Last week, it was reported in the news that Larry Johnson, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs was banned from participating in team activities as the result of expressing a three letter homophobic slur on Twitter. A firestorm of controversy erupted when it was discovered by the media, resulting in the Kansas City Chiefs barring Johnson from the teams’ activities. Later in the week, Johnson was confronted by a phalanx of reporters about the gay slur, and proceeded to make the same slur again to reporters.
In recent days, I’ve listened to various radio news programs giving their two cents on the issue. On Fridays episode of the NPR show Tell Me More, a panel of bloggers, reporters, and the host, Michelle Martin, weighed in on the comments made by Johnson. One of the commentators argued that locker rooms of every sport have players that make comments like the one Johnson made that are typically passed back and forth like the towels the athletes use. One panel member believed that it was important that the NFL make a statement about its intolerance of homophobia. He continued to point out that the athletes represented on these teams are considered role models and that the NFL could make a powerful statement by condemning Johnson’s statements and make the situation a teachable moment to athletes at all levels.
The host, Michelle Martin, acknowledged the inappropriateness of Johnson’s statements and expressed that the team responded accordingly, but questioned the legality of the League to censor Johnson’s comments especially off of the playing field on the basis of the First Amendment rights. The panel took varying views on the issue, but all pretty much agreed that the League has the authority to censor statements of its employees similarly to the stance that David Stearns, the NBA Commissioner, has taken in regards to on and off the court behavior from its players.
While it is fairly easy to denounce Johnson’s statements and to applaud the Kansas City Chiefs for taking such swift actions against Johnson, I question the team’s motivations. Johnson is a declining player in the midst of a dismal season. He is only averaging 2.7 yards per carrie this year. He has had run-ins with the law, and has had beef with his coach (which prompted the Twitter comments). Grant it, his comments are offensive, but I do not think the NFL is above getting rid of a player in decline when the opportunity presents itself.
That being said, most of us realize that what Johnson said was inappropriate and plain ole bone-headed. Do you remember Isaiah Washington? He made a similar anti-gay comment like Johnson and has been blackballed from Hollywood ever since. Even Johnson’s father condemned the comments his son made saying that he did not raise his son in a home of intolerance. However, if you go into any locker room in this country in gyms across America, you are likely to hear statements that closely resemble the ones made by Johnson by average Joes.
Last week I was working out in a nationally recognized sports club when two guys started a conversation as loud as they possibly could about their plans for Halloween. One guy asked his friend if he was planning on attending the Annual Halloween Day Parade in the village. The other guy responded that he wasn’t going to the Halloween Parade and that you might as well call it the gay parade II. The other guy agreed, adding that it was only for freaks. I hear similar comments frequently in locker rooms throughout the cities I’ve both traveled and lived in over the years. Men who talk about the various women they’ve slept with or are cheating on their wives or girlfriend’s with at the moment. Some men talk about the type of women they are dating, if she’s slutty or not, and in some cases the acts he has engaged in with her. The point is that some men believe that these spaces are free passes to convey homophobia, misogyny, sexism. Why should we be so surprised that a football player would use this type of language in a locker room, one that is the epitome of masculinity, when we here the same things in locker rooms we go in all of the time? Listen guys, I get it, guys need their own space. But do I really need to be subjected to the effects of the drugs you take for your prostate cancer on your sex life? I don’t think so. I don’t need to hear that. You’re still the man!!
While it is informative to hear from the panelist on Tell Me More that these type of comments take place in the locker rooms of professional sports, as a reporter why hasn’t he brought something like this to light before the show or Johnson’s comments? It’s probably for the same reasons that I didn’t say anything to the two guys at my gym. It’s harder for us to confront homophobia and misogyny in spaces that celebrate this type of behavior. What would it mean to be in these types of spaces and be free of the “isms” or to stand up to them when they are mentioned? My point is that we all play a role in confronting and combating homophobia and misogyny. It’s up to you to decide how much of it you will tolerate.
Role models do not start and end on the playing field. They begin in homes, classrooms, on the streets, and yes, in locker rooms. Although I don’t agree with a lot of what Charles Barkley says, I do agree with him when he said that athletes are not role models. Athletes can play a role in combating homophobia, but I believe that we all fall short on addressing offensive comments and behavior both in the locker room and in other aspects of our everyday lives.
Yesterday in the news, again on Tell Me More, a story was reported of a 15 year old girl who was gang raped at Richmond High School by young men aged 15-21. The most disturbing part of the story (besides the actual rape) was that onlookers witnessed this violation and did nothing. It may seem that I am a tangent freefall, but there is a connection. Young boys learn from us. This is not to suggest that there are no men who teach the right messages to boys and confront those who exhibit poor behavior. My point is that there really is a fine line between being silent in spaces that are safe havens for homophobia and misogyny.
I want to make a final point about social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some people simply believe that FB and Twitter are forums to spew anything they want to say. It’s not, people!!! While these sites do serve as spaces for people to share our opinions, it is not an opportunity for us to say all of the things that we are too afraid to say out loud. Maybe one of the greatest appeals of “social networking” is that sitting at our computers, all alone, we can air those thoughts that we can’t bear to say in the real world, even in our locker rooms.
Sheldon Applewhite plans on telling anyone who wants to listen to how much he hates men who grunt when they lift weights at a locker room near you.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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