On Reid, Negro, McGwire and Apologies

(Note from Randal... I actually wrote this blog entry about a week ago, but have been lazy about posting it. Although the media has moved on, I still feel that these are important topics.)

The country has been reeling for the last week from the fact that Harry Reid apparently said that Barack Obama was electable because he was light-skinned and spoke with no “negro dialect” unless he wants to.

Let's be clear about what Mr. Reid was saying without the politically-correct veneer, shall we? Before the election, I was telling people that I thought that Obama would be our first black president because he is non-threatening to whites, which is, at his heart, the same thing that Mr. Reid was saying. Jesse Jackson, as much as I liked him, was non-electable because insecure whites see him as a threat. Al Sharpton is not electable for the same reason.

I think that the main issue here, though, is Reid's use of the unfortunate phrase “negro dialect”. Specifically, his use of the word “negro”.

Negro, please.

I realize that there are a lot of people out there... younger people especially... who don't realize that, up until about thirty years ago, “negro” was the politically correct way to refer to the sons and daughters of Africa and the Carribean islands. So at the very WORST, I think that makes Mr. Reid out of touch, but not a racist. I mean, the term “negro” is not racist. In Spanish, the word simply means “black”. It is old-fashioned, but not derogatory in any way. So his his comment about “negro dialect” racist? Again, I would argue that it is not. Many African-Americans use a particular dialect when they speak. A few years ago, this was given the name “ebonics”, which I, frankly, find MASSIVELY racist.

I also noticed that a lot of the talking heads who have been harping on this are the same ones who defended Glenn Beck when he said that Obama's not a racist, he simply doesn't like white people, and that idiot Senator from last year who called the Obamas “uppity”. THOSE were racist comments, people. What Senator Reid said was not.

While we're on the subject of words, let's talk about Mark McGuire for a second. For the record, as I've already stated, I don't give a good crap if athletes use steroids, and I think that it's vaguely unamerican that we try to prevent them from self-determination. They know the risks. Let them alone.

Having said that, as I was leaving for work this morning, I caught of clip of Mr. McGuire saying that he was sorry that he used steroids.

Caucasian, please.

He's NOT sorry that he used steroids, and I think that it's idiotic of us to expect it, demand it, or accept it. He's sorry that he got CAUGHT using steroids. There's a world of difference here, folks.

There are tons of things that I've never been caught for doing that I am deeply sorry for. I try to make amends for these things as I stagger blindly through life, doing as little additional damage as possible. By the same token, there are things that I was caught and punished for that I am not sorry at ALL about. I mean, I'm sorry that I got punished, but not for what I did that got me into trouble. Why? Because at the time it was the right thing.

McGuire, please have the sheer 'roid-shrunken balls to not bullshit us with your snowjob apology, okay? You're not sorry... there's no reason that you should BE sorry for using them. You played magnificent baseball while you were on them, and THAT'S what we pay you for. Instead of this teary-eyed apology, trying to pity your way into a hall of fame spot, why don't you defend your use of steroids, and the use of all the other players that you KNOW are juicing?

I repeat in the open spaces that THEY MAKE YOU PLAY BETTER BASEBALL, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE PAYING YOU FOR.

For the record, this blog was written without the assistance of any performance-enhancers, because I am good enough at what I do without them.

Peace.

Rev. Randal