The word came down a few weeks ago that star female track athlete Marion Jones had declared bankruptcy; she could no longer pay her bills. The problem seemed to stem from two things: one, she was no longer invited to run in meets all over the world that once had made her a millionaire. No meets, no endorsements, therefore no way to make a living at her chosen career. And why was she summarily denied her right to make a living? Because of unproven allegations that she had used performance-enhancing drugs! No facts, mind you, just allegations. Marion Jones has never failed a drug test in her life, but that apparently didn’t matter. What was number two? The exorbitant legal fees she had to pay to try to clear her name and to avoid criminal charges for absolutely nothing! As “the Wizard of Rass” once said, (“It’s jes’ one o’ them zero thangs”, Amandala, Sunday, November 26th, 2006.) “Non-facts are just as good as facts. Without non-facts there would be no facts, and vice-versa, get my drift?”
There is no question that black athletes are targeted. The better they are, the more they are targeted! Anyone who believes that racism is a thing of the past is either blind or a fool. Look what happened to Muhammad Ali. He was stripped of the heavyweight title and denied a boxing license anywhere in America because he refused to serve in the army on account of his religious beliefs. Note that his legal argument wasn’t based on his opposition to the war in Vietnam. It was based on his constitutional right to be exempted from military service because he was an ordained minister in the Nation of Islam. The lower courts apparently only recognized Christian denominations. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Muhammad Ali some 4 years later, but although he had not been convicted, his right to earn a living was denied for those four years! Innocent until proven guilty? Not if you’re black, mestizo or poor!
That’s what Marion Jones got caught up in. As Colin (Hyde) pointed out in the July 4th Amandala, her personal life has been tumultuous and she apparently was badly served by a number of so-called “advisors.” It happens to a lot of African American athletes and entertainers, especially if they fail to realize that “success” simply means that you become a bigger, nigger target: and you are often targeted by your so-called “brothers and sisters!” She can recover, and a lot of us, including me, are hoping that she does.
Barry Bonds is another classic example of a double standard, to say the least. Check out, “Hank, we were there for you. You should be there for Bonds,” by Ernest J. Gaines, reprinted in the Wednesday Amandala from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It pointed out the irony of Hank Aaron’s announced refusal to be present when Barry Bonds breaks his homerun record, the same Hank Aaron who had to face racist death threats as he approached Babe Ruth’s homerun record in 1973, now giving tacit support to the attempt to crucify another black player who has never been proven to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
I don’t give a damn about increased shoe size or hat size: that carries no weight in a court of law! Besides, the Federal Government has spent millions to try to convict the man of “lying to Federal investigators.” They have tried to orchestrate the testimony of potential witnesses by crude intimidation tactics, including threats to prosecute the families of those witnesses who refused to cooperate and to force journalists to give up their sources of information. However they have zero, nothing! Yet Jason Giambi, a white player who admitted to steroid use, has been forgiven! Mark McGuire, who refused to even talk about his alleged steroid use just like Barry Bonds did; has not been pursued by the law at all. Besides, during all those years when those players were alleged to have been using performance-enhancing substances use of those substances was not against baseball rules.
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports has a long and complex history. Different athletes take different substances to achieve different goals, hardly the “bulk-up body builder” syndrome that is publicly associated with steroid use. I am certainly not an advocate of this kind of drug use, but I am also not an advocate of the kind of attitude that allows the careers of athletes to be ruined without any firm legal evidence of involvement, especially since black athletes are treated in a totally different manner from their white counterparts. If you don’t believe that, please tell me why Lance Armstrong is still worshipped as the demigod of professional cycling.
The late Steve Courson, a former All-Pro NFL guard for the great 1970’s Pittsburgh Steeler teams, devoted much of his life after pro-football to training youngsters without drugs and once said, “No one wants to take these things. They are aware that other players are seeking an edge while the team and the culture of the game pressure you to perform, perform, perform.” Steve Courson survived the heart damage caused by his use of steroids. He died a few years ago when a tree that he was cutting fell on him! Besides, not every sports tragedy may be what the press may want to make of it.
The death of wrestler Chris Benoit, after he killed his wife and his seven- year-old son was initially blamed, without any concrete evidence, on “’roid rage”, a supposed effect of heavy steroid use. I was watching ESPN’s “Sports Center” and a few minutes ago, author Shaun Assael pointed out that concussions are an occupational hazard for NFL players and pro wrestlers, and that serious medical research has shown evidence that numerous concussions are very capable of inducing severe depression as well as suicidal and homicidal rage. Of course, the NFL resisted accepting that research for years before it reluctantly agreed to authorize studies of its own, and the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is doing the same thing that the NFL did for years – nothing! Clearly, the knowledge of the effects of performance-enhancing substances is prey to the same ignorance and political posturing that surrounds the question of drug use in general. It’s unfortunate, and so is the racism that often determines who gets away and who pays the price.
Speaking of another legal issue that pisses me off! I certainly don’t feel sorry for former Durham Carolina prosecutor, Mike Nifong, and I am glad that the former Duke lacrosse players were finally determined to be innocent of rape. The stripper party was crass and a bad mistake in judgment, but a bad mistake in judgment and a conviction for rape are two different things. What pisses me off is the characterization of Mr. Nifong as “a renegade prosecutor.”
Mr. Nifong is hardly “a renegade prosecutor.” He is an all too common prosecutor. Please don’t feed me the bulls—t that a prosecutor’s job is to “serve justice.” A prosecutor’s job is to get convictions, and it has long been accepted by too many prosecutors in too many countries that convictions obtained by any means necessary are okay. This includes failure or outright refusal to turn over evidence to the defense, the deliberate hiding of exculpatory evidence – evidence that points to the defendant’s innocence – and all sorts of shenanigans, covering up police misconduct including confessions obtained by torture, planted evidence, jury manipulation and judge shopping.
The victims are poor and minority defendants who are often incarcerated for years for crimes that they did not commit. The Duke players were able to prove their innocence because their families were able to afford the 3 million or so US dollars that it cost to hire expert legal advice in addition to paying for the investigations that were necessary to clear them. If they didn’t have access to those resources, they would be sitting in jail right now, and they would have remained there for years, possibly for life! “Renegade prosecutor”, my ass! How about par for the course? Does anyone want to do some research in Belize? What is the percentage of defendants who are represented by legal counsel that are convicted of offenses as opposed to the conviction rate for those who couldn’t afford to hire an attorney?
I hate to say this, but I didn’t attend the Belize Covenant Movement’s meeting last Sunday. Why not? I have respect and admiration for Mr. Derek Aikman, but I become extremely uncomfortable when religion and politics mix. I agree that a person’s beliefs are essential to that person’s makeup, but when the two spheres begin to interact, trouble is brewing! The question always becomes, “Whose God, and whose beliefs will predominate?” The Bible, in the words of Jesus, roundly condemns the alliance between religion and politics, describing it as a marriage between the harlot and the wild beast!
Technology pisses me off! I can’t work without it anymore. As a writer, I am a compulsive reviser! I will write something fast based on inspiration, and then spend all kinds of time making small changes, big changes; all kinds of changes! Try that on a typewriter. Better yet, try that on your computer when the damn mouse or anything else stops working right. I started this article in the morning and I really don’t want to know what my blood pressure registered when I was finally forced to shut the machine down improperly or destroy it in a misplaced fit of rage. A New York Yankee player who was playing badly set his equipment: bats, gloves, etc. on fire a few days ago. I sympathize.
I also have acquired a brand new cell phone number, courtesy of one of my cats that chose to pee on my charging cell phone. For the rest of you animal lovers out there, the guilty cat is alive and well, and I still love her, although at times I seriously question my sanity! You can save your phone if it’s off when it gets wet, but when it’s charging, well not only was the phone destroyed but the SIM card was fried too, wiping out four years of contact numbers and e-mail addresses from at least six countries. I am now calling the numbers that I can remember to try to ask for those that I can’t. Should I have backed up all that data? Of course! Did I? F—k no! I tell all my SBA students that a crashed computer, a bad floppy disk or a virus infected flash drive is no excuse. I guess that in the end, I pissed myself off by not following my own advice!