Yesterday, on Miami sports personality Dan LeBatard's radio show, former NBA all-star Tim Hardaway had this to say when asked how he felt about the possible presence of homosexuals in professional sports:
"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
He was swiftly removed from his position with a CBA team and David Stern more or less said he was no longer welcome as an ambassador for the NBA.
Here's my question: When he was asked this question, should he have done as he did and given his honest opinion, or should he have sugar-coated and/or lied to be politically-correct and save face? When given a chance to clarify his opinions, he simply said he was saying what other people are afraid to say and that he would say the same thing even if it was somebody in his own family (which a lot of people say until they are actually confronted with it).
This is why I think sports can be so nourishing to our society. If you listened to any major sports radio talk show today (Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, Colin Cowherd, Tony Bruno, etc) they were having frank and honest discussion about homosexuality in society and the responses to it in a way that is never approached in the traditional avenues of discussion about the topic because in sports it's not a political argument used for personal aims as it is in Washington; it can't really be commodified the way it is in Hollywood. In sports, you are simply dealing with real people and their real reactions, free from extraneous nonsense.
The same thing happened back in 1947, when Branch Rickey brought in Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers. It wasn't a political stunt, it was simply because he was trying to bring in the best ball player. But it sparked a nationwide discussion on the issue of race discrimination a decade before the civil rights movement was set in motion.
Regardless of what you personally think about homosexuality and homosexuals, the presence of a civil and real discussion of so polarizing an issue is refreshing in this age of cursory overview and phony ideals.
"For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise."
-Benjamin Franklin
No comments:
Post a Comment