The man was an ass, but as a 43-year-old guy myself, I can’t help but feel some sympathy in the there-but-for-the-grace-of-Dog go I. Besides, even if he was a muttonheaded bigot–and he was–he was still a man who was loved by a family who will miss him.
Certainly not arguing that. I have sympathy for his family. It’s just a shame that people who looked up to him as an athlete may feel justfied in sharing his outlooks.
Some people loved Hitler, but does that make him worthy of praise? 
I’m glad somebody else said it first! I’ve heard lots of junk spew from his mouth over the years.
:rolleyes:
Because I don’t allow myself to get wrapped up in what an athelte says off the field. I don’t care about his personal opinions anymore than I care about the personal opinions of professional wrestlers.
Why all this talk about “evil?” Nothing in the Reggie White quote posted above indicates this man was “evil.” Where’s the malicious mind in that quote? Maybe there’s more, but it ain’t in that quote and judging from the “evidence” provided – some here are making som unfounded assumptions about motivations. Why “evil?” Because White sees homosexuality as a “sin” and because he has, what I think is a simple idea of what skills certain races have, as a whole. Evil?? He’s not talking about killing homosexuals nor is he advocating that because of skin color, individuals should be barred from certain activities. For all we know, White may have taken a benevolent attitude toward homosexuals, since in his mind homosexual are “sinners” and may need his help (as a Minister). The quote seems to indicate that White thought of people in general, that is all races, as parts of the image of “God.”
While I don’t agree with White’s view of the world ----- that is a far, far step from labeling White as “evil.” As it stands, being a simple man is no crime and it doesn’t make you “evil” or even a bad person.
Well - on second reading it appears no one used the term ‘evil’ - just Hitler and ass and hate and bigotry et al. So replace those terms -
From what I’ve read, White made some comments for which he later apologized. His work with inner city youth and support of his church are a pleasant change from stories of sports figures falling into troubles from drugs and so forth.
Saying something which was later regretted makes him, umm… like most of the people reading this post, no? I’d say the good he achieved is sufficient for me to give him a pass on one moment of ill-conceived speech. YMMV.
I agree with Tigers2B1. His comments were wrong IMO, but not malicious or hurtful really, and certainly not evil (bad, ass, hitler, etc.)
White never apologized for the hateful, ignorant bigotry he used his fame to promote. As for his work with inner city youth, yeah, right.
I don’t want to piss on the man’s grave, but there is no need to rewrite history. You want to claim he was a great football player, you’ll get no argument from me, but when you claim he was a great person I have to call foul.
The man used the fame he got for playing a children’s game to promote hatred against his fellow man, and we have reporters saying “his heart gave out because it was so full of love…” Bullshit.
I know this is MPSIMS - but would you care to produce anything that supports your assertion that White was a “hateful” person? And - no ---- having a belief which differs from your own doesn’t make a person “hateful” in and of itself -
Having a belief which differs from mine doesn’t make anyone hateful. I am not fond of chocolate ice cream, but I wouldn’t say that someone who loves chocolate ice cream was hateful.
Having a belief that other human beings are lesser based on a meaningless characteristic, however, is most certainly hateful. This is not about a difference of opinion, this is about spreading hate against a minority group.
I suspend all of comments herein due to lack of knowledge on the subject. I thought Reggie White was a baseball player until this thread.
And I wasn’t talking about ice cream ----
So - do you mind supporting your assertion that White advocated the position that certain other people were lesser than other people?
And in regards to your single cite that White wasn’t involved in the community and helping kids - here’s an article regarding that $50,000 -
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_14189035.shtml
And of course, before the body is cold, we have the Usual Degenerates in to bash a lifetime of good works for his community based on one single speech that was later clarified through a major apology.
You people are fucking sick.
What apology? There was none.
As I’m sure you are aware, as well, the speech was hardly an isolated incident. White appeared in uniform in an ad promoting ex-gay ministries.
Was he a great football player? Hell yeah.
Does he have family who love him? I’m sure he does.
Was he a bigot? Yep.
Is it a shame he’s dead? As much of a shame as it is when anyone dies, with the added sadness that he never lived to atone for the hate he spread in his lifetime.
Shoul he be treated as a saint? Fuck no!
Where’s the “hate” in what you linked? I suppose that means you’ve decided that you can’t find anything that supports your unsupported assertions that White’s believes were based in “hate.”
Look – Whether you agree with White’s idea of what constitutes “sin” or even if you don’t buy the concept of “sin” at all - I just don’t see the “hate” nor do I see any connection to hate — Seems like some posters in this thread should take a long look in the mirror before labeling another person as hateful - along with all of the other adjectives here that have been used to describe White. In fact, some of these posts might qualify as ‘hateful’ speech long before White’s life and deeds would rightly be described that way –
You know, I really detest this semantic game that some feel the need to engage in when defending bigotry.
His comments are full of ignorance and hate. I guess you compare people you have no antipathy towards to child molestors, but most of us consider that to be a pretty hateful charge.
Too bad you view the world as such a black and white issue Ace#1 – good luck -