# Mike Ditka: "There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503 "2017-10-10T18:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/21 "2017-10-10T20:11:29Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Evidence of CTE in a still-living former player. > > Or he’s a idiot. Hey, **running coach** , guess what, we need to be open to the possibility that it is likely to be BOTH!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/22 "2017-10-10T20:12:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ditka is 77 years old. He was fifteen when Brown v. Board of Education was decided. He was sixteen years old the year Emmett Till was murdered and Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of a bus. He was eighteen the year Eisenhower sent troops to integrate Little Rock schools. He was twenty when sit-ins at segregated restaurants started. He was twenty-three when there were riots at the University of Mississippi over a black student being admitted. He had been playing in the NFL for a year when Redskins owner George Marshall had to be forced to finally sign black players. Full disclosure: I don’t know jack about football. I just learned that in a couple minutes with Wikipedia: > **[Mike Ditka | Playing career](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ditka#Playing_career)** > > Ditka was selected by the Chicago Bears fifth overall in the 1961 NFL draft, while the Houston Oilers drafted him eighth overall in the first round of the 1961 AFL Draft. He signed with the Bears and his presence was immediately felt. In his first season, Ditka had 58 receptions, introducing a new dimension to a tight end position that had previously been dedicated to blocking. He also scored 12 receiving touchdowns, which was the most by a Bears rookie. His success earned him Rookie of the Y > **[George Preston Marshall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Preston_Marshall)** > > George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American football executive who owned the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He founded the franchise as the Boston Braves in 1932 based on the remnants of the Newark Tornadoes, a defunct franchise which was sold back to the league in 1930. Marshall renamed the team "Redskins" in 1933 and relocated them to Washington, D.C. in 1937. He owned the team until his death in 1969. > In 1963, he became one of the... > **[Black players in professional American football](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_players_in_professional_American_football)** > > Details of the history of black players in professional American football depend on the professional football league considered, which includes the National Football League (NFL); the American Football League (AFL), a rival league from 1960 through 1969 which eventually merged with the NFL; and the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which existed from 1946 to 1949. > Charles Follis is believed to be the first black professional football player, having played for the Shelby Blues from 1902 to... ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/23 "2017-10-10T20:14:51Z")
I love the idea that the players have no right to silently protest the deaths of people who look like them due to the state, but Mike The Dick can run his fucking whore mouth anytime he likes and say what’s on his empty ignorant fucking mind with no consequences for him, as if what he’s saying isn’t hugely political too. Eat a Dick, you disgusting shitbucket of a human being. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/24 "2017-10-10T20:21:54Z")
I don’t know of any good teams the Bears have fielded in the last 100 years, so there’s that too. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/25 "2017-10-10T20:22:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > This is actually the essence of American conservatism. It’s not an example of being an idiot - a lot of conservatives that I know are actually pretty wicked smart and could probably run circles around me in a lot of subjects. But there’s this attitude that “I know what I know, and what I know is all that needs to be known.” Agreed. Combined with “My experiences are the only real ones. If anyone else says they experienced different challenges in life, they are lazy or lying.” I mean, ANYone can be a success, right? If you go bust in your first million dollar business, just ask daddy for another “loan”, right? Just get into a good university as a legacy and parlay those “C” grades into a VP position at one of your daddy’s friends companies. How hard can it be? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/26 "2017-10-10T20:23:14Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I don’t know of any good teams the Bears have fielded in the last 100 years, so there’s that too. '85. Da Bears. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/27 "2017-10-10T20:33:25Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > '85. Da Bears. Never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/28 "2017-10-10T20:34:33Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > '85. Da Bears. C’mon, man. Are you that thick? Ravenman was using obvious irony. Everyone knows about the '85 Bears. Just like everyone knows about the injustices that blacks have experienced over the last 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/29 "2017-10-10T20:43:21Z")
[Neil] Hey Man, no need to get all heavy and uncool. [Neil] ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/30 "2017-10-10T20:58:17Z")
He didn’t see it because he is a rich, white male who was basically in a bubble. Therefore, it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/31 "2017-10-10T21:30:31Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > He had been playing in the NFL for a year when Redskins owner George Marshall had to be forced to finally sign black players. Yup; during his playing career, his black teammates were still experiencing segregation and discrimination. Ditka has increasingly become a crank as he’s gotten older, and this is just another example of that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/32 "2017-10-10T21:43:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > What did he think … A question like that should never be applied to anyone whose brain’s thinking parts – assuming they ever existed – were violently blown out of his head many decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/33 "2017-10-10T21:44:28Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There really are people who insist they’re not racist because they disapprove of lynchings, while the day to day stuff, the police beatings and the occasional shooting the colored guy had coming, all that petty crap the libtards keep yammering about, is just snowflaky political correctness. But there’s no more racism. It’s a marvelous defense mechanism. But even the morons who defend racism by arguing “Things aren’t like that now” usually concede that things were bad back in fifties and earlier. I never seen anyone claim that racism didn’t exist a hundred years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/34 "2017-10-10T22:44:26Z")
I am gonna play devil’s advocate, Maybe he meant injustices in the NFL or sports in general. African/Americans have done pretty well in that area. Maybe his pea-brain doesn’t think outside the stadium or arena. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/35 "2017-10-10T22:57:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But even the morons who defend racism by arguing “Things aren’t like that now” usually concede that things were bad back in fifties and earlier. I never seen anyone claim that racism didn’t exist a hundred years ago. Maybe a hundred years isn’t as long as it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/36 "2017-10-10T23:26:17Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I am gonna play devil’s advocate, Maybe he meant injustices in the NFL or sports in general. African/Americans have done pretty well in that area. Maybe his pea-brain doesn’t think outside the stadium or arena. But, as noted above, there was discrimination against black players in the NFL when Ditka started his playing career. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/37 "2017-10-11T01:43:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But even the morons who defend racism by arguing “Things aren’t like that now” usually concede that things were bad back in fifties and earlier. I never seen anyone claim that racism didn’t exist a hundred years ago. There’s at least one poster on this board who makes that claim. Things were alright for everyone back in the 50s, before the hippies came along and invented racism, sexism, and homophobia, in order to upset the perfect apple cart. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/38 "2017-10-11T01:49:04Z")
I think Ditka’s just like a lot of coal miner conservatives I’ve met and known over the years. Not a bad guy, means well, but just not very worldly. ANd no I’m not making excuses for him. I don’t take my pointers on civics, history, and social issues from people like Ditka. I’d still probably sit down and drink a beer with the guy and eat some Polish sausage; we just wouldn’t talk politics or get into mushy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/39 "2017-10-11T03:56:07Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Everyone knows about the '85 Bears. I didn’t. My “knowledge” of the Bears comes mostly from the SNL sketches from around that time, including some that mocked Ditka directly. They won a championship in the mid-eighties? News to me. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503/40 "2017-10-11T04:28:45Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Maybe a hundred years isn’t as long as it used to be. We miss you, Yogi Berra. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-ditka-there-has-been-no-oppression-in-the-last-100-years-that-i-know-of/798503.md?page=3)