Listen Now:
by Hans Olson
Here we go again…
So Floyd Mayweather took to his Twitter account today with this:
“Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”
Now, Floyd Mayweather may come across as less than presidential here, but is he incorrect? The thing is, I suppose you can’t say those things when you’re the best fighter in the world, pound for pound. Not even about New York Knick guard Jeremy Lin…not when “Linsanity” is at it’s peak.
Or can you?
Floyd Mayweather can, because he’s Floyd Mayweather.
This shouldn’t be about race though, because…well…who cares? It’s 2012. Although many parts of the world—and the United States in particular—still have much to improve relating to racism, I don’t think a boxer making a statement like Floyd did today is the worst thing in the world.
Much worse, were Floyd’s comments back in 2010 on Ustream.
Yup. That was bad. But, it must be noted that Floyd did apologize:
The thing is, maybe the mainstream media should take a long hard look at it’s own coverage on race in general. Is it any surprise that Floyd would have certain feelings of race and how it relates to an athlete when you look at how racial boxing’s promotion and overall coverage is?
When you have national media “experts” explaining the advantages of a fighter like Amir Khan fighting in regions like DC as he did last year against Lamont Peterson due to the fact that there’s a large Muslim population there…you can’t call out a fighter like Floyd Mayweather for making a statement that’s not that much more politically incorrect.
Because wouldn’t that mean every Muslim in the DC area went out and rooted for Amir Khan simply because of his religious background?
Maybe, just maybe…could someone who practices Islam simply be a fight fan who wanted to go check out a good night of boxing?
It’s the same garbage that was talked about in the media regarding the upside of Floyd fighting a Mexican on May 5 (which won’t happen anyway).
Cinco de Mayo!
Everyone of who is Mexican will go out and root against Floyd!!! That’s right, Floyd Mayweather can have no Mexican fans right?!?!
Honestly, it’s usually the media that pushes race, religion, gender, and national origin on us…which is why Floyd isn’t necessarily wrong about Jeremy Lin. That’s not to downgrade Lin’s abilities based on the fact that he’s Asian, but it is part of hist story that the media has emphasized.
It’s the same reason Eminem and The Beastie Boys, white rappers, may have received more attention than they would have if they hadn’t been white.
It’s the same reason Danica Patrick gets the attention she gets. Do male drivers of equal ability have the same fame as her?
I guess it’s only politically incorrect if it comes from an athlete directly.
Earlier today on Twitter, Max Boxing’s Steve Kim (who is Korean) said it best when he tweeted “Honestly, though, I don’t think Floyd is racist. I think these are misguided attempts to be provocative. But racist, ehh…”
Wait, isn’t everyone who is of Asian descent supposed to be outraged at Floyd today???
I get a kick out of these holier-than-thou writers (who are white) that have the gall to call Floyd Mayweather a racist.
Get real.
Ayn Rand once said “The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.”
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @hansolson.
