I haven’t had the chance to dive into the Donovan McNabb situation just yet, so I’ll take the opportunity to do so briefly. First of all, I think Donovan is a fantastic quarterback, one whose play on the field I highly enjoy and respect. In short, I’m a huge fan of his. Part of it is because I didn’t think he was much coming out of college, and now he’s proved me wrong. Well Donovan responded to the criticism he’s received from saying black quarterbacks get criticized more on his blog:
First, the interview took place in August before the season started so for
those who think I “played the race card” because we are 0-2 are dead wrong.
…
Black quarterbacks have to deal with different things than white
quarterbacks. If you don’t think that’s true than you are naive.
…
I would love to live in a world where race is not an issue. But it is.
OK, now for my response. I really wish race didn’t even have to be brought up as an issue, just as Donovan said. Furthermore, just because I and many other people I know judge (and criticize) all quarterbacks and athletes equally doesn’t mean there isn’t a vast portion of our population who don’t. The reality is that there are a great deal of people out there who still have racist mentalities. So just because I don’t judge quarterbacks differently based on race, doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who do, therefore I’m not disappointed in what Donovan said. I’m just disappointed it had to be said.
