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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson may have earned a one game suspension, negative publicity, and loss of an estimated 600,000 in earnings after yelling to two reporters in the locker room on Monday to "get your faggot asses out of here", but it may be the disappointment and public statements from his father that will have the greatest impact.
Kansas City.com reports:
He said it hurts that his son used gay slurs in public.“That’s just not who we are and not what we believe,” said the elder Johnson, 56. “It’s not how he was raised.
“It’s tough for me as a father.” He said young Larry learned that hateful or inappropriate words are “just not tolerated.”
Larry Johnson issued an apology on Tuesday: “I regret my actions,” the statement read. “The words were used by me in frustration, and they were not appropriate. I did not intend to offend anyone, but that is no excuse for what I said.”
In the uproar following the anti-gay remarks, the former two-time Pro Bowl player "apologized" to NFL fans, Chiefs fans, teammates and staff—everyone but gays. It was obvious Johnson was not sorry about demeaning gays, notes Rod Mccollum of Rod 2.0.
Rashad Robinson, senior programs director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said Johnson’s apology was a good start. Robinson said it was a sign that Johnson takes seriously the inflammatory nature of the slurs, and Robinson said he hopes Johnson learned the hard way that words can be damaging.
Johnson will be suspended from playing until November 9. His agent Peter Schaffer has vowed to appeal the decision.
3 Comments:
Larry Johnson is a great football player but I don't look to him for moral or ethical guidance nor would I recommend him as a role model for children (he has past off-field antics on top of this recent one). My thing is this: I'm gay and I played college basketball and for a while overseas and I know folks on this blog may disagree but guy's......"It's the lockerroom"!!! I say that to say, tea and crumpets are not served there lol! We talk about sex, girls get called bitches and hoes and if it's an all-black squad they call each other nigga with ease. I'm not saying any of this is right but it is what it is. The lockerroom had reporters so he should have been smarter and more sensitive but I look at the lockerroom like the barbershop, conversation happens there that you probably wouldn't want your wife or kids to hear. When you play a team sport like football or basketball you become family with those guys and feel like you can speak freely and openly. I was out in college and when I played semi-pro and I learned a very important lesson....My teammates looked out for me and even entertained my boyfriends when they came to visit me BUT they would say things like "Man thats so gay" etc..and I wouldn't take offense because I believe that it is all about the INTENT. Surely when you say "whaddup my nigga" you don't mean it negatively......Now I believe that Larry Johnson meant it to be demeaning and insulting but that is just my opinion. I just wanted say that there is a grey area people may not understand or think about.
October 29, 2009 1:09 PM
@Ron
"I wouldn't take offense because I believe that it is all about the INTENT."
"I just wanted say that there is a grey area people may not understand or think about."
My response:
Would you be willing to look at the "intent" of a white person using the word "nigger"?
Would you be willing to look at the "grey area" of a white person calling black people "niggers"?
It's the EXACT same thing as looking at the "grey areas" and "intent" of Larry Johnson calling people "faggots".
November 02, 2009 4:09 AM
@ELG I said that I BELIEVE that he meant it in a derogatory fashion and meant to be insulting and should be punished. The point I was making is that there is a gray area.....Eminem has used "nigga" in his lyrics and people don't take issue (at least not to a big degree) because he uses it the way we use it toward each other.."My nigga", "whaddup nigga"......again I think intent causes there to be a gray area. Dr. Dre has said that Eminem has used the word with him and it's not meant to be offensive. Now I would probably take issue with a white person calling me a nigger but tone and intent would be big factors in my reaction. Whether you think it's RIGHT or WRONG is irrelevant because the sheer fact that you and I have differing opinions means that it is not as BLACK nad WHIT as you make it appear....
November 02, 2009 12:28 PM
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