By Eugene RobinsonFriday, November 30, 2007; Page A23 (Washington Post)
Why do you suppose so many people were so quick to blame Sean Taylor for his own murder?
Relax, that’s a rhetorical question. There’s no need for self-exculpatory huffing and puffing, no need to point out that the verdict of suicide-by-bad-attitude — pronounced so often this week, and so coldly — was usually couched in broad hints or softened by the nebulous fog of the conditional mood. Everyone knew what was really being said, and everyone knew why.
Taylor instantly became not a person but a character, one whose purpose was to advance a narrative about young black men and their manifold failings. Taylor, a gifted defensive back for the Washington Redskins, had been in trouble with the law. Despite the millions he earned playing football, he never managed to escape the quicksand lure of the mean streets — parasitic friends, envious haters, a culture of casual violence. It was his decision to swim in this cesspool of dysfunction, the narrative said. And, like so many other young black men who have made the same wrong choice, he paid for it with his life.
At least that was the story before Wednesday, when Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade police, announced that investigators had “no reason” to believe Taylor was targeted by his killer or even knew the man who shot him. Police were operating on the theory that the crime was a botched burglary, Parker said, essentially a random act.
I realize that Parker may eventually be proved wrong. But what fascinates me is how eager people were to believe the worst about Taylor — how ready to stuff a young man’s death into a box labeled “pathology” and call it a day — in the absence of supporting evidence. Apparently, “innocent until proved guilty” doesn’t apply to young black men even when they’re the victims of violent crime.
The few facts we have tell a story that’s very different from the chosen narrative. Sean Taylor is hardly a typical product of those fabled “mean streets” — he grew up with his father, a suburban police chief, in a middle-class neighborhood. He did spend weekends with his mother in a tougher area and acquired some sketchy friends. But at the same time he was attending an exclusive private high school, where he met his girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, a niece of the actor Andy Garcia.
Taylor’s home, with its expansive yard and big swimming pool, is in an upper-middle-class suburb. There’s nothing remotely “mean” about the street.
Jackie Garcia hid under the covers with the couple’s 18-month-old daughter early Monday while Taylor faced the intruder who mortally wounded him. Andy Garcia released a statement Wednesday praising Taylor for his “heroic” sacrifice that saved Jackie’s life. Much has been made of the fact that Taylor grabbed a machete from under his bed before confronting the intruder. In New York or St. Louis or Seattle, if you saw a machete, you’d think: deadly weapon. But I spent years covering Latin America for The Post, so when I see a machete in a place like Miami I’m more likely to think: garden implement. Tropical vegetation is a lot easier to trim with a machete than with hedge clippers, and Taylor’s father said Sean used the blade in his yard. No, machetes are not usually kept under the bed. But if my house had been broken into recently — as Taylor’s was, barely a week before his slaying — I might have wanted the thing a little closer to hand.
My purpose here isn’t to make a hero out of Sean Taylor, though he may well have died a hero’s death. He made some serious mistakes in his life, and he didn’t always have the proper regard for authority and discipline. Nor am I trying to sell the “he was finally turning his life around” narrative, as if taking a few GPS readings were enough to show someone the way to responsible manhood.
Life isn’t so linear — and people aren’t so one-dimensional.
The next time you encounter a young black man like Sean Taylor — a man who can be headstrong and rebellious, who listens to rap music and sometimes wears his hair in a wild-man ‘fro that’s meant to intimidate, who scowls when we want him to smile and makes a bad mistake or two and doesn’t choose the friends we would want him to choose — know that there is possibility within him, and contradiction, and the capacity for love. Know that he’s more than a plot device.
Well said!
Just have to get this off my chest because I’m trying to have a positive outlook on the day and if I internalize this, I will be forced to be a bitch all day.
Is it REALLY necessary for you to speed up to merge in front of me, then slam on your brakes because you think you might want to get off at the next exit- but SURPRISE, you don’t, so you drive in front of me 5 miles below the sped limit, boxing me into a situation that I can barely get out of and when I do and try to pass you, you drop the accelerator in your bullshit “I think I’m doing big things” car so that I cant get in front of you, so when I resign to getting back behind you, you put on a turning signal to go to a NON EXISTENT PLACE….. Then drive down 2 lanes of traffic to make sure the poor soul that almost got me in their passenger due to your fuckkry minutes before cant do anything but swerve around your bullshit as well and when all is said and done, we both end up behind your stupid ass at the light, which proceeds to turn green and you sit there like the queens procession is rolling by, taking up both lanes so neither one of us can get around you either and when I try, did you really just cut your wheels and maneuver as if to say “simmer down there speedy” and flip me the bird in your rearview? Really? Then you have the balls to wait until it turns yellow and peel off like a bat out of hell just in time for neither of us to be able to get out of the intersection without getting the front of the car taken off by an 18 wheeler because you KNOW that one or both of us was about to make you WISH your name was Rodney king and we were the LAPD because you would have gotten less of a beat down?
I have your license plate… don’t think I cant do some research, you stupid bitch.
just random thoughts for today………nothing profound, but as i sit here, sifting through michael jackson videos on youtube, i thought i would share. plus, people feel the need to tell me the most RANDOM things- so i of course have to pass on the love lol
~it is NOT ok for a 40 year old man to approach 2 female coworkers whose names you just learned within the last 24 hours and give them the rundown on your life, what you are looking for in a woman and the ’scoop’ they should give woman that approach them regarding you.
a-no one is checking for you
b-if they were, match.com is not printed on my forehead
c-did you really just tell me that you started working here because you thought it would get you a date? really? dude, 40 is THAT rough? fuck! remind me to chop my foot off like kunta at 39.
d- i did NOT in any stretch of the imagination need to know that you are looking for a “friend with benefits”. and did you really just say “what do you guys call it? a homey lover friend?” oh shit, i dont know if i can JUST throw up in my mouth. i think i need to actually hurl over here.
i need to get back to having that “jaz aint fuckin with you” look on my face all day instead of just between the hours of 8am and noon. people mistake the lack of a look of pure disdain as an actual interest in thier lives entirely too much
~billy jean is the shit. not one of the random phrases uttered to me today… but i had to pause writing to wop right quick, so i figured it was important enough to share.
~speaking of the looks on my face… .is there a tattoo on my forehead that i am not aware of that says “breeder”? no i really mean to ask that- what part of the game lets you think you know that i should be the mother of your kids? i’ve been asked this question 3 times in the last 24 hours. now granted- it was in jest because they were aware that bullshit ass fukkery has been thrown at me before- but it got me all pissed off again over niggas that do this.
seriously fool- you make ceily look like miss america. my genes are about as watered down as you can get- even if i was a purebred ANYTHING- no amount of genetic wizardy is going to erase that your parents fucked up big time when they laid down to make you. we will not, would not, could not, should not and HELL NAH wont make pretty fuckin babies.
and on top of all that- NIGGA DO YOU KNOW ME?! for all you know, i’m butter cream pie (that is not a compliment- youtube it) and you want to hop up in the bed all willy nilly. just goes to show people need to sit down and really think harder before making life decisions. get a helmet, write yourself some notes, say it in the mirror 3 times before you take that fuckkery in public. seriously.
~iman is the most breath-takingly beautiful, stunning, mezmorizing woman i have ever seen in my life. 20 years ago, 10 years ago, today, 50 years form now.. that woman just defies nature. (go watch ‘remember the time’ if you dont know what i’m talking about.)
oh old on… i have to jam right quick… i wanna rock wit you.. rock you into sunlight… rock the night awaaaaayyy
ok.. back- i told you i was watching michael (brown michael) so work with me here people
~gentleman- little trick about females-if you are honest and lay out your immediate intentions up front you get alot further. they of course may change in the future- then again they may not. but saying whats on your mind will save me alot of repeat conversations with my friends. (and myself)
women analyze everything. how many men you know match, iron and plan thier boxers, beater, socks, deoderant, cologne, earrings, chain, shirt, jeans, coat, hoodie, hairstyle, edgeup, hat, durag and toothpick EVERY morning. now how many women you know do? see, over-analyzation. just be upfront. i dont want to talk about YOU and what do i think YOU think all day, everyday.
~not everyone is built for tv. not speaking on physical- but if you say “unowhaimsayin” more than all the actual points in your argument- maybe its jsut not for you. tavis is a tv dude… you, well some people are just meant to shut up, keep the timbs on and handle business while young buck blares in the background. find your talent and run with it homie.
~automatic pussy coupon to the first dude that is bold enough to stand in the middle of a busy street, tie BOTH of his shirts in the front, scream “HEY!” at the top of his lungs, jump on a car and approach me like mike just did this bright chick in “the way you make me feel” video. and i MEAN that! i’m going to get my ass kicked for saying it (sorry baby) but honestly- any man that is THAT slick with this shit DESERVES to get at least an attempt in bed to get a yes to the “will you be my baby mama?” question.
*extra points if you get a fire hydrant to spontaneously errupt in the process.*
~if the only way you can think of to get someone you’re dealing with to get in line with your game plan is to take time out of your life DAILY to throw salt on the next person you think is a ‘threat’.. then maybe you arent really on the level you think you are. if all was that peachy with your game, then you would realize thats SO not necessary. get your relationship life together please.
newsflash, lurking ass “grown up”: if the person was that interested in being a ‘threat’ dont you think they would have been cashed in on it and you would be a fleeting thought?
really. its old. let it go. no one cares about you or your ‘mark’ that much. they would however like to go on living thier life like its golden without the snide comments every morning. tell your man i said hi
Here 
y’all 
go…
ENJOY! ….work’s kickin my ass but now I got some real music to listen to on the ride home. Please support these niggas by the way. Freeway’s album is the hottest shit out right now and it sold like two copies. As soon as my job decides to give a nigga a check
…who am I foolin? I’m a download more shit!
Peace!
*sings “rehab” as I update the ipod*
oh let me know via email or myspace if the shit ain’t workin’…they’re workin’ on my shit.
I’m about 5 minutes from quitting this job.
WOOZAH!
I seriously would rather deliver pizza right about now.
Fuck.
I’d insert my ‘Cliff Face’, but I’m just that damn aggravated.
**UPDATE**
God DAMN!
Make that 2.5 minutes. LOL!
Now this muthafucka says he’s ‘courting‘ this broad???
Courting???
The very foundations of the MAN COUNCIL have been shaken.
This dude said ‘courting‘.
I’m disgusted.
Open Thread…
Well…. ok, Hip Hop AND Persia. My back hurts and its all her fault!
There’s a story in there somewhere, but I need a cuppa Joe and a handful of advil first, LOL.
In the meantime, good morning, and I hope yall ate more than I did….
Forget y’all. :frown:
Dig I told you that you would be missing out on some very hillarious shit! LOL
First off the episode starts with crazy ass Rosie O’Donnell - she is the kook that won the lottery last season and every since then she has had more plastic surgery than Joan Rivers…well not quite that much. But on last season she bought 5 million dollar earrings and I thief cut off her ear to get the earring! So the good docs Shawn and Chrisitian grew her an ear at a genetics lab on the side of a mouse…no shit! LOL! Well this episode Rosie was hang gliding and an eagle came along and snag part of her upper lip - there she goes from Miami (the original city since season one) to LA (the new location) to get a quick fix from the good docs.
So they take part of her top lip and attach it to the bottom but her mouth has to be sewn shut and this bitch can talk her ass off! So after she is in recovery a young unknown doc comes in the room and tell her he needs stool sample which means gloves, gel and an ass opening experience - Rosie looked like somebody stuck a watermelon in her ass! LOL!!! She reports this to the docs and they tell her that they only have one night nurse and she is a woman - so they call the police and find out they have an Ass Bandit - yeah a damn “Ass Bandit” roaming the plastic surgery healing centers and getting off on taking make believe stool samples! A fucking “Ass Bandit” - ***SMH***
Moving on…
Shawn is in this crazy situation with his ex wife Julia - basically she is a walking head case! Back in the day she, Shawn and Chrisitian were best friends in college. She was in love with Christian but she married Shawn for stability - had 2 wonderful children and Shawn and Christian remained colleagues and best friends - well about 2 seasons ago they find out that the oldest of the children, Matt, is not Shawn’s but belongs to Christian. Julia goes crazy loses her mind and starts daitng a midget with lobster hands…I shit you NOT! Well this season she is a lesbian - she really wants Christian, but she is fucking Portia DeRossi - yeah Ellen’s girl - they are having mad lesbian sex I mean it makes no sense the way that make this shit look so real! HBO ain’t got shit on FX…seriously! The problem is Portia has a daughter, Eden, that is blonde, beautiful and a certified sociopath. Julia & Shawn have an 11 year old daughter, Annie, that attends the same private school with Eden. Eden is 17 or 18 - but she is whore like NOBODY’S business. She has been trying to get some dick from Shawn every since her mother starting, carpet munching, so she calls it. Shawn is tempted as hell but he knows that she is a deviant…the type to cry rape and everyone would believe her. But that doesn’t stop her from relentlessly trying to get to Shawn. But she has ran out of traditional ways to get at him so she goes through his 11 year old by telling her that she is a porker and she needs lypo! And she shows his daughter how to be bilemic and anorexic. On top of all that she tells her how to get the attention of a 12 year old boy she likes by giving him oral sex at school and low and behold the little 11 year old does that shit and gets expelled! Shawn blames Eden, but Julia does want to blame her new step daughter b/c she has her fooled and she want mess up that mad pussy she is getting from mommy dearest…
Next week little Miss Eden is trying to take on Dr. Chrisitan Troy and that serves to be one of the best match ups of the season b/c if ANYONE can put her in her place it will be Dr. Troy!
Dr. Troy’s storyline was kinda boring for him this week so we are waiting on next week. This week he only did a breast reduction for a nun who had a set size triple E’s and he met a lady on his side job (male escort) that wanted him to put her in a tub of ice til she reached hypothermia and then fuck her back to life…
Nip Tuck is da shit!
Happy Turkey Day People!
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