Projo editorial on Sean Taylor by Shalise Manza Young

[ctpatsfan77]

Read it.

That is all.

Except for one thing:

Mrs. Young--Thank you for writing this.

 

[SVN]

somewhat a related article ,
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...g=jc-taylorcoverage113007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[marty]

Well said and done Mrs Young!

 

[TOzgood]

I'll still stand by Jason Whitlock's column (if you haven't read it). It's hard to ignore facts in this case. Was he a murder victim? Sure. But if he wanted to do something very good for him family, he'd move out of that area and move to where his football team is like every other NFL player. A week before, someone broke into his house and left a knife on his bed...That'd be a tell tale sign to me "OK, time to get out of here"....The murdering of someone is never justified. But if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck....its a duck...Just my two cents

 

[letekro]

Just to play Devil's Advocate: People close to him (Antrel Rolle) did nothing to contradict the speculation that his past had caught up to him, in fact they openly suggested that it had. Additionally, the early reports were of telephone wires being cut to the house - which suggests a hit, not a robbery.

The attempts to link his on field behavior to what happened was just plain irresponsible, but reports on his violent past and his associations with the wrong crowd were clearly part of the story that it was the journalists' responsibility to tell.

Ms. Young's story would've been much more praiseworthy if had come out immediately after the controversial reporting in question. Instead, coming now after we have all the facts, she's just another reactionary using the benefit of hindsight to improve her self-image and ridicule others.

 

[drew4008]

No thanks, I read the first few lines, and I'll stick with Whitlock's article.

 

[Pats726]

Well said and done Mrs Young!

I will second that..a GREAT piece of writing!!

 

[Lampshade]

Very nicely said.

 

[ALP]

I will second that..a GREAT piece of writing!!

me too....

the guy was killed, and he never did anything deserving of death, that is ALL that matters in this case....he was disrespected greatly

 

[emoney_33]

me too....

the guy was killed, and he never did anything deserving of death, that is ALL that matters in this case....he was disrespected greatly

Seriously, I'm tired of all the passing judgement in this case. He didn't deserve to be killed, he was killed, it's a tragedy. Stop trying to make it seem anything less than a travesty because of "his past" or "should have got out of there".

Unless you lived his life in his shoes don't stand up and act like you have the right to say what he SHOULD have done with his life. It's ridiculous how the same people who blame hip hop and things like that for "devaluing life" can sit there and devalue life themselves by trying to put even a smidget of blame on the VICTIM for being murdered.

It's like saying to a women who was raped "hey you shouldn't have dressed like that".

 

[JoeSixPat]

Read it.

That is all.

Except for one thing:

Mrs. Young--Thank you for writing this.

I think Shalize is well intentioned in this effort but is confusing the issue a bit.

The fact that Sean Taylor had a reputation that came into play following his shooting and subsequent death is not a matter or race - its a matter of the reputation Sean Taylor created for himself.

That's not something that should be blamed on society or the "the man" or anyone else. It's Sean Taylor's responsibility. And while its laudable that by all accounts he was beginning a concerted effort to change that reputation following the birth of his daughter, let's not fault the media or our culture for speculating that the first 23 years of his life might have had something to do with this crime.

It's a HUGE stretch to think that the way society viewed Sean Taylor could or should be any way related to Ms. Young's tale of a black youth unjustly viewed suspiciously. If there's ANY relation between the two it should only serve as a wake up call to older black men that their actions reflect poorly on their younger "brothers" and make their lot in life that much more difficult.

In that respect Whitlock's article remains relevant whether Taylor's murder was random or not. Only after African American men as a whole take full responsibility for their actions and the societal perceptions they've by and large created for themselves is it appropriate for them to look to blame others for their lot in life.

Racism exists no doubt - and it exists strongly in some quarters - but it IS dying and the only way to make sure it dies is for African Americans to stop accepting their role as a victim and empower themselves to change their culture to rise above it and disinfranchise the last vestiges of racism that will remiain.

 

[National Sports Advisors]

I'll still stand by Jason Whitlock's column (if you haven't read it). It's hard to ignore facts in this case. Was he a murder victim? Sure. But if he wanted to do something very good for him family, he'd move out of that area and move to where his football team is like every other NFL player. A week before, someone broke into his house and left a knife on his bed...That'd be a tell tale sign to me "OK, time to get out of here"....The murdering of someone is never justified. But if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck....its a duck...Just my two cents

Huh?????? So whenever somebody breaks into a house, the family should pick up and leave? Wow, let me go break in to the houses of every neighbor I hate so they leave immediately, lol! Man, Whitlock needs to shut his yap. So do Denis and Callahan. A lot of NFL players live in cities that are not where they play in the offseason. How do we know that his girlfriend didn't tell Sean that she is not leaving Miami until he marries her? How do we know that they were getting along and maybe Sean was hesitant to marry her? I mean, good lord, can't we stop trying to act like we know everything about people's personal lives. I had a few girlfriends that wanted me to get engaged to them before they agreed to move in with me or move somehere esle. Guess what? Maybe Sean Taylor didn't want to marry this girl and that's why she was living in Miami. They were NOT married people. Man, I hate when people tell people how to live their lives. The guy died because some knuckledheads wanted to rob him because he was rich. It's not his fault.

 

[National Sports Advisors]

It's like saying to a women who was raped "hey you shouldn't have dressed like that".

Exactly! That's what all these pompous punks like Whitlock, Denis, and Callahan don't realize. They are so wrong it is pathetic. They act like this guy was living in the middle of the ghetto. He was living in an upscale neighborhood! Why the hell should he leave the city he wants to live in because some punks are trying to run him out of town? I commend the guy for standing his ground and living where HE wanted to live. When somebody took a shot at Reagan should he have resigned from the president post because he was a target? Puhleaze. Denis and Callahan are the two biggest punks in this town. They would crap their pants if somebody broke into their house and would hide like little girls.

 

[Fencer]

Two separate points are mixed together here:

1. Of course there's a tendency to stereotype and rush to judgment about black males. We as a society need many reminders of this persistent error.

2. The majority of the media actually did a much better job on this that she is suggesting. Ditto the majority of the fan base. Most kept open minds either way.

 

[drew4008]

Two separate points are mixed together here:

1. Of course there's a tendency to stereotype and rush to judgment about black males. We as a society need many reminders of this persistent error.

Stereotype is too harsh of a word. Now I know we shouldn't RUSH to judgment on the criminal behavior of blacks... but the statistics are staggeringly in favor of that "stereotype".

Just 13 percent of the population is black, but 30 percent of those arrested and 49 percent of those in prison are black. Comparatively, among men, blacks (28.5%) are about six times more likely than whites (4.4%) to be admitted to prison during their life.