Why is the Ward story, compared to the Rocker story, getting so little play?
Sua
P.S. Charlie’s wrong. From my reading of the NT, the Italians killed JC.
Why is the Ward story, compared to the Rocker story, getting so little play?
Sua
P.S. Charlie’s wrong. From my reading of the NT, the Italians killed JC.
Why do you think?
Standard racial reasons. White people must watch what they say, but African Americans can say things with impunity.
No big surprise there. That’s been proven to be true time and again.
What happened, I have no idea as to what you’re refering?
He’s referring to the strange case of Charlie Ward.
(I’m very sorry, but someone had to make that reference).
Thanks for NOT clearing that up
I think it’s a combination of things:
Ward’s comments were printed in a local newspaper; Rocker’s comments were printed in a national sports magazine.
Let’s be honest; if you’re black, you can say nasty things about Jews or Koreans or whomever and while you’ll get criticized, it won’t be as bad as it would be if you were white. Look at some of the things Reggie White said and people still worship him. Hatred of Jews seems to be a semi-accepted thing among a lot of American blacks, for what reason I cannot fathom.
Basketball players seem to get away with being more outrageous than baseball players, who are expected to be perfect in every way.
Rocket’s comments were just stupid and easy to ridicule; Ward’s comments were weird and it’s hard to understand what the hell he was trying to say.
Nice Lovecraft reference.
Could someone post a link to the comments, please?
Here is a link, stuffin.
Ward’s comments don’t go quite as far as Rocker’s.
I’ve always maintained that Rocker got worse than he deserved, when his situation was placed into context.
As any baseball fans know, Rocker was involved in one of the most heated, hate-filled rivalries with the New York fans, prior to his statements. I really can’t think of any other similar situation between a player and a particular group of fans, in any sport. (The Red Wings and Claude Lemieux come to mind, but that was an entirely different set of circumstances.)
Rocker used the heat and hate from that relationship to pump himself up. Because of that, he kind of personalized it, played it up. That is what I think was behind his Sports Illustrated statements. Mets fans had already said “F__ You” to him, and he was saying it back to them – intended, I believe, within the context of their rivalry.
He did this poorly, however, and his New York slam came off as bigoted. (Rocker doesn’t strike me as the sharpest knife in the drawer.)
So, what are the differences between Ward’s comments and Rocker’s? Ward clearly meant his. He stood by them repeatedly, until this latest, linked news. Rocker? I’m not so sure he meant his.
Ward’s comments remind me a lot of now-retired NFL-er Reggie White’s, another Christian zealot who seems a little misguided.
Hierarchy of prejudice:
Prejudice against Southerners, military people, conservatives, and Roman Catholics isn’t bigotry – it’s praisworthy. (E.g. AMERICAN BEAUTY. the “Bush is a moron” crowd, and the Brooklyn Art Museum flap). On the other hand, prejudice BY these people is particularly atrocious.
Vice versa for Blacks.
Anti-Semitism seems to be making a comeback, particularly since it’s regrettably fashionable among certain Black leaders, who are, of course, incapable of bigotry, by definiton. (Still, I was pleased to see that despite Joseph Lieberman, Gore got a huge Black vote.)
Charlie Ward could have called the Pope or Jesse Helms a serial child-molester and there wouldn’t have been any flap.
Thanks for the link Milo
Yeah it sounds like religious bigotry to me. I’m kind of curious about the coments form Airman Doors, RickJay and december but rather than hijack the thread I’ll let it drop.
I do agree with the assessment that there’s a lot of prejudice against Jews in the black community. There’s some historical rationale (I won’t say justification) for it, but I would have thought it would have lessened considerably over the past decade or so.
Ok, so I don’t read the sports pages, but one big difference here is that Mr. Roker’s comments were made to a reporter. He had reason to believe that what he was saying could be quoted.
Mr. Ward (according to the link) made his comments in a bible studies class, where he apparently asked a question. Now, I’ll grant you that his question (if quoted accurately) demonstrates a bias/prejudice etc. but there’s a real difference to me in that one was a public, racist comment directed to a reporter, the other was a private, racist question directed to a ‘teacher’.
Of course, my memory of the Roker event could be completely off base (see, yet another sports reference)
stuffinb,
I thought our comments were self-evident.
Refute them, if you can do it without calling me a bigot.
I’m not sure that you can.
Ward’s comments were made to a Jewish reporter for an article that appeared in last Sunday’s Magazine.
Airman Doors, USAF
What you spoiling for a fight or something? I rarely use the bigot label (can only remember doing it once in the Pit). However I maintain there’s a significant gap between your perception and reality.
Actually, he was told by the reporter that the conversation was off the record, which was part of the whole mess; his comments were most definitely not intended for public consumption.
As unpopular as it is to say, I have to agree with Milossarian; Rocker’s treatment by Major League Baseball was appalling. He was suspended for a month for what essentially amounted to a dumb joke made in private, and this in a sport where a month’s suspension is just about the longest disciplinary suspension I’ve EVER heard of, not counting gambling suspensions. Frankly, that’s absurd; it’s ludicrous to allow an employer to suspend an employee for making a bad joke while driving their own damned automobile when he had been personally assured it wasn’t going to be quoted. That does’t make it right that he said it, but a month’s suspension?
I admit that I was of the understanding that Ward had made his comments in private as well, but perhaps I was wrong.
No, I’m not spoiling for a fight.
That was very prickish of me to say that.
So I’ll retract that forthwith, and I issue you a personal apology.
I’m sorry for maligning you. It won’t happen again.
Happily accepted. Perhaps you and I have a new thread idea. But I’ll probably wait till I get back from VA next week to pursue it.
The comments by Rocker got reported by the media way more than they should have. So did the comments by Ward. But it’s hardly suprising that the right is trying to use this to bolster it’s case that Blacks get treated better than Whites when making discriminatory comments. Ward refered to a historical event. Rocker insulted large groups of people. There is a difference.
Maybe the real question is why Ward is being treated differently from Paul Weyrich.
Both Rocker and Ward are dumbasses who made moronic, bigoted remarks (Oh, Charlie? That’s “New York” on your uniform. Maybe you and your slightly less offensive buddy Allan Houston would be more comfortable playing for the Hayden Lake, Idaho Running Racists).
Rocker insulted several groups of people, without a religious cover to his bigotry, which might partially explain the lesser reaction to Ward et al. Unfortunately, there are still too many people willing to make excuses for black anti-Semitism, for reasons that seem racist to me (i.e. excusing bigoted behavior on the grounds that the bigots have been oppressed and can’t help themselves).
Still, Ward, Rocker and fellow slack-jawed idiots should have the right to be fools without their Commissioners sending them off to Re-Education Camp. And I have the right to boo or boycott the games.
Ward stated that Jews “have his (Christ’s) blood on their hands” (note use of the present tense), also that Jews “persecute Christians every day”.
Now all we need is somebody to point out that Ward is merely expressing the views of mainstream Christianity.