“Racism” has become the battle cry of various minority group members unwilling to be held accountable for poor performance or naive comments in speaking out on issues they really fail to fully understand. Among those who are quick on the draw in utilizing the cry are Vice President Kamala Harris as well as other Democratic Party members New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Harris, refusing to even consider her poor performance and naive statements in office as factors in earning her the lowest poll numbers any U.S. vice president has experienced in modern history, blames those numbers on both racism and sexism. However, a more likely reason for her bad polling may be related to failing to do her homework. In March of 2021, for example, she was assigned by President Joe Biden to identify the root causes of illegal migration, but we have yet to see the product of her assignment.
Meanwhile, AOC, whenever she feels disrespected – rightly or wrongly – contends the opposition is due to her being both female and a Latina. She too dismisses her incompetence, which is sometimes difficult to forget – such as her outrageously naive claim the U.S. unemployment rate was so low “because everyone has two jobs.” Obviously, one just working – whether at one job or two is totally irrelevant – avoids becoming a number on the unemployment rolls.
Perhaps taking first place in the Democrats’ race-baiting competition, however, is Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Only six months into his term, he, like Harris, has distinguished himself by earning some of the worst approval ratings of any Chicago mayor in modern history.
Recently asked at a press conference about the city’s overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants, Johnson put the blame on right-wing extremists. He responded, “Everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted Democratically-ran (sic) cities, and quite frankly, they’ve been very intentional about going after Democratically-ran (sic) cities that are led by people of color.”
Apparently ignoring the post-Civil War efforts of the Republican Party that resulted in the first 23 blacks getting elected to Congress – achieved in direct opposition to contrary efforts of the Democrat Party (from which the Ku Klux Klan eventually evolved) – Johnson provided his distorted read of American history. He claimed today’s Republican Party is “the same right-wing extremism that refuses to accept the results of the Civil War.”
Politicians excusing their incompetence with claims of racism have been assisted by journalists going to extremes to promote that theme. A recently published story reveals how one unethical journalist falsely promoted the racism agenda, harboring absolutely no concern over who got victimized in the process.
The sports media outlet Deadspin published an opinion piece entitled, “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress.” The focus of the article by Carron J. Phillips – a black writer – cited an observation made at the November 26 Kansas City Chiefs’ versus Las Vegas Raiders football game.
Phillips attacked a fan’s support for the Chiefs with the comment, “It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once. But on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.” Phillips included a right side profile shot of the fan wearing an Indian headdress and, from the angle the photo was taken, appearing to wear black face.
A trademark delivery by the late American host of the popular radio show “The Rest of the Story,” Paul Harvey, always had a surprise revelation at the end of an anecdote he shared. A similar revelation is appropriate for the Phillips story.
The fan in question was a 9-year old boy. Interestingly, he and his family are affiliated with the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. Phillips solicited a comment about the boy’s attire from the tribe, which issued the following statement:
“We are aware that a young member of our community attended a Kansas City Chiefs game in a headdress and face paint in his way of supporting his favorite team. Please keep in mind that the decisions made by individuals or families in our community are their own and may not reflect the views of the broader tribal community. As a federally recognized tribe, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians does not endorse wearing regalia as part of a costume or participating in any other type of cultural appropriation.”
Apparently not finding the tribe’s statement condemning enough, Phillips went on to lambaste the NFL for failing to address such fan behavior and for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise failing to change its name, as the former Washington Redskins did, thus continuing to perpetrate prejudice.
But there was a reason the Phillips article only showed the young fan via a right profile photograph. A head-on shot would have revealed only half his face was painted black with the other half painted red – the latter one of the official colors of the Chiefs football team. Thus, a headshot would not have supported Phillips’ claim of black racial hatred. Obviously, hatred for either his native Indians or for blacks was the furthest thing from this boy’s mind as he only sought to demonstrate his enthusiasm and support for the Chiefs.
Phillips was immediately criticized for his deceitfulness and sensationalism in writing an article seeking to destroy a young fan’s special day simply for showing his game-day spirit.
Deadspin is not establishing a very good credibility rating for itself. Earlier it criticized the Miami Dolphins for hiring Mike McDaniel as head coach, describing him as “the next trendy, young, white guy who takes a head coaching position before one of the many deserving Black candidates.” Later Deadspin had to publish a correction, acknowledging that McDaniel was biracial. (To its credit, Deadspin did not suggest in its correction that McDaniel was therefore only half deserving of the position.)
In the half century between 1972 and 2022, the public’s trust in the mass media reporting the news “fully, accurately and fairly” has dropped from 68% to 34%. Articles like the one Phillips wrote do little to restore that trust. The effort to wrongfully and inaccurately target an innocent young football fan to meet an author’s social-justice agenda demonstrates a clear need to demand ethics from those bringing us the news. Who knows? Doing so might then motivate our politicians to follow suit.
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