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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 5459
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 - 06:00 pm: | 
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Commentary
Fans View Bonds Via Racial Prism
By Ted Miller
May 9, 2007
SEATTLE -- A poll by ABC News and ESPN shows that black and white Americans view Barry Bonds and his assault on Hank Aaron's home run record differently.
The results will annoy a lot of white people, a predictable response to which some black folks will respond: Good.
According to the poll, black baseball fans are nearly three times as likely as white fans to root for Bonds to break Aaron's record (74% to 28%). Only 37% of blacks believe Bonds used steroids, while 76% of whites think he did.
46% of blacks say Bonds has been treated unfairly versus just 25% of whites. Of those fans of both races who think Bonds has been treated unfairly, only one percent of whites attribute that unfairness to race compared to 27% of blacks.
There has to be something we can learn from this, even if we prefer to stubbornly sit inside our impenetrable worldview bailiwicks, where opposing opinions are only the products of stupidity, immorality or greed.
So what do these poll results mean?
They say less about Bonds than they do about us. As a subject who illustrates racial divides, Bonds is largely incidental, much like O.J. Simpson was in 1995. These poll results reveal more about how differently whites and blacks view the context of an unfolding historical event with a controversial black man as the main character.
First off, few blacks really believe Bonds never took steroids, despite 36% saying so in the poll (call it an overwhelming, though unscientific, impression gathered from various conversations). Savvy poll respondents often don't say what they think. They break down the question and answer in a way intended to support their agenda.
If a magical being suddenly appeared and announced he would produce irrefutable proof of whether Bonds did or didn't take performance-enhancing drugs, how many of that 36% would rush their opinion to a Vegas bookie? Please.
This isn't to say the 36% is stupid or full of it. Their intention isn't to answer the question. It's to protest the process by which Bonds became a pariah. By announcing that, in effect, they won't believe Bonds took steroids until they see a needle sticking out of his rear end with their own two eyes, they are sending a message -- one of racial solidarity, one that asserts their belief in the continuing prevalence of institutionalized racism and one of stubborn resistance to a system that has railroaded so many in the past.
And if that tweaks some white people, so be it.
Remember how the Simpson verdict revealed a similar opinion divide based on race? The post-trial celebration in the black community was far more about Simpson beating an oppressive system than guilt or innocence.
To those who believe that perspective irrational, watch the HBO documentary "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," about a young black man wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in 1984 who spent 19 years in jail, 10 of which came after he had been cleared by DNA evidence. It will make you cry.
When many white people see a mountain of evidence against Bonds, they say "guilty" without reservation. Then they consider how much steroids bother them, factor in Bonds' loutish personality and decide their feelings toward his home run chase. When black people see the same thing, they question the messenger and can't help but notice another black guy has been singled out for ostracism.
They see a lone black man, even if he is the star of stars, being forced in his greatest moment of glory to shoulder nearly all the outrage for baseball's massive steroids problem. That racial component defines the context for them when they fill out their questionnaire.
Again, people know what's up with opinion polls, and they certainly are not above using their vote to manipulate the results in order to voice their dissenting worldview.
White people also do this. Here's an example: A 2000 Mason-Dixon poll found 66% of whites believe the Confederate flag symbolizes Southern heritage and just 21% describe it as a symbol of racism, while 77% of blacks believe the flag is a symbol of racism, and nine percent characterize it as a symbol of Southern heritage.
As a child of the South, I will tell you -- without an iota of doubt -- the vast majority of white folks who celebrate and support the display of the Confederate flag are racists. They use the politically safe "Southern heritage" defense to hide their primary motivation: to intimidate and aggrieve black folks.
Clearly, black and white folks still have a lot to work out.
As for Bonds, it's nearly impossible to find a kind word written or said about him. He's probably the greatest hitter of all time, but to many (including me) his homer record will be tainted.
Still, instead of merely smirking over these poll results, it might be meaningful for white people to shake off their bad feelings about Bonds and, if only for a moment, entertain an alternative view of the entire, awkward spectacle.
Who knows? Once outside our impenetrable worldview bailiwicks, we might learn something.
Ted Miller is a sports columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He can be reached via e-mail at tedmiller@seattlepi.com.
© Copyright 2005 by BlackAthlete Sports Network
BlackAthlete Sports Network-www.blackathlete.net
http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Commentary_1/Fans_View_Bonds_Via_Racial_ Prism.shtml |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 9354
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 - 12:50 am: |
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What I find most interesting about this article is that apparently there are foks who might be surprised that White and Black American would have very different views of the world. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 8585
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 - 12:44 pm: |
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Like OJ Simpson, Barry Bonds is a symbol. Defiantly supporting him is a way for black folks to thumb their nose at self-righteous white America. |
Doberman23
Veteran Poster
Username: Doberman23
Post Number: 1001
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 - 02:52 pm: |
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i hope he breaks the record, i didnt care about it one way or the other until espn started putting him on front street everyday about steroids ... knowing that half the damn league was eating them like skittles. if he where a white dude i'd feel the same way.
o.j. is on his own, that verdict wouldn't have happened if those cops had justice served to them after the rodney king incident. |
Steve_s
Regular Poster
Username: Steve_s
Post Number: 249
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 - 03:05 pm: |
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It's true that the year they began drug testing in Major League Baseball, when it was still relatively easy to beat the test, something like 7 percent of the players tested positive for steroids!
I read "Game of Shadows," which I expected to be a hatchet job on Bonds, however, it's as much about track & field as it is about baseball, and it's a surprisingly fascinating documentation of the BALCO investigation in all its complexity.
Although the "accused" represented three sports -- baseball, track, and football -- and included many world record holders in track, the "big fish" were/are undoubtedly Barry Bonds and Marion Jones.
I don't care much about the quote-unquote sanctity of the homerun record, but I am more sympathetic, say, to the women's middle distance runner who was beaten 11 out of 12 times in championship competition by a runner who turns out to have been doping with steroids, "growth," etc.
My opinion is no different than that of ESPN analysts Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips who discussed the Bonds situation during a White Sox/Tiger game a few weeks ago:
MLB should fully celebrate the record when it happens, and it should happen at Pac Bell in SF, even if it means sitting him out for a certain number of games. Then the grand jury will decide whatever it's going to decide; there's no control over that. Anyway, I think it's a shame that Commissioner Bud Selg has said he won't attend. |
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