Bonds. Matter of Race?
Question:I saw a report this weekend that shows that the vast majority of whites (about 80%) dont want Bonds to break the all-time home-run record while alsmost the same number of blacks want him to. Explain how this is NOT a matter of race
Answers:
Sure, the record holder is black, so it's not a matter of not wanting to see Bonds passing up a white player. The issue is the divide between black and white opinion...media has nothing to do with it. I saw this poll - it was a survey of the public, not the media.
That being said, numbers dont lie. Whites will have there reason to why Bonds is not liked, blacks have their reason to why he should be respected.
I will not say that these whites are racists or that these blacks are pro-black activists. But once again, there must be a reason that these numbers came up the way they did.
The public has spoken. You cant turn your back on these numbers. Nobody WANTS to admit it's a matter of race. But you are blind if you dont see that it is at least indirectly a race matter.
How good can Josh Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds be?
The man who holds the record is black.It's a principal thing....you know..the whole steroids issue.not to mention the fact that Bonds isn't exactly Miss. Congeniality
that explains why I, as a white guy, am rooting against him.
I can't explain the numbers in that survey though...sorry
I hate the race card though.when A-Rod gets close, i'll root for him to break Bonds' record
and had Ken Griffey Jr. not been made of glass, i'd root for him.
How can it be a race issue when the man that owns the record now is black? I think people just do not like bonds and feel he has cheated to get to the point he is at now.
Who won the 1986 MLB All-Star game?
its may be partially a racial issue, but i think the main problem people, like myslef, have is that he is a cheater and a liar. at least big mac and giambi felt bad about it and showed remorse. barrys record will not stand long though due to a-rodMost dangerous and safest stadium in the league?
It is not the steroids issue. Its because he is always so rude to the media so they build him up to be this horrible guy. I am will to bet that if he was nicer to the media then this whole steroid thing wouldn't even be around because the media would have just brushed it off like they did with Giambi and Sheffield and McGwire and Sosa and Palmeiro and so on and so forth.2007 World Series, Who vs. Who?
I can't speak for the "vast majority" (I didn't see the poll), but I don't want him to break the record (held by Hank Aaron, a black man) because he cheated. I would have the same feeling if it was Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmiero or Sammy Sosa. It's not race, it's the drugs.Will the Phillies have a come-back?
Not to be rude by black want blacks to do go and white do not want blacks to do good. On the other hand Mexicans do not care.What is the best team in the American League?
It is once you make it one.Personally, it shouldn't matter what race I am when I give an opinion. It's very petty for someone to focus on it. I see Bonds as a class A jerk and a cheater. I don't want him to break the record. Needing to apply my race to my opinion is in fact a racist act and so juvenile.
Hank Aaron was a class act throughout his career. We can't say that about Bonds.
Why don't the fans exercise power by boycotting games if unhappy with owners?
If this were Ken Griffey Jr, you would not be seeing the outrage you are seeing with Bonds.It's a simple matter of being a good person. Bonds is not a good person. He's been a jagoff to any and everyone he's come in contact with. He treats the media, the fans and his teammates like they mean nothing. Hell, during the strike in 1993, he petitioned to have his child support payments reduced.
Black, white, purple or green, if Bonds were a good guy, there would not be the backlash there is now. Plain and simple.
How do i stop hitting ground balls in baseball.?
It a matter of integrity. Why must everything be a racial issue? There are good people and there are bad people. Why not ask that?How fast should a 14 year old be pitching to have a shot?
That report was based on 800 votes. That's hardly a fair and unbias subsection of culture, first of all.And secondly... do you think Bonds' arrogance for the last 20 years has anything to do with why he's hated?
Do you think his admitted steroid use has anything to do with it?
Do you think the facts that he's evaded taxes and been caught cheating on his wife have anything to do with it?
Do you think people have gone any easier on Mark McGwire (The first member of the 500 homer club not to go to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot?)
This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with a complete jerk getting what he deserves.
What is the best event(s) that has happened in baseball this month?
You are such an idiot - The record holder is also black! I don't know about everybody else: black, white, green or otherwise, I don't want him to break the record because he's a jackass! Hank Aaron was a great ambassador for baseball - Bonds is damaged goods who gives the game a bad name.Why are sportcasters calling home runs 'going yard'?
There is some racial tension there and I will tell you why.Bonds is wondering why was it not a big deal when Mark McGwire used androstenedione which is a well known banned substance by the NFL, the NCAA, the International Olympic Committee, and ever other sport.
And how he could avoid answering congress after Canseco's testimony that McGwire used daily with him. Talk about a guilty coward. Is he being investigated ? No!
Yet Bonds is being investigated like he was mass murderer and is being portrayed as the steroid poster child for baseball. That is unfair BS and this country knows it.
I'm not a fan of Bonds because he was a jerk to baseball, his teammates, and to fans for as long as I can remember. There was a time when he thought he was God's gift to baseball. Even if he had not taken the cream and was clean as a whistle I would have not wanted to see him break the record.
It's about Barry the man and not Barry the user.
Karma is a b***h. Bonds the jerk is now paying for all the shallow mean things he has done in the past. And everyone he once pissed off is getting their revenge by trying to destroy him.
What the hell is up with the name "The Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim"?
if he was clean his whole career i would be more happy for him. but when he breaks the record it will be tainted and not as cool. if they took like 100 hommers off is record i think then we could call it even. its not a race thing, its a steroid thing. nobody likes cheaters, baseball is too pure and beautiful of a sport for that garbage. if you want to juice go play football or somthing.Where can I find a team's run allowed distribution per inning?
Well, cause and effect aren't definitive here. Anyone who understands the basic scientific principle can tell you that. I too saw that study, and while it asked if blacks and whites thought he was persecuted b/c of his race, what it failed to ask is whether people actually did judge him based on race. As sad as it is, we know that in America blacks and whites generally see things differently. Their perceived notions however do not definitively show what the actual situation is. Take me for instance. I'm a white male. I think Bonds is a cheater and doesn't deserve to play, let alone break the record. My distatse for Bonds has nothing to do with his race, and everything for the kind of person he is. He's breaking a record held by another black man, one that I hold in highest regard, one who I actually think is the greatest hitter to ever play. My favorite player of all time is also Hispanic, the first in the MLB Hall of Fame. I think Ty Cobb was as big a jerk as the next guy, and I think it is his racism that made him so, not the fact that he played hard on the field. I could care less that McGwire is black. I personally think Clemens should be kicked out b/c I think he's cheating. I think Rose deserves his ban. I think McGwire's achievements should be stricken from the records. If McGwire was still in the game, I'd bet he'd have already passed the Hammer, and I'd detest him just as much as Bonds, perhaps moreso b/c of how he acted in front of Congress. By the way, I also detest Sosa and Palmeiro, Grimsley, ARod, Pujols, Giambi (I have a special dislike of him b/c he got off the juice for a year, sucked, then got back on untestable stuff and won comeback player of the year...for cheating), Sheffield, Gagne, Canseco, and a whole slew of other cheaters.If it's a race issue w/ Bonds, what is it with McGwire (who is not getting slammed as badly b/c he's out of baseball and that way out of daily ESPN coverage, thus out of the public conscience most of the time)?
How about the fact that I think Griffey is the only player in baseball that I think you can say absolutely does not and has not cheated?
Or, if just b/c most blacks think it's a race issue, why is that automatically right? What about the fact that whites say it isn't? Do we simply discount what white people say simply because they are white? Gee, that doesn't smack of ignorance and racism...I've never known a racist who was afraid to admit to it. That's sorta part of their schtick. So if such an overwhelming part of the white people polled say it's not a race issue, did you ever stop to think maybe they are telling the truth? That to them, they don't care about his race? I mean, supposedly this is saying blacks think they are discriminated against, so it sounds to me like maybe this could have to do more with a "feeling" of persecution, rather than it actually happening. If you are predisposed to think a successful black man is hated for being black, wouldn't you think the same thing here, whether or not it is actually the case?
I'm sure there are white folks who hate him b/c he is black, and black folks who want him sainted b/c he is black. However, there are FAR more factors to consider in the equation that prevent you from being able to say it is only or definitively a race issue.
* To b-jump...
As for the scared racist part, you are right I suppose. I was more trying to make a point, in that anyone I knew who was a racist in private was usually also racist in public. I misspoke.
You also sorta hit on something I was trying to get at in the cause and effect thing. The poll does mirror the responses. And it does show the poll to be accurate. The question is, what is the poll accurate about. Some people see the poll as proof of the hatred of Bonds stemming from the race of the hater vs. Bonds' race. But what it actually shows is what it says, that black people tend to THINK it is because Bonds is black, and white people tend to THINK it has nothing to do with Bonds being black. It doesn't prove whether it actually matters or not that he is black in terms of causing people to hate him. Just why people THINK other people hate him.
As for the white pitchers, some of them did it when it was legal (doctoring the ball), thus not considered cheating. As for the others, I don't condone them easier. I think what it really comes down to is that there is more media scrutiny on a guy who is breaking Aaron's record by cheating than there is on a guy who is winning games b/c of cheating. I'm not saying they don't deserve equal scrutiny, it's just that nobody cares if Gaylord won 100 games too many b/c of cheating, but they DO care if Bonds (or anyone else) breaks the most hallowed record in sports b/c of cheating. It just makes the news more b/c it is a bigger accomplishment. I think any form of cheating should carry a harsh penalty, especially for repeat offenders. I'd ban Gaylord Perry for life, just like any other cheater.
I DO think that this mentality lead in part to the juicing problem in the first place. The idea that if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. It wasn't embarassing, unless you got caught, and even then there wasn't much to lose. What we need to do is make punishment and public ridicule harsher, making it undesirable to cheat.
Bonds is the perfect candidate for that for a multitude of reasons. First, he's generally rude to fans and media, so it's easy to dislike him. Second, the assault on Aaron is a very public and newsworthy event, making him a very prominent figure to point to. Third, it is VERY easy to support your allegations just by looking at his numbers over his career. 30 HR a year average up to age 34 (when his mistress said he started using), 40 HR a year average after the age of 34 (after and well beyond his prime at this point). Fourth, there is plenty of witnesses testifying against him. He's a prime candidate to be made an example of, and I'll bet you that if Bonds had Giambi's career numbers and vice versa, Giambi would be just as hated, despite being white.
On the Yankees home jersey, what does the black band on the left arm mean?
It would be interesting to see what color/race the asker of this question is. Personally, I think he should have disclosed that so that we could paint a better picture of opinion.First of all, let me say that I am black.
I have looked over the other 15 posts on this thread and I'll-be-doggone if the poll this past weekend doesn't mirror the opinions of white/black posters on this thread.
So, if nothing else, right or wrong, the polls seem rather legit.
I dont like Bonds because he plays for the Giants and I'm predjudiced against them - LOL. And for that reason, I dont want him to break the record. So there you have it - someone black who doesnt want Bonds to break the record.
But let me say this - some of the reasons cited for not liking Bonds and not letting him into the HOF, like cheating, dont seem to be universal. There are pitchers in the HOF - white pitchers I must add - that got caught and admitted to doctoring the ball - cheating - but nothing is ever said about them. Now, some will chime in and say it had less of an effect. But a pitcher has much more bearing on the outcome of a game than one hitter does.
And for Jim L : The reason that you dont know of any racist who are afraid to admit it is for that same reason - THEY ARE AFRAID TO ADMIT IT...DUH. But not liking Barry Bonds doesnt make you a racist either.
If Bonds keeps it up where does that leave the Giants next season?
It doesn't matter to me if he is black. I like Hank Aaron and I don't like Barry Bonds. Aaron is likable and Bonds and is rude. It's not a matter of race to me, it's a personality issue.Besides the Yankees, which team do you think has the best infield?
Not even close. It's the media. They portrayed Barry Bonds as someone who has anti-social tendencies all because he would not grant 100% of the requested interviews. The media will brainwash the entire public if they wanted to and as evidenced by Barry Bonds, it does not include the race card because hatred is widespread towards him.I do not care if he breaks the record or not. I don't care what race anyone is if they want to achieve something in life. All I want to see is people providing proof showing that he really did all of those terrible things to make people hate him. Barry is not a bad person, just portrayed as such by the media.
I know tons of people hate Barry Bonds, but does anyone out there actually like the guy?
you are a bigot racist for even asking the question. do you believe everything that you read in the newspaper? if so then you must believe it when it has been reported that barry admitted to using steroids, or did you just not get the paper that week? I HATE people like you.More Questions & Answers...