One
man’s progress is another man’s regression,
his ascension
means your
decline,
and her gain
is his loss
- “zero-sum loss.” There’s
no doubt that’s the primitive mindset that drives the majority of
conservative-minded
White males, and guess what percentage of the league’s owners is
Caucasian? Yes, vastly White Males, 30 of 32 owners. This century-old
business operation has resisted racial integration and diversity at
every single turn - be it players, coaches, cheerleaders, or front
office personnel. It’s been a tooth pulling ordeal. They’ve held
out against undeniable “progress” with all their might, kickin’
n’ screamin’ all along the way. There’s no other way to
describe what I’ve witnessed in the half-century I’ve followed
this male soap opera.
The
once rare Black Quarterback is questioned and doubted at every turn,
newly discovered, and already an “endangered species” on the
professional gridiron field. Offensive
Coordinator positions,
the entry point for a head coaching gig, are reserved for 29-year-old
“wonder-kid," "boy geniuses” who always just
happen to be…
Caucasian. The “chaining and gagging” of Colin Kaepernick speaks
volumes about “who” these men are and “what” they believe,
and the inflated value they place on
pleasing
their shrinking WASP male consumer base.
I’m
going to lay my cards on the table,
(spades, royal
flush) I’m going to give it to you
straight, no chaser: There
is no such thing as coincidence,
and
I submit that rule applies to Mr. Walton stepping-up to outbid
basically all comers with his audacious wealth - it’s not by mere
chance, happenstance, nor random coincidence. I have to ponder what
motivates
this man, beyond basic business logic, to make this purchase, which
will lock down a premiere franchise, and ensure it doesn't fall into
the hands of you-know-who.
Mr.
Walton’s political, religious, and economical philosophies are
historically “right-wing” or conservative,
more purple
today
than blood-red, however, let’s be real here - what conservative
has
come to define and represent in the 21st century is a perspective
that can accurately be described as “racist,” “sexist,”
“elitist” - phobic
and
anti-inclusion,
diversity, and equality. And
let’s be honest: Walmart
is
an HD business definition of laissez-faire cutthroat
capitalism.
Erasing Main Street USA, while putting Mom N’ Pops’
everything
out of business. A sad yet significant percentage of their company’s
workforce is on Welfare. Their endless efforts to resist their labor
force from organizing into a union is all the proof needed to
ascertain the mindset and philosophical core of Mr. Walton. And
lastly, the Walton empire’s commitment to conservative initiatives
like “Charter” (segregated) schools is telling and scary.
Conservatism
was
on display last earlier this month with the mean-spirited and evil
incivility and hostility showed now-Supreme Court Justice KBJ by the
Republican Congresspeople. They would shame a nation of savages, and
please, please…please note - those are the ideological peers and
the philosophical headquarters of the NFL owners - they are linked-to
and intertwined-with in business and pleasure.
I’m
just telling the
burning bush truth.
Let’s not make-believe and pretend the league owners “want to”
bring in an Afro-American owner - honey, baby, please!
Maybe,
just maybe, Mr. Walton doesn’t want to see a black man own an NFL
franchise, let alone one of the premiere flagship franchises valued
at roughly 5 billion dollars.
Wait!
Perhaps there are at least a few NFL owners who don’t want a Black
man in their air-conditioned aristocratic
treehouse.
(elevator equipped) 1 owner? 6 owners? Maybe 10 or 12 owners? That’d
be one-third of the group which is anti-Black. Roughly 30%. And we
can’t dismiss the fact that about a dozen of these fat cats openly
endorsed the same man the KKK endorsed for US President - Donald
Trump. I believe Rob Walton would be genuinely embraced and welcomed
into the country club. I can’t say that for Robert Smith, who may
bring to the table Oprah, Denzel, Jordan, and other affluent
associates would be embraced in the same manner. Tolerated, yes,
welcomed with open arms… that’s far-fetched to say the very
least.
I’ve
been black in America far too long to be that
delusional….
When they show n’ tell you who they are…believe them!
See,
I don’t think the opposition to Black Billionaire Robert Smith is
necessarily a personal thing, as much as it is a symbolic battle the
NFL plantation owners, white men collectively, don’t want to lose.
The owners understand how difficult it would become to conduct
business
as usual if
a Black person was present, behind closed doors. They understand the
headache it might become to have a Black man guided operation.
The
current bad publicity will blow over. The demand for bread
and circuses will
prevail.
Millionaire
plantation gladiators and billionaire plantation owners. It’s
cra-cra...
Good
lord, a Black owner may hire a Black head coach. They may win a Super
Bowl... or
two or three. He
might bring back Kaepernick, or God forbid TO… The sky would be
falling! The WASP fan base does not want to see that dark day. The
NFL is where the
National Basketball League was
40 years ago with Magic and Bird - a “defining” moment of
determining the identity of America’s national pastime, the
country’s official yet unofficial religion.
I’d
argue the league owners have analyzed the
down-the-road
consequences and repercussions of a Black owner, and they do not like
what rests on the looming horizon. Too much “input” and “say-so”
by black folks, “uppity” arrogant Black folks who don’t
recognize their 1963 assigned 3rd class place.
Mr.
Walton has the astounding financial ability to speak
for
other Conservative-minded
owners
and millions of Conservative-minded
sports
fans - and simply end this uncomfortable conversation, squash these
“uppity” Negroes’ hifalutin’ notions of inclusion
and
equality, this
movement by Americans of color to obtain power. I know it may be
shocking to discover, but White men as a group, from tow-truck
drivers to doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and grave diggers… it
appears obvious that they don’t desire to share
power,
share their, now dig this - personal private US of A and all its
ill-gotten gains.
They refuse to loosen
their
monopolization and strangleholds on wealth, resources, and valued
commodities…. Alas, share power.
The
NFL symbolizes and reflects America’s racial polarization
intentionally,
by deliberate,
tactical,
and
strategic
design, it’s handcrafted
to look as racially “gerrymandered” and “rigged” as it does:
Black blood, sweat, and tears, White control, and exploitation.
Big
Pimpin’ baby, n’ pimpin’ ain't easy!!!
The
NFL reflects and embodies the ills and woes of America as a whole, as
a conflicted, clashing and contradictory society engaged in an
endless racial/cultural cold civil war. Sports, particularly the NFL,
is one of the prime cultural battlegrounds where Americans are
engaged in hand-to-hand battle, fighting for the hearts, souls, and
minds of the
little people,
the
unwashed masses.
Mr.
Smith is rich, phenomenally accomplished, and polished . He’s gone
a few rounds with the big boys, and came out clean, pretty, and still
super-rich - he’s a baaad
man.
However, he doesn’t have the enormous, almost mythical-like wealth
of the Waltons. My humble observation is that, beyond creating an
investment group of other super-rich black folks, which is the
logical move I’m sure he’s doing, as we speak, he and the NFL
owners ought to consider a proposal that incorporates some morphed
form of the Green Bay Packers ownership model; share a portion of the
franchise with the public, offer shares to those fans willing to
invest in a Black-led organization (Black Investors). It could be
argued that Black folks have a unique and vast amount of “sweat
equity” accumulated in the successful league, and since the owners
are
making this private enterprise up as they go, why
not tweak the Green Bay structure to accommodate?
Make
the deal happen because it’s the “right” business move with the
most potential for the league to grow and prosper.
Granted
it’s wishful thinking, and I’m merely “thinking out loud,”
but I understand the value of a “win” on this particular cultural
battlefield. It would be significant and historically relevant for a
Black American to obtain an NFL franchise by any creative and
improvisational means required. But to wrangle it from the hands of
the Waltons, like Zulu Warriors or Buffalo Soldiers, well now, that’s
an accomplishment.
Perhaps
Robert Smith would like a few thousand like-minded investors to go
into business with him. I’ve got about five grand I can invest, Mr.
Smith…
