Every so often I'm reminded of the fact that I'm still salty about "Deflategate."
This is one of those moments.
I'm shocked! Shocked to find that racism is going on here in the NFL! Shocked!
Okay, I'm not at all shocked by this "bombshell" class action suit filed by Brian Flores against several specifically named plantations, er, franchises, as well as the NFL itself. If you're shocked, I have two words for you: Colin Kaepernick.
Nor am I surprised that the NFL would rather spend millions of dollars on lawyers than on solving any of their systemic issues. These are the same assholes who stole four Tom Brady games from me (and other football fans, of course, but that doesn't make it any less personal for yours truly). The anti-science conspiracy theory known as "Deflategate" wasn't about getting it right or integrity or the full faith and confidence of football fans in the game; it was about power.
Just as it is now; though with much higher stakes.
I'm also not surprised by this thread in the narrative tapestry of America in 2022. It isn't just the NFL that wants you to believe racism doesn't exist. Or misogyny. Or homophobia. Or transphobia. Or anti-semitism. Or anything else that will make the white parents of school age children uncomfortable.
It's been said that truth is the first casualty of war. War isn't always fought with planes and ships and tanks and guns. More often, now, it is fought with lawyers, social media, and by finding a new rich white guy to replace the disgraced former rich white guy with a soon forgotten promise to do better going forward. And truth - history, science, facts. empiricism - has been, I fear in my darkest moments, mortally wounded. I feel the promise of America slipping away on an almost daily basis.
It hurts.
Because once upon a time, there was a man who proved the myth of white supremacy to be just that: A myth. Black history is American history. It's worth remembering.
That was 86 years ago.
In case you forgot.
Because it seems like we have.
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