Speak for Yourself.
This episode could not come at a better time. Guest of our show and host of his own, Speak for Yourself on Fox Sports, Jason Whitlock [@JasonLeeWhitlock], brings his outspoken perspective on shit. This week we talk race, football, policing, and the evolution of what Whitlock refers to as the “cyber human”. According to this former Ball State athlete, when you dumb every incident down to 140 characters, the public fills in the blanks. You are left with callous conclusions about entire demographics that defy rationality. How do we avoid this divisive practice? A little personal responsibility goes a long away, and you can start by listening to this great discussion.
One of the highlights of our chat with Jason is his pointed solutions to the issues on all of our minds. Tired of the political circus? Start being honest with yourself about how you form your opinions. Want to enact real change? Money can be a pretty persuasive tool. And probably the most well stated synopsis of athletes recent showboating. As Whitlock reminds us “Kneeling before the National Anthem is the easiest fucking thing you can do that accomplishes nothing”.
EMPOWER YOUR PERFORMANCE.
Like what you’ve heard from Jason? You can find him on Fox Sport’s, Speak for Yourself, at 2pm EST. He’s also available on twitter under the name @WhitlockJason but as per our discussion with him…don’t let 140 characters be the primary means of news and information.
SOURCES
Tagged: athletes / football / Jason Whitlock / Policing / Politics / Pro Sports / Race / Social Responsibility
AUTHOR
John
John Welbourn is CEO of Power Athlete and host of Power Athlete Radio. He is a 9 year starter and veteran of the NFL. John was drafted with the 97th pick in 1999 NFL Draft and went on to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2003, appearing in 3 NFC Championship games, and for starter for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2004-2007. In 2008, he played with the New England Patriots until an injury ended his season early with him retiring in 2009. Over the course of his career, John has started over 100 games and has 10 play-off appearances. He was a four year lettermen while playing football at the University of California at Berkeley. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Rhetoric in 1998. John has worked with the MLB, NFL, NHL, Olympic athletes and Military. He travels the world lecturing on performance and nutrition and records his podcast, Power Athlete Radio, every week with over 800 episodes spanning 13 years. You can catch up with John as his personal blog, Talk To Me Johnnie, on social media @johnwelbourn or at Power Athlete Radio.
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Loved this podcast great job by Jason Whitlock. Social media is how skynet Williams enslave the human race.
Been listening to PA for awhile, followed CFF for some time years ago, first time posting. I really appreciated your willingness to openly discuss the breadth and depth of major social issues in America, across politics and sports in this episode. I always enjoy the podcast for the quality and variety of S&C guests you have, but also the conversations about values, parenting, and being a better human. Props to you guys for using your platform responsibly and constructively. I’ll keep reading and listening, hopefully catch you at a seminar soon.
The quality of the discussion on race and police contacts could have benefited from abandoning the incompetence/good intention versus criminality duality. Some of the more recently pressing and cogently expressed concerns with this epidemic-of 2.5x more likelihood of death by cop for black males versus white counterparts-focuses on U.S. institutional policies and those legacies that inhere. Often times, the aforementioned focus, while not abandoning individual agency, presumes the problem is in policing culture and practices. The onus is placed on the institution and those that power it rather than supposing malicious individual intent. And yet, race is very much a part of such a discussion given this country’s history of institutionalized forms of race based social control.
If I may indulge in the same manner of anecdotal demographic centering as Jason did in this podcast, I have many black friends and know many in law enforcement. When these terrible shootings take place, I have yet to hear accusations about the racist nature of the individual cop. Most know that the problem of homicide by cop isn’t a facile caricature of a bigot in blue saying the n-word. The problem is systematic and no it does not have anything to do with parenting. This is an old saw from antebellum south through Jim Crow (and obviously today) used to justify harsh penalties disproportionately-or solely-leveled on American blacks. Something to the effect of, “Act better, black guy, and you won’t get shot.” Respectability politics as a response to systemic black devaluing of life (and yes, that devaluing does extend and is enmeshed with many black communities as well (i.e. Chicago) but that is not the matter at hand, this is often brought up to rebuff concerns about police killings. This tu quoque reply is both an illogical and suspiciously intransigent in the face of addressing a very particular and peculiar type of tragedy) is a red herring deployed in order to avoid deeper scrutiny into the mechanisms and cultural institutional practices we have ratified, either directly or by our complicit silence.
And with all due respect, wtf is Whitlock talking about with his version of respectability politics when he says that, “Once upon a time in America . . .” bullshit? For who was America this way? Where? When? This appeal to some kind of idyllic respectable experience with intact families-other than the wealthy-may have been a reality for a tiny blip in American history from WWII to about 1960, when people poked through the curtain.
I respect you guys. I love what you have brought to the table in terms of sports performance. But when you guys want to talk about such a heavy subject and follow it outside the bounds of sports then you need to bring on someone that is involved in discussions beyond the tropes and infantile appeals to cartoonish history and a “pull up your pants” bullshit foisted on all people of color.
Whitlock has no respect from informed and thoughtful voices on race or cultural phenomena. He has a wacky view of history and bloviates with heinous imprecision about important matters. This was maddening to listen to. You guys cranked the music box and he did what you wanted. You can distill this podcast’s message about cops and race down to: “Aww shucks, I’ve worked with law enforcement. They don’t mean to kill your kids. It’s just hard to not shoot you because of time.”
Parents as first line of policing for poor urban kids. This is precisely the problem. His paradigm (and the one so many callused individuals appeal to) isn’t of full humanity. It presumes and is primarily informed by criminal justice system. Wtf! No one is asking for leniency not afforded by parents. Instead, what is argued for is equanimity in police contacts (they are paid public servants not Robocops), the end to summary capital justice without trial (fucking mistake or not), and the equal application of law, ie. crack/cocaine conviction rates and sentencing (which would include abolishing laws that unequal target people of color).
Reducing Kapaernick’s protest to fame seeking and vacuous celebrity culture is sad. You guys are field strong. Your arms are way to strong. Stop cranking that music box. You are not doing any good. Or get people on with different perspectives that won’t just parrot what you want to hear.
This pod was maddening.