If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I often crack jokes about my new barber. He's a talented barber and a multi -tasker. The guy wears a blue tooth, orders fish and chicken platters, argues with his girlfriend, and mediates a dispute between his mother and sister while cutting my hair. A few days ago while I was getting my hair cut, he even managed to sell a couple of DVDs. Normally, I would be a bit perturbed by this kind of behavior except for the fact that despite all of this, the man knows his business, cutting hair, and he always gives me an excellent hair cut and shave.
Like most barber shops in the black community, a certain bit of knowledge is dropped while you're either waiting to get your hair cut or getting it cut. Well, he dropped a bit of truth the other day while I was getting my hair cut that I just had to share with you...
Of course, you know that the topic of discussion this past Saturday morning was the infamous Tiger Woods press conference of the day before. People were saying everything from how sorry they felt for Tiger, from a man's perspective of having to walk in that house and face a wife after you've been accused of cheating with close to 16 women, to questioning why Tiger had to have a press conference in the first place... the general consensus being that Tiger doesn't owe anyone an apology except his wife.
One fellow brought up the fact (which I believe to be true) that this little dog and pony show was put on for the benefit of his corporate sponsers. With the exception of Nike, practically all of them have jumped ship on him. This apology was to get everyone back on "Team Tiger" again.
It was then that my multi-tasking barber hit us with a bombshell. He asked if any of us realized that a week after the Tiger Woods story broke, Shaquille O'Neal was accused of having an affair with another NBA player's fiance? He said that this story broke a few weeks after the Tiger mess and that Shaq has not lost one corporate sponser, is still doing those commercials with Ben Stein, and more than likely, will NOT be having a press conference of any kind. He said that he hasn't heard anyone saying... "Oh, poor Shawnie", the way everyone is saying..."Oh, poor Elin". Further he said... "Do you know why? Because Shawnie O'Neal is a black woman and Elin Woods is a blonde, blue-eyed white woman. We put a higher premium on a white woman than we do a black woman."
Of course, this could all just be construed as barber shop talk, but I can't help but think that what my barber said has a lot of merit to it. Cheating is cheating, as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that Shaq is just accused of one woman where Tiger has him beat by 15 more... but, if Elin's name was Elaine Jackson and all 16 of the women worked at McDonalds on or "Uncle Sam's" strip club, would there be such a furor?
I have to ask this because I always say that after a scandal, America will be outraged until the next scandal. Shaq's alledged indiscretions came about two weeks after the Tiger Woods scandal and yet, with the exception of black radio, nobody else is talking about it. Yet on Facebook, Twitter, and numerous blogs all everyone wants to talk about is Tiger Woods.
The media is just jamming Tiger Woods down our throats with such a viciousness and passion that it is incredible. Where is the outpouring of sympathy for Shawnie O'Neal? How come Ben Stein hasn't denounced Shaq's behavior? How come Shaq, who is just as big a sports icon as Tiger is not giving a mid-day press conference to apologize to his wife and to the fans who "he let down?" Is it because she's a black woman and no one cares? I have to ask that question because that's certainly what it looks like.
What makes what Tiger Woods did any worse than what Shaq is accused of having done? The answer is nothing. Most of the people who write the sports columns, pontificate, and moralize are guilty of the same petty jealousies and racism as the average guy on the street. It's not really about infidelity... they are men too and they understand the reasons why. No, it's about simple jealousy.
Shaquille O'neal cheated on his black wife and he gets a pass because he stayed amongst "his own" while Tiger Woods cheated on his blonde, blue-eyed wife. This is his real "crime" and that is why the media is so "outraged". How dare you, it screams! If this was just about infidelity, we would be off Tiger by now and Shaq would be sitting in a press conference crying, faking tears, and holding a huge ring he bought to show his wife how sorry he was for what he did and saying he will never ever do this again. Some of you (most of you), reading this didn't even know about Shaq did you? Because nobody's talking about him and he's probably glad. Tiger Woods is probably shaking his head going... "What? I don't believe it."
O.J. Simpson is sitting in his jail cell saying... "Unbelievable!"
Like most barber shops in the black community, a certain bit of knowledge is dropped while you're either waiting to get your hair cut or getting it cut. Well, he dropped a bit of truth the other day while I was getting my hair cut that I just had to share with you...
Of course, you know that the topic of discussion this past Saturday morning was the infamous Tiger Woods press conference of the day before. People were saying everything from how sorry they felt for Tiger, from a man's perspective of having to walk in that house and face a wife after you've been accused of cheating with close to 16 women, to questioning why Tiger had to have a press conference in the first place... the general consensus being that Tiger doesn't owe anyone an apology except his wife.
One fellow brought up the fact (which I believe to be true) that this little dog and pony show was put on for the benefit of his corporate sponsers. With the exception of Nike, practically all of them have jumped ship on him. This apology was to get everyone back on "Team Tiger" again.
It was then that my multi-tasking barber hit us with a bombshell. He asked if any of us realized that a week after the Tiger Woods story broke, Shaquille O'Neal was accused of having an affair with another NBA player's fiance? He said that this story broke a few weeks after the Tiger mess and that Shaq has not lost one corporate sponser, is still doing those commercials with Ben Stein, and more than likely, will NOT be having a press conference of any kind. He said that he hasn't heard anyone saying... "Oh, poor Shawnie", the way everyone is saying..."Oh, poor Elin". Further he said... "Do you know why? Because Shawnie O'Neal is a black woman and Elin Woods is a blonde, blue-eyed white woman. We put a higher premium on a white woman than we do a black woman."
Of course, this could all just be construed as barber shop talk, but I can't help but think that what my barber said has a lot of merit to it. Cheating is cheating, as far as I'm concerned. You could argue that Shaq is just accused of one woman where Tiger has him beat by 15 more... but, if Elin's name was Elaine Jackson and all 16 of the women worked at McDonalds on or "Uncle Sam's" strip club, would there be such a furor?
I have to ask this because I always say that after a scandal, America will be outraged until the next scandal. Shaq's alledged indiscretions came about two weeks after the Tiger Woods scandal and yet, with the exception of black radio, nobody else is talking about it. Yet on Facebook, Twitter, and numerous blogs all everyone wants to talk about is Tiger Woods.
The media is just jamming Tiger Woods down our throats with such a viciousness and passion that it is incredible. Where is the outpouring of sympathy for Shawnie O'Neal? How come Ben Stein hasn't denounced Shaq's behavior? How come Shaq, who is just as big a sports icon as Tiger is not giving a mid-day press conference to apologize to his wife and to the fans who "he let down?" Is it because she's a black woman and no one cares? I have to ask that question because that's certainly what it looks like.
What makes what Tiger Woods did any worse than what Shaq is accused of having done? The answer is nothing. Most of the people who write the sports columns, pontificate, and moralize are guilty of the same petty jealousies and racism as the average guy on the street. It's not really about infidelity... they are men too and they understand the reasons why. No, it's about simple jealousy.
Shaquille O'neal cheated on his black wife and he gets a pass because he stayed amongst "his own" while Tiger Woods cheated on his blonde, blue-eyed wife. This is his real "crime" and that is why the media is so "outraged". How dare you, it screams! If this was just about infidelity, we would be off Tiger by now and Shaq would be sitting in a press conference crying, faking tears, and holding a huge ring he bought to show his wife how sorry he was for what he did and saying he will never ever do this again. Some of you (most of you), reading this didn't even know about Shaq did you? Because nobody's talking about him and he's probably glad. Tiger Woods is probably shaking his head going... "What? I don't believe it."
O.J. Simpson is sitting in his jail cell saying... "Unbelievable!"
3 comments:
You're right, I had no idea.
I heard about it. Read some of the text messages. Shaq asked her why she cheated on him?
How come Shaq, ... is not giving a mid-day press conference to apologize to ... the fans who "he let down?"
NBA Fans - PGA fans
It's not a race issue.
Uhhh that last line was a joke.
Yes I agree that many things are judged based on race: even infidelity. What amazes me the most is the "whore" behavior of so many women and men. Has sex become the mode of exchange today? Sex happens without even the exchange of names. I had a student who was impregnanted by a person she met one night at a club. They copulated in an alley behind the club and a child resulted. The student knew only the guy's nickname. Perhaps when we hold ourselves to higher standards, men and women will rise to the level of respecting ourselves and our partners.
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