Note: When this diary was published Galtisalie was still a separate pseudonym from Francisco Nejdanov Solomin. Here's an explanation for the prior separate pseudonyms and the decision to discard the separation: http://www.dailykos.com/...
I did a little diary the other day about the situation of the Miami Dolphins' Jonathan Martin, comparing it to the commonplace and equally tragic situation of the poor, and often minority and female, who are pressured to buy luxury goods (well-described in substantial pieces by Tressie Mcmillan Cottom and chaunceydevega; see also this piece by Francisco Nejdanov Solomin). Now, with even more emerging details available on the Jonathan Martin situation, I feel it may be getting beyond my pay grade as a bi-ethnic (half-brown) male Miami Dolphins fan. But Jason Whitlock has written a follow-up that involves such a significant analysis of the situation, entitled "Martin walked into a twisted world," that I want to at least make sure something goes up at Daily Kos to bring it into a discussion.
Here is the opening to Mr. Whitlock's piece:
Mass incarceration has turned segments of Black America so upside down that a tatted-up, N-word-tossing white goon is more respected and accepted than a soft-spoken, highly intelligent black Stanford graduate.
According to a story in the Miami Herald, black Dolphins players granted Richie Incognito "honorary" status as a black man while feeling little connection to Jonathan Martin.
Welcome to Incarceration Nation, where the mindset of the Miami Dolphins' locker room mirrors the mentality of a maximum-security prison yard and where a wide swath of America believes the nonviolent intellectual needs to adopt the tactics of the barbarian.
I think there is valuable analysis in Whitlock's piece, but I am not sure about the criticisms he makes of rap, etc. It seems to me that he may be accurately focused on some of the symptoms of a sick society but then leaves the situation hanging out of its full economic and political context. He seems to be good on some of the diagnosis; however, he fails to suggest a solution, which is deep system change so that minorities and the poor have more decent economic options than desperately trying to be part of the sports or entertainment industries, and seeking to avoid the prison-industrial complex he justly condemns. Maybe I am expecting too much from a generally excellent analysis at a sports website, but the full economic and political truth is an important part of the truth.
(Gotta go, but at least wanted to post something on this.)
6:10 AM PT: I'm not where I can edit this diary, but I at least want to clarify the first sentence where I use the term "equally tragic." I meant that often the invisible poor, and in turn often minority and female, have to endure awful prejudice and sometimes even brutality, and that sometimes they also feel pressured to fit in through buying luxury goods or passively listening to racist statements, etc. I was not intending to suggest in any way that brutality = being pressured to buy luxury goods, but that they all can be signs and symptoms on a continuum of divide-and-conquer oppression designed and benefiting the powerful.
6:25 AM PT: Thanks to the tip from Bob Johnson below, I looked for the radio interview of Mr. Whitlock on the subject. I think/hope this is the link: http://espn.go.com/...
1:55 PM PT: Please check out this amazing take: http://www.grantland.com/... which considers the unhealthy culture of unsympathetic ignoring of mental pain in the NFL.
2:29 PM PT: Another really good analysis, this one by a biracial male: http://mmqb.si.com/....
Please be forewarned of offensive language, but the author is very sensitive in explaining the extreme pain these words have caused him.