Tim Hardaway and the Big Hate
By Hunter Baker Posted in Culture — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Every living American probably has received their instructions by now:
"Tim Hardaway has checked out of polite society. He is not to be rehabilitated by any means. Besides, he is about five abject apologies away from being nearly apologetic enough. He has sinned against our new god who is named Tolerance. A sin against tolerance is worse in its social stigma than theft, extortion, insider trading, perjury, and spousal abuse. The Tolerance taboo is broken by hating. The penalty for breaking the taboo is to be hated. A hate for a hate as the good Book says in a socially relevant and proper interpretation."
Just in case you need to catch up. Tim Hardaway, formerly of the Miami Heat, was interviewed by Miami talk show host (with national profile) Dan Le Batard. Le Batard asked Hardaway what he thought about the idea of playing with a gay teammate. Hardaway said he would very much not want to do that. Le Batard, who has made a reputation (just ask him) of getting lots of hard-to-get interviews because of his non-judgmental approach, blasted Hardaway for being homophobic. (Note: A commenter has questioned this description of Le Batard's tone. I read a transcript so the commenter could be more correct.)
That's when Hardaway really got going. He announced that he hates gay people. As he spoke, he missed the sound of the sheet (as the French say) hitting the fan. Every sports radio show and the entire sports media was obligated to spend a couple of days discussing Hardaway's ignorance. The NBA withdrew its hand of friendship from Hardaway in significant ways and he began the cycle of the abject apology.
S.T. Karnick has been invaluable as one of the rare people to really analyze what happened from some kind of conservative worldview. The results are interesting. You can find the whole series on his website. Karnick makes telling points about freedom of speech there and I strongly urge you to check out all four of his installments so far.
The latest in the Karnick series takes notice of a column ESPN's Chris Broussard wrote on the matter. Broussard introduces a highly welcome voice of moderation and wisdom into the big hate:
But America has become so politically correct -- not to mention that, in my opinion, much of the media and Hollywood are promoting the idea that homosexuality is a normal lifestyle -- that many players are afraid to voice their true feelings publicly.
Thus, whenever a current player comes out as gay, you will hear overwhelming support for the guy. And while I think Mark Cuban went overboard in saying the guy would be "an American hero," I do believe he would be embraced by a sizeable segment of the population.
He would definitely get marketing/endorsement opportunities, and some folks in the media would champion him and the gay cause.
Well, anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm not concerned with being politically correct. So here's where I stand:
I'm a born-again, Bible-believing Christian (no, I'm not a member of the Religious Right). And I'm against homosexuality (I believe it's a sin) and same-sex marriage.
But before you label me "homophobic," know that I'm against any type of sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman. That includes heterosexual fornication (premarital sex).
Some cats in the NBA run around, sleeping with different women in every city -- I don't agree with their lifestyles.
Some players run around, cheating on their wives -- I don't agree with their lifestyles.
It's all wrong to me and against the biblical teachings I believe in.
I'm saying all that to say that if I can play basketball with a homosexual, just about anyone can.
I've played in several rec leagues with LZ Granderson, who is an openly gay writer at ESPN The Magazine.
I consider LZ a friend. I've gone out to lunch with him, talked music, sports, politics and lots of other things with him. I greet him with a handshake and a hug, just like I greet lots of other guys.
By the way, LZ can ball. In a league in New York City that features several former college players, we both made the All-Star team. He was kind of like our Shawn Marion minus the dunks (though he claims he can still slam!) and I was like our Gilbert Arenas (high game of 39, thank you).
Anyway, when we play in our rec league games, I give him high fives and hugs. Same with one of his friends who is on the team and also gay. When we're on the court trying to get a win -- or in the office talking about a story, for that matter -- his sexuality is not an issue.
Granted, I don't shower with LZ after games like NBA teammates do, and I'll admit that if I had to, it might be a little uncomfortable at first.
But if a gay player just goes about his business in the shower, showing that he has no sexual interest in his teammates and that he's not "checking them out," I think the awkwardness would wear off fairly quickly.
LZ and I know where each other stand and we respect each other's right to believe as he does.
I know he's gay, and he knows I believe that's a sin. I know he thinks I get my moral standards from an outdated, mistranslated book, and he knows I believe he needs to change his lifestyle. Still, we can laugh together, and play ball together.
That's real diversity. Disagreeing but not being disagreeable.
Amen, baby.
When something like this Hardaway story gets the big press treatment, there is a tendency for the opinioneers to get all worked up issuing blanket statements along the lines that anyone with any problems whatsoever with the gay lifestyle are essentially persona non gratis in the civilized society. Broussard's eloquent statement helps introduce a little perspective and human reality.
Here's part of Broussard's great closing section:
Some will write me off as a bigot for this article, but folks, this is real talk. Unfortunately, we can't have real talk in America nowadays.
Whites can't voice their real opinions -- no matter how legitimate -- about race for fear of being called racist, and everyone's afraid of offending anyone. It seems the only person who can be openly criticized, or disagreed with, is the President.
How crazy is that?
Until we can honestly hear each other out -- and be civil while doing so -- we won't get anywhere. One thing I hope this article does is encourage people to have frank discussions about sensitive issues such as this one.
Conservative blogs and the ACLU now have something in common----actually they always have.
The ACLU will champion the First Amendment in support of any speech, no matter how offensive.
Social Conservatives start there and incorporate the Bible and majority values.
But Hardaway's right to make a of a fool of himself should be indisputable and I applaud whomever defends his right.
He has the right to say whatever he wants, as long as he's not making threats. And everyone else has the right to be offended and similarly lash out at him.
That's an interesting take on the ACLU vs. the conservative approach to free speech. The ACLU usually protects the minority position, while conservatives typically wish to forward the majority/plurality view. I hadn't thought of it in those terms before.
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"Promoting democracy requires attention to specific circumstances and to the limitations of U.S. leverage. Both because of what the United States is, and because of what is possible, we cannot engage either in promoting democracy or in nation-building as an exercise of will."
-Paul Wolfowitz, 2000
when will Hardaway get his multiple Grammy Awards? 2011?
Two thirds of the world is covered by water, the other third is covered by Champ Bailey
I have to admit, I ROFLMAO.
Without defending Hardaway's statements, it should be pointed out that sports journalists are often times more leftwing and more politically correct than their hard news colleagues. This would be apparent to anyone who has ever watched ESPN cover some story that in anyway involves some controversial issue.
I wouldn't say Le Batard blasted Hardaway in that interview. After Hardaway said he would hate playing with a gay teammate, Le Batard said, "You realize what you're saying is homophobic?"
And it was. To hate someone or hate/fear being around someone just because he's gay is pretty much the definition of homophobia.
Homophobia-the fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals.
I mean, if he had only said he was uncomfortable around gay people and wasn't close with anyone who was gay, you can't really tell me that he'd be the subject of so many columns. He'd be a footnote in the news story offering a contrasting view, something like"
Charles Barkely expressed support for Amaechi and commented that he played with several players he knew to be homosexual. He said he never felt uncomfortable around such players. Not all current or former NBA stars share Barkely's view, however. Tim Hardaway, formerly of the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, commented that he was uncomfortable with the idea of a gay teammate. "I just don't have that many gay friends," Hardaway told radio host Dan Le Batard.
But Hardaway brought this on himself by saying he hates gay people. Just how his freedom of speech has been encroached since then, I don't know. Maybe you can explain that one to me. You can say what you want, but you have to be prepared to be disagreed with. And when you say something offensive, especially when you make a sweeping proclamation of hate toward a group that regularly experiences hate crimes, you are probably going to be disagreed with by a majority of the American population.
But since this site doesn't represent such a majority, I stand prepared to be e-disagreed with.
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"Promoting democracy requires attention to specific circumstances and to the limitations of U.S. leverage. Both because of what the United States is, and because of what is possible, we cannot engage either in promoting democracy or in nation-building as an exercise of will."
-Paul Wolfowitz, 2000