Can the NBA ever stuff the criminal stereotype?
OPINION - State Rep. Pat Garofalo became the latest, in a long line of bigots, to let the immediacy of Twitter shed a light on their idiotic views...
State Rep. Pat Garofalo became the latest, in a long line of bigots, to let the immediacy of Twitter shed a light on their idiotic views.
On Sunday, Garofalo tweeted: “Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime.”
If you want to be charitable, you can call Garofalo’s tweet “controversial.” But, like the state representative said, let’s be honest: it was unequivocally racist.
Once the tweet was sent, reported, analyzed and rightfully judged, the next steps were fairly predictable. First, Garofalo claimed his statements were the always popular: “taken out of context.” When Deadspin reached him for comment, Garofalo chose conjecture and bias opinion to support his claim, writing:
“I was talking about the NBA’s high arrest rate and that their punishment for positive drugs tests are weaker than other leagues. No intent beyond that. The culture among many pro athletes that they are above the law is the problem, not people like me pointing that problem out.”
As you’d expect, that explanation was met with collective eye rolls. So Garofalo made the predictable second move. He fell on his sword, apologized, expressed shock that anyone would label him a racist (he tutored inner-city youth after all!), and released a prepared statement a full day after the original tweet stating:
“In the last 24 hours, I’ve had the opportunity to re-learn one of life’s lessons: whenever any of us are offering public opinions, it is best to refer to people as individuals as opposed to groups. Last night, I publicly commented on the NBA and I sincerely apologize to those who I unfairly categorized. The NBA has many examples of players and owners who are role models for our communities and for our country. Those individuals do not deserve that criticism and I apologize. In additions [sic], its been brought to my attention that I was mistaken and the NBA policy on drug enforcement is stronger than I previously believed. Again, I offer my sincere apologies for my comments.”
And as expected, no one is buying it. It didn’t help that basketball website TheDissNBA.com already undressed Garofalo, easily debunking his theory on the NBA and its crime rate with actual facts and data. In 2012, the NBA’s arrest rate was actually a full two percent lower than the national average.
The fact that Garofalo made a clearly racist comment is disappointing but not surprising. We see very public racism through social media all the time. And just because Garofalo is in public office, it really shouldn’t shock anyone that there are intolerant individuals in positions of power.
What’s a bigger problem is the consistent negative image and stigma given to NBA players. Basketball is one sport where we see the athlete’s faces. At games, fans are within touching distance. Fans see chiseled, tattooed, mostly black giants up close for hundreds of games a year.
Claiming crime would rise if the NBA disbanded is really just a variation of calling these athletes our favorite racist codewords: criminals, gangsters, and thugs.
This statement fits nicely into that narrative. We remember 20-year-old Marcus Smart pushing a middle-aged white man. We remember an angry Ron Artest throwing punches at fans in the stands.
We forget the athletes whose second passion behind basketball is charity work. We ignore that drug use in the NBA, while not perfect, is significantly less prevalent than it was in the ’70s and ’80s. We dismiss the NHL’s fighting as just “part of the game.”
Comments like Garofalo’s help strengthen the constant negative stereotyping of NBA players. What was shocking was that Garofalo was dumb enough to hit “send” on his tweet, not that he actually believed it. There are millions who agree with him but just don’t have the platform to showcase their stupidity on such a national stage. The fact that Garofalo actually has defenders proves that.
Garofalo apologized, we’ll talk about it for another day, and we’ll forget about it. Garofalo will probably win re-election. We’ll shrug it off as a racist politician who said something dumb. We’ll move on with our lives.
Others will say more racist things too. People will continue to view NBA players as thugs. The negative stereotypes will live on.
Crucifying Garofalo may make us feel better. Unfortunately, it won’t bring any progress.
Follow Stefen Lovelace on Twitter @StefenLovelace.
