“What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this is (chuckle) –this is working very well for them.” -Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston, September 5th 2005
There are few things that annoy the Educated Negro more than those who display ignorance during interviews to demean a race of people, or publicly display their abilities to be out of touch with the realities that plague the less fortunate. But today, I had something else on my mind. No one ever touches on the issue of those who play… the Race Card. For those unfamiliar with that term, Race Card is a metaphorical reference to a Trump Card, which is used to gain advantages in card games. The race card is the act of bringing race or racism into a debate-oftentimes being used to negate the real issue at hand.
Many people say the biggest example of The Race Card came in the form of the O.J Simpson trial. Critics say that O.J’s defense team played the race card to help him avoid conviction for murder. They brought up Mark Furman’s racist past and informed the jury that he was once caught on police surveillance using the word “nigger.” His past accusations of tampering with murder evidence in prior cases also came into play. In the end, O.J was found Not Guilty- but his public displays of stupidity that resulted in the following years left many to wonder if he in fact was guilty and saved by the Race Card. In any case, it really didn’t matter because OJ- being the typical former celebrity turned Public Coon, wound up in prison anyway serving a nine-year sentence for an armed confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in 2007. OJ was forcefully taking back items that originally belonged to him, and the same goons that were hired to assist him with his dirty work, made deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimonies against O.J’s Dumb ass.
If O.J Simpson’s defense used the race card to acquit him of murder charges, then former NBA player, Jayson Williams has a Platinum Race Card and has no problem using it. This 6’10 moron played basketball for St. John’s University and was selected in the 1st round of the NBA draft. He played for the Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets. He’s also known for killing his limousine driver in 2002. Costas Christofi was hired to drive Jayson Williams and his NBA charity team from a basketball event to his mansion. Williams, setting black people back 25 years, was playing with a shotgun while giving a tour of his 30,000 square-foot Mansion- when the shotgun went off and killed the limo driver. Somehow a jury was deadlocked on reckless manslaughter charges, and the family settled a wrongful death civil lawsuit for $2.75 million.
Jayson Williams currently faces a retrial on the manslaughter charges, but was also slapped upside the head with four counts of trying to cover up the shooting. Just when you figure he can’t shame black folk further, he makes News Headlines…again, giving white folks plenty to laugh at. The New York Police Department had to stun him with a taser in a New York Hotel in April 2009, after they reported that he had become suicidal and violent. Just like the night he killed his driver, Williams was once again visibly intoxicated, with pills found in his possession. He was again arrested, but the modern day minstrel show didn’t stop there.
Williams was arrested a month later in Raleigh, North Carolina for punching a man in the face in a bar. He was charged with assault, with the charges being later dropped by the victim. Now…all these random acts of niggerosity were bound to make him look guilty with his murder retrial date approaching, and Jayson Williams needed something big. He needed something that would help the jury sympathize with him and keep his dumb ass from going to prison. His defense team wanted to review the records surrounding a former Hunterdon County Investigator who they said described Williams with a racial slur in a meeting sometime before the 2004 trial. Ahhh…that trusty Race Card. Today, after 7 years of police work, Williams remains free on bail after slapping white people in the face with his Platinum Race Card and has yet to be sentenced on the four cover-up convictions. If only there were convictions given for being an idiot.
“Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.” –Arthur Ashe
Today, we have many people who use the race card, as if it negates the dumb shit that they do. Every day, I read about some bank in Philadelphia being robbed at gunpoint-virtually all of them being robbed by our people. Each man that gets caught gives prosecutors and judges the same song and dance about how hard life is for the black man and how their kid needed money, or needed food and they had to do what they had to do- each one reaching for that good ol’ Race Card. The Race Card doesn’t change the fact that many people prove to be the very same negative stereotypes that we can’t stand. Question… What kind of moron still robs banks in 2009?!? Seems every day in The Philadelphia Daily News, I see some new idiot in a Phillies baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses captured by bank surveillance cameras. Do you really think that no one knows who you are? And even if you evade escape for a while…you’ve stolen…what? Two…three thousand dollars?!? That won’t go very far with a moron. After the daily purchase of their drug of choice, things for the kid, past-due daycare fees and back rent, one will barely have enough to cover dinner at Sizzler and a box of condoms.
Upon their inevitable capture, it’s always amazing to hear people pull the race card and blame their environment. Now some who read this say, “No, Ron…people from the hood have it rough and oftentimes make mistakes.”
…As if Ronald Gray was raised in the suburbs…
Yes, I will agree with that statement. Residents of the hood do have it rough. But there’s a difference between those who make silly mistakes in perilous times and those who are simply taking the easy way out. My family hails from Jamaica. Those who’ve seen movies such as Belly or Shottas, get a minor glimpse of how bad things can be in Third World Countries where there’s real poverty. It’s almost laughable when some stick-up kid is expressing to a judge that he had to “do what he had to do” because his baby needed money, diapers or food. I have family that just a few years ago got electricity in their homes for the first time. I have cousins that have never had new clothes purchased for them. They don’t know what it’s like to have a Birthday Party thrown for them. Americans rent out clubs to show off for Birthdays that no one really cares about- then come home late on the rent and figure they gotta do what they gotta do for their kid, by robbing other poor people?
The other day I walked by a City Blue clothing store. I haven’t been in City Blue in years! I no longer see the need, because I’ve long put away the Timberland Boots and sneakers in exchange for shoes. I’m often seen in ties, but don’t get it twisted. I’m not Mr. Wall Street. I’ve just grown up, my style of dress has evolved, and I’m attempting to inspire many others to do the same. Something just compelled me to look over at the glass windows, where a female store worker was doing some merchandising. My eyes widened as I noticed a stroller in the window, accessorizing a male and female mannequin dressed in the latest fall fashions. But that wasn’t just any stroller. It was a Rocawear stroller, retailing for $150…marked as a Sale item. Now, in these tough economic times…who finds it necessary to buy a Rocawear stroller? Sadly, far too many black folk do. Yet, oftentimes many will complain about the economy and blame a racist society for their inability to get ahead.
With 2010 approaching fast, it’s time for our people to put away their race cards and own our shortcomings. The biggest problem with the race card is that s many people abuse it; then the day comes when some real racists shit happens that requires everyone’s attention…and no one’s listening. There are Jena 6-type situations that happen all the time, but instead people try and get Americans to sympathize for Michael Vick’s dumb ass. We have a President that needs a nation’s support, patience and trust…but instead we have families of convicted felons complaining that Lil’ Pookie couldn’t find a good job when he came home from prison, so he had to go back to the streets. Well…to the supporters of morons I say this: Lil’ Pookie shoulda took his ass to Wendy’s and got a job making Spicy Chicken sandwiches. It’s safer and much more warm that standing on the corner with $20 worth of crack rock in his pocket! We gotta stop blaming other people for the dumb shit…and make things happen. You guys agree?
You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.
-- Billie Holiday
-- Billie Holiday
…These Are The Random Thoughts Of Ronald Gray…
You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." –CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005
