Football, Hypocrisy and Cam Newton

One of the best books on sports I ever read was William Rhoden’s “Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete.” In the book, he provides a lucidly terse commentary, backed by historical occurrence, that the African American athlete and today’s sports industry are equally comparable to the slave and plantation respectively. More specifically, that the industry of sports today, whether professional or amateur, is no different than that of the slave era plantation, which was exclusively distinguished by white ownership and African American labor.

Some would argue against such but I would say his premise is on point, in particular with respect to the hypocrisy being evinced regarding precarious allegations directed toward Cam Newton. I have wondered, since the New York Times and ESPN ran with the story of him taking money “supposedly from a no name former quarterback,” what was the reason for doing so? It was strange because it happened after Auburn beat LSU and became the number one team in the land, albeit for a week. Now all of a sudden records from the University of Florida have been released regarding allegations that Newton once cheated while in college. Again, I can’t understand this, unless the University of Florida and Florida football head coach Urban Meyer have something to do with this. It would not surprise me since Newton was first enrolled at the University of Florida.

Now it seems that the mainstream writers and the coaches alike are doing what they normally do to African American athletes who are successful, or considered recalcitrant. But what can I expect; the proclaimed legendary Pop Warner, Coach of Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School threw Thorpe under the bus when he didn’t want to play football for him, causing him to have his Olympic gold medals to be taken away. Pop Warner lied and said he had no knowledge, when he did and knew that Thorpe would gross him $10,000 each game he played.

Folk the likes of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, and Willie Mays knew of this environment. Mays even told his God son Barry Bonds to look after himself because baseball didn’t care. As was evident when they looted the negro leagues for more talented players for less than half the price, the same way they do Latin American players now. Barry Bonds as a result of his attitude and his purported cheating via steroids use may not make it to the Hall of fame, when he deserves and more obvious cheaters like Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford have.

A say all this just to question the dynamics of sports, what is it that would make some suggest that Mike Vick less than a quarterback than Matt Ryan, or that Cam Newton, although a greater physical specimen, is not as smart a quarterback as Tim Tebow or Kellen Moore? I cannot answer these but It does strike me as strange that all of this attention, albeit it unsubstianted, directed toward Cam Newton, ironically happens prior to his race for the Heisman Trophy and National Championship chase. Maybe it is just me or maybe there is truly a level of unprecedented hypocrisy in college and professional sports – God forbid you use the R-word, for the reality is this is what Black kids who show exceptional athletic talent should expect.

Are Democrats and Republicans Trying to Ruin Black Politicians?

The current climate in Washington is tense. Not only are the upcoming midterm elections expected to change the future political landscape, but so too will the recent rash of ethical complaints leveled at prominent Democrats.

Two longtime members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters are being investigated for alleged ethics violations.

Both of the aforementioned have declined plea offers and have accepted to fight the charges publicly prior to the November elections.

Since the establishment of the Office of Congressional Ethics by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in 2009, all eight individuals cited for alleged ethics violations have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus, meaning all are African American. As such, many are starting to question if these investigations are racially or politically motivated.

The recent allegations against Congressman Rangel, who faces 13 ethics charges, including improper fundraising and tax evasion, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, whom the House ethics subcommittee has alleged broke ethics rules by lobbying Treasury officials for a $25 million bailout of OneUnited Bank in Boston, have given Congress a witch hunt environment. Waters’ husband, former NFL player Sidney Williams, has a financial stake in OneUnited.

In addition, the GOP has incessantly promoted an all-out ground assault against President Obama. Ironically all of this is happening while Republicans are trying to make the upcoming elections a referendum against the Democrat-controlled Congress and White House.

If the trials of Rangel and Waters do manifest, they may serve the interests of the GOP by driving a wedge between the Democratic Party, mainly the Obama White House, and his large corpus of African American supporters, and white Democrats.

The strange thing is that what Rangel and Waters are charged with is historically no different than activities conducted by former President George W. Bush.

Although to the dismay of many Democrats, Obama refused to charge the Bush administration with any criminal acts regarding his war against Iraq and his involvement with Enron.

During the first nine months of his administration, Bush used his presidential powers to assist his personal friend, Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, in covering up criminal activity. Bush fought vehemently against imposing caps on the price of electricity in California when Enron drove up prices artificially by manipulating and controlling supply. In addition, under the Bush administration, Lay was able to influence the administration's energy policies. In fact, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was replaced in 2001 after he started an investigation into the now-illegal complex derivative-financing schemes practiced by Enron.

However, the Republicans are willing to take the opposite road if they are able to win back the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has stated that he will launch several investigations of the Obama administration if he becomes chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Of specific importance to Issa is the Obama administration’s alleged interference in U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania and Colorado. Issa has attacked the administration with ethical wrongdoing charges consistently since Obama took office.

The double standard with respect to how Republicans and Democrats are being treated in regards to ethics violations sends mixed messages to the African American community. First it looks as if the white Democratic leadership, in concert with the GOP, is targeting blacks singularly. Second, it lets the world see America’s hypocrisy in regards to how Republicans are treated compared to black political officials, especially if one happens to be the first African American president of the United States of America.