Racism is something the world has seen for many years. It is something that has not been solved, and quite frankly, something that may not be solved for a very long time. Nowadays, technology and the Internet provide a space for people in the online community to say whatever they want to say. The lure of the Internet is that it is possible to be whoever one wishes to be. Anonymity is that one thing the Internet provides that other forms of communication cannot. Some Internet users abuse this power, and it is the abuse of this power that creates danger on the Internet.
The event that I Have elected to cover is concerning an after game interview with a player in the National Football League (NFL). The Player was an African American male named Richard Sherman. Sherman is considered by many as one of the NFL’s most elite players. Richard Sherman is considered a household name for any individual who follows the NFL. The event that sparked a racial outburst was a postgame interview which many people took to social media to express their feelings about. The postgame interview was not just for any regular game; however it was for the National Football Conference Championship game, which is the game that takes place before the Super Bowl. This means the interview that took place after the game was nationally televised and viewed by over 55.9 million people according to thewrap.com. The outrage from the interview
came from Sherman’s emotionally charged comments. Sherman started the interview by stating “Well I am the best corner in the game, and when you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree that’s the results you gonna get. Don’t you ever talk about me…don’t you open your mouth about the best, or imma shut it for you real quick”.
It’s overtime in game seven of the first game of the Stanley Cup, and; you score the game winning goal against the previous Stanley Cup champions. All is right in the world, correct? Wrong. The problem is you are black in a predominantly white sport, hockey. Hockey players are nothing if not passionate about their team. Unfortunately, their passion for the game got lost in their racism for one hockey player, Joel Ward, of the Washington Capitals. Joel was in the exact situation described before, scoring the game winning goal in overtime. I am sure after the game Joel felt like the greatest hero to hockey fans around, only to log onto twitter and see racist comments people were making about him.
By all accounts Arizona Cardinal defensive end Darnell Dockett is one heck of a football player and teammate. He was recognized as a High School All American by USA Today in Paint Branch, Maryland. While at Florida State University he was recognized as the best defensive lineman in all college football for several consecutive years. Since he joined the Arizona Cardinal’s in 2008 he has been a 3X Pro Bowl pick (2007, 2009, 2010), an All- Pro (2009) and National Football Conference champion (2008). Seems there is a lot of raw talent packed into his 6’4”and 290 lb frame, right? So what the good lord has given him in physical talent he may have shorted him on compassion and the ability to tell a good joke.
On December 20th Dockett tweeted this racist missive: “Apple has a new device for Chinese people. The iOpener”. The “oh my god he didn’t” response from the reading public was fast a furious. Overwhelmingly, most football fans and his Twitter followers condemned the remark. What did Darnell Dockett do when asked to apologize for the insensitive racial joke? Nothing.
Gary Chicaros is a restaurant, which has been open for 44 years now, located in Enid, Oklahoma where an important string of events has happened recently. The owner, Gary, of it openly discriminates against certain people of race, color, ethnicity, disabled people, homosexual people, and people who don’t have a job and pay taxes. Residents of the town say that the owner is running his restaurant under policies that are offensive and discriminatory.
Gary is quoted saying things like “I think I can spot a freak or a faggot when I see one” and “I don’t deal with these people walking down the street with no jobs and on welfare”. This caused a wave of Facebook comments saying he refuses to serve blacks, hispanics and people with disabilities like Matt Gard who is a man in a wheel chair. Matt was quoted saying “Now, he tried to find a weak excuse not to let me in with my wheelchair or the weak excuse of having loud people with me.” But after all Matt knew that he was denied for being disabled.
Race and Social Media 