No more Jason Collins talk PLEASE

You know what? I'm tired of this Jason Collins foolishness.  This fella has been all over the ESPN and other news channels to a sickening degree.  The fact that they called the president back to answer a question about how he felt about this fella "coming out" is just unreal to me. His orientation is his orientation and whether or not it was a good or bad idea to come out and fully claim that orientation is between him and God.  They are trying to make this a big deal by calling him the "first active player to come out". This guy is a 34 year old, free agent whose only career stat above the number 4 is the amount of minutes he plays per game and may not get signed again (making him inactive). What I wait for is the "they didn't sign him because he's gay" statement. To which I will reply "No, they didn't sign him because he is a 34 year old, free agent whose only career stat above the number 4 is the amount of minutes he plays per game. He's not really all that great of a player; he's just big." And the war will go on.
What puzzles me is this undertone of "reverse homophobia" sweeping the nation.  It seems like people are going out of their way to say something positive about gay people just so they won't get automatically labeled "anti-gay".  If you say anything about the moral line of this nation going up or down.... if, when asked, you choose not to answer whether or not you agree with gay marriage.... if you refer, at all, to the book that many of the founding fathers held in high regard - the same book that presidents place their hand upon to be sworn into office - you are now labeled as a person who is "judging" the homosexual.  Is that a fair assessment? Is it fair to put someone in a position where, if they don't promote your cause, they are automatically wrong? Doesn't that stifle the freedom of speech that we are all supposed have? 

And, to get it out of the way before you even think to tie this into the racial civil rights movements, I'll go ahead and disagree with you: No, I don't think the black struggle should be compared to being gay.  Why, you ask?  Because you can live a fairly normal life without anybody knowing what is going on in your bedroom but "blackness" is something a racist can always look at like a scarlet letter.  A black person wasn't even considered a full person.  A black person was property. A black person was forced to sit in certain "lesser than" areas of building and public transportation. A black person was denied employment, promotions, loans... I could go on.  The residue of this treatment and the mentalities that fuel them still exist to this day. Yes, gay people have been subject to some of the same treatment in the past but they also have the luxury of keeping their private matters... well... private.  Nobody had a clue that Jason Collins was gay; the general public didn't even care. And so the question becomes: Why is this news?! Why even tell a reporter? Maybe I should go to a reporter and announce my blackness tomorrow... and then announce that I have been secretly African American for the last 10+ years...

Of course I'm being facetious about the announcement of my blackness but the point I'm trying to make is that this isn't Jackie Robinson integrating Major League Baseball; plenty of people have came out and said they were gay. The only difference is that they waited until they were fully retired from their sports. While I think everyone should be treated fairly - discrimination is not cool - giving Jason Collins this much attention just seems a little bit overboard. But maybe I'm wrong... maybe there is no reverse homophobia... or reverse racism for that matter.  I don't know... 


2 comments:

  1. FIRST let me say that I agree with most of what you said. HOWEVER, lol, I think it's a big deal in the "sports world" because he is a current active player (regardless of his level of scrubiness). In the real world, this probably shouldn't be front page news or even Presidential comment-worthy but any athlete on any level beyond little league knows that this is like a big deal. And not just for him but for pro sports. Personally I believe we live in a society that has become way too obsessed with being politically correct which is such b.s. considering the amount underlying discrimination and inequality that exists (but I digress). All of the kudos Collins is receiving is just people jumping on the bandwagon of political correctness. It's like a white person saying "I have no problems with black people", but if one tried to date their daughter, their real feelings will come out. My point is now that he's "out", and that barrier is down, it's like a first step to it becoming "normal". (Sorry didn't mean to get so long winded).

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    1. Yeah man, I feel you about the "barrier" and that "I have no problems with black people" comment outs spot on.

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