The war of words between former ESPN contributor and Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock, and ESPN Page 2 and former SLAM Magazine editor Scoop Jackson, puts a dark cloud over black journalists and over a dying industry for blacks.
Now I was never a big Whitlock fan, but like a lot of situations, you hope that one of your own does well and succeeds. With that said, I didn’t shed a tear when I heard Whitlock would no longer be seen on the Worldwide Leader in Sports after an apparent run-in with longtime ESPN contributor Mike Lupica and fellow black writer Jackson, plus comments he made about them in a blog interview.
Whitlock blasted Jackson for “telling black kids they had a better chance of being NBA players than sportswriters.” Now, that sounds bad, and Whitlock was definitely speaking out on what he considered to be an ignorant thing to do.
In a column called “Freedom to speak has price,” that ran in The Kansas City Star, Whitlock stood his ground stating, “I take being a journalist/columnist very seriously. To me, being a contract employee for ESPN did not mean I’d surrendered my right to blast the World Wide Leader in Sports.”
I respect Whitlock for standing up for the integrity of journalism and not biting his tongue, nor jeopardizing his morals for the network, but to go on and take a subliminal shot at Jackson and ESPN for “publishing the gangsta-posturing rantings of a poor writer” was uncalled for.
This was the hip-hop equivalent of a diss record and for me personally, being a fan of Jackson’s writing, I was taken back by these comments. A lot of his writing is comical but very “real”. It’s that same style that drew me to his work.
He wasn’t trying to be overly eloquent or sugarcoat his writing. For the most part he was telling the truth and it was funny.
Am I willing to say he went too far a couple times? Sure. But it’s ridiculous to say, “Much of his writing is childish, anti-white and a caricature of a negative black stereotype,” like Whitlock did in that same Kansas City Star article.
Like a man who believes in his own work, Jackson responded to Whitlock’s interview and article on ESPN.com’s Page 2. In an article called “The Importance of Being Civil,” Jackson went on the challenge Whitlock’s accusations.
“You all have a better chance to make it to the NBA than you do of doing what I do for a living. Those were my words. Exact,” said Jackson. “To some degree, it seems my point was misinterpreted.”
What Jackson said might not be the right thing to say but it doesn’t make it untrue. I think that he was the bigger, man by not retaliating and saying you’re entitled to your opinion. Not all of us can do that when we are called a “clown” and accused of “bojanglin’.”
Where do we stand as black writers; black sportswriters specifically? I have thought Whitlock and Jackson were both pigeon-holed at one point in time as the “token black guy” at ESPN before.
Whether it may be Whitlock talking about teammates he has seen with guns, quoting Bell Biv Devoe on Pardon The Interruption or Jackson giving the “black” answer on Cold Pizza, both men have been faced with living the image and stereotype of being their own man.
I’ve had times where I thought Whitlock came off as being corny and forced on ESPN and moments where I shook my head laughing, thinking I can’t believe Scoop just said that.
The fact remains that Jackson’s numbers don’t lie. Five out of 305 sports editors at major newspapers in the country are black. Just five!
“There’s a direct correlation between what people see as accessible to them and what they choose to do with their lives. It doesn’t shape what everyone does, but it’s naive to think that it doesn’t play a role,” said Jackson. “Unless someone sees a person doing something he can see himself doing, finding the passion and work ethic necessary to pursue that career never manifests.”
I had the opportunity to learn my craft from a former black sports editor at a major paper and I love ESPN for introducing me a new generation of black writers. I’m not really old enough to have read the late Ralph Wiley and I can’t always relate to The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon and USA Today’s David Dupree, but being able to see black sportswriters like Jackson, Michael A. Smith, Stephen A. Smith, Whitlock and J.A. Adande only made sports journalism as a black man seem even more realistic for me. I read these writers everyday because I can relate to them. I do see a little of myself in their writing and I do steal little things they do and add them to my repertoire.
I think this beef affects how people look at us as black writers in the workplace. I’m on a majority black staff here at A&T, but I really think that at professional papers they are saying, “look at these black folks”.
I think both men make fine points, but in the end, we’re in the same boat as a minority in this industry. Splitting a group that’s already small isn’t going to solve anything and in that sense, I think that the two of them should agree to disagree and move on as two black men at the top of their respective games.
Decide for yourself:
* Whitlock’s KC Star article –
* Jason Whitlock’s blog interview
- Mike McCray