As I was thinking about writing an essay instead of a podcast, I was forced to ponder some exciting and intriguing idea- one which captivates and holds the attention of the reader. In addition to that, I called upon the fact that I was born in the Czech Republic, a country that only three decades ago was still under the clutches and influences of a communist regime. Because of my background, I bring my own cultural biases and ideas to the table. Furthermore, since I have traveled to many different countries as a tennis player, I have a variety of cultural experiences that have shaped my point of view. Now as an International Student I have been subjected to the diverse tapestry of views and lives in America, which has proven the title “The Melting Pot” as it is a place where people from all nations are willing to immigrate. During the class, I have been exposed to numerous cases of “Systemic Injustices”. In addition to that we have reviewed the concepts of power struggle, gender equality and race prejudices, among many others. As a result of my studies in this class, as well as my own personal experiences, I have come to the realization that media plays an important factor in the “norms” of society, even so much as how they choose to portray certain individuals. In many cases, individuals can be portrayed by the media in a negative connotation because of their race, gender, or age. In some instances, the media has created an image of the white, straight, male as the personification of evil. On top of that the Podcasters as our society have increasingly been affected by the evil of being a Social Justice Warrior. As the Washington Post states:
“A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of. They typically repeat points from whoever is the most popular blogger or commenter of the moment, hoping that they will “get SJ points” and become popular in return. They are very sure to adopt stances that are “correct” in their social circle”. (Ohleiser).
I am in no way trivializing or downplaying the cases of police brutality, gender equality, race prejudices cases- nor am I an expert on these matters. However, there have been cases of reverse discrimination. The term “reverse discrimination” sometimes is used to describe a type of discrimination wherein members of a majority or historically advantaged group (such as Caucasians or males) are discriminated against based on their race, gender, age, or other protected characteristic. These types of claims typically arise in the areas of employment or education. Occasionally, the term also is used to negatively describe programs meant to advance or promote minorities and address inequality, such as affirmative action. While the term “reverse discrimination” is not expressly included in federal civil rights laws, these types of lawsuits are generally brought as discrimination cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other statuses (Reverse Discrimination). The purpose for writing this paper is to describe how the media has affected the portrayal of news, and specifically how it has affected the portrayal of race in America. Thus, may seem controversial and it might raise some eyebrows or some angry retorts from different individuals who consider my views too European. Nevertheless, from participating and engaging in this course, I have learned to think outside the mainstream opinion, and study the facts of each instance, in order to make a judgement for myself. To make my case, I will bring some scenarios of some athletes from the NFL, whose treatment and media portrayal may be out of the ordinary. In February 2014, the former Baltimore Ravens running back was seen dragging his unconscious fiancée from an elevator. A second video revealed later, showed Rice had punched her and knocked her out. He was suspended for only two games and after the video was exposed some lengthy investigation followed. In this instance, I find that the treatment of Rice may have been out of the ordinary, because of his status as a beloved football player. Another instance of such a case is Richard Sherman. AP News reported the disturbing facts about his July arrest, writing: “Former Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers star Richard Sherman said Friday that he is “deeply remorseful” following his arrest on accusations of drunkenly crashing his SUV in a construction zone and trying to break into his in-laws’ suburban Seattle home this week. Sherman was belligerent, had been drinking heavily and spoke of killing himself when he left his home in the Seattle suburb of Maple Valley late Tuesday, according to police reports. His wife, Ashley Sherman, called 911 to try to have police stop him.” Any other player who has been proven to do such activities would be behind bars for a lengthy period. However, in the case of Mr. Sherman justice is tainted because he is a professional athlete. He made the news when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, as he joined the reigning super bowl champions, despite his legal incident. Ken Nelson reported in his article concerning Sherman that: “Richard Sherman, who is mired in legal trouble stemming from an arrest this summer and five misdemeanor charges, including two for domestic violence, has agreed to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, becoming the latest high-profile free agent to join quarterback Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl. One of the best known cornerbacks in the league, Sherman, 33, announced his arrival in Tampa on his podcast Wednesday morning. The team confirmed the news by posting to Twitter a photo of Sherman signing his contract, reported by the NFL Network to be worth $2.25 million, only $500,000 of it guaranteed”.
The NBA has similar incidents with some of their star players, as well. One such incident is the scuffle and subsequent heated exchange between Montrezl Harrell and Luke Doncic. On October 20th, 2020, LA Clippers took on Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 in which Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell and Dallas’ Luka Doncic got into a heated argument- exchanging abusive commentary. Harrell was caught on tape saying “b**h ass white boy” to the Slovenian. Not many of the prominent media sources reported on the instance, and the NBA’s big names notably failed to comment. This incident raised some ethical concern for the association and the players. Many have questioned why there were not harsher consequences for Harrell, and why the tape of the interaction was not studied by the league. Notably, Larry Elder called on LeBron James, the league’s biggest star, and two prominent coaches, Steve Kerr and Greg Popovish, to discuss the issue. All of them have been long vocal about the racial injustice and racial abuse against the Black community but the three have not spoken a single word on the incident” (Sharma). In a tweet, Elder mentioned the three NBA stars and asked why they had silence in the issue. Some members of the outraged have called on the fact that reversed roles in this particular situation would have resulted in far different aftermath, however this is not necessarily true, and unfair speculation.
The final situation just took place less than a month ago: Jon Gruden, one of the NFL’s highest-profile coaches, resigned from his coaching duties after investigation into leaked emails of his. As CBS sports’ Jason La Canfora wrote “Jon Gruden is out as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach. Gruden informed his staff on Monday night he is resigning from his position in the wake of leaked emails in which he repeatedly used insensitive language.” Gruden expressed remorse over his actions and did not deny them occurring. However, concerns over how his emails came to light are apparent. Even though the New York Times reported that the emails were sensitive, and of racial topics, the emails were soon published online. Questions have arisen about why such sensitive topics would be quickly printed. Coach Gruden has since pondered the idea of legal action or compensation against those media outlets who published the emails. He has since stated that he was unfairly hacked, and his emails were unjustly leaked.
In no way am I criticizing the media portrayal of important news events, specifically surrounding professional sports. I feel as if my background as a native of a country under Communist regime does not allow me to successfully criticize America. However, by mentioning a few prominent, recent news stories, I hope to reveal the imperfections that still remain in American media today.
Works Cited
Benjamin, Cody. “Jon Gruden resigns as Raiders coach after more leaked emails reveal homophobic, misogynistic language”, CBSSPORT.com, Oct.12,2021. Accessed Nov 12 ,2021https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jon-gruden-resigning-as-raiders-coach-after-more-leaked-emails-reveal-homophobic-language-per-report/
Nelson, Ken. “After Injuries and a Call From Tom Brady, Richard Sherman Joins the Buccaneers”, NYTimes, Sep. 21,2021.Accessed Nov.11,2021.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/sports/football/richard-sherman-buccaneers-tom-brady.html
Ohleiser, Abby. “Why ‘social justice warrior,’ a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry.” Washington Post, Oct 7, 2007. Accessed Nov 11,2021.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dictionary-entry
Reverse Discrimination, FindLaw, https://www.findlaw.com/employment/employment-discrimination/reverse-discrimination.html .Accessed 11 Nov 2021
Sharma, Saurian. “Why is NBA not reacting on Montrezl Harrell’s abusive ‘white boy Luka Doncic’ statement; LeBron James called out”,The SportsRush.com, Aug.24,2020. Accessed Nov 11 https://thesportsrush.com/nba-news-why-is-nba-not-reacting-on-montrezl-harrells-abusive-white-boy-luka-doncic-statement-lebron-james-called-out/