly indicative of a gangster or criminal lifestyle.

Third, Taylor is a hard nosed defensive player. At times, especially early in his career, he had a tendency to cross the line but I've never thought of him as a dirty player. Ken Houston played like that. Roy Williams plays like that. Butkis and Neitcke played like that and when they are discussed it's folklore. It's cute. No one imputes criminality to them because of it.

Lastly, the spitting incident was a time when Sean went too far. How unfortunate. In terms of the league, though, I don't know how unusual it was. Chris Samuels was spit on in a game earlier this year. Football is a tough game. I don't think it's fair when you are creating a list of offenses against Taylor in order to imply that he is a thug to include things that happened on the football field, unless they are of the Albert Haynesworth variety and I don't think Sean has ever done anything like that. Some networks have decided to conflate the two.

[pg86]

Originally Posted by warriorzpath

Sorry if anyone shares this guy's viewpoint, but it is ridiculous to use this to compare hip hop to the KKK. And to call KKK the parent organization to the Black KKK, which he uses as a name for hip hop, is offensive.

What the hell is going on? Is Sean Taylor's death, an excuse for self-righteous journalists to state their social opinions on varying subjects? These articles seem to be more about social commentary and less about Sean Taylor.

I agree with you..

Quite frankly I am black and im appalled by the statements being made..its a real shame that people will use Sean Taylors death as an excuse to say that oh black people are in danger of dying violently.

Truth is WERE ALL IN DANGER! Bullet knows no name..and it damn sure knows no color.

If the player were white the coverage would be the same, bottom line is Taylor was murdered it doesn't have a damn thing to do with color, and I wouldn't be suprised if his killer was white or of another race. Murder is murder, and I don't understand whats so new about this that everyone wants to throw a race card...Im seeing more coverage on that then on trying to get a lead and bring the people that did this to justice!

[pg86]

One more thing damnit.


IF music can talk to you and it glorifies so much murder (BTW I listen to rock not rap)

Why not blame it when and if they do catch the person that did this. Then you can go and dig up Tupac or Biggie, or whoever it is that is alive today saying shoot this die fucker die and charge them with murder?

Im sorry but when I hear crap like that I scream get real and Bullshit!.

Ok I'll admit I listen to alot of emo...so if some kid cut his wrists because Hawthorne Heights said cut my writs and black my eyes, can we blame them for his self destructive behavior? Think about it if you still don't get where Im getting at here Im saying we can't blame a musical artist or a genre of music for peoples Deaths. Humanity is simply that cruel and they seek to hurt one another!