Rob Long: Jones Reveals The Uncomfortable Truth
The situation that occurred in Boston involving Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones is very unfortunate, but it further shares light on a real problem in our society. Bigotry still exists in our world. It hasn't gone away. Maybe it's not as prevalent now as it once was, thank God for that, but it exists and from my vantage point, and it's not going anywhere. To some other races, you can be too black. That's based on either what they see in the media or maybe even based on their own personal experiences. Some decide to take one paint brush and with one stroke summarize what and who someone else is.
Race is a huge problem in our country. In the words of Marvin Gaye, "Make me wanna holler the way they do my life." Some believe because of a person's stature or salary you're supposed to be numb to the verbal attacks. Some believe it's actually their right to be able to say what they want, when they want and the recipient of the attack should not react or retaliate. People like Adam Jones and others are suppose to take and show no emotions whatsoever.
There are some that would react to the press conference that Jones had before Tuesday's game in Boston and say it was not needed. Maybe Major League Baseball is making too much of this. Some will say it happened and Adam Jones should get over it. "Hell, he makes a ton of money. Why does he care what people say about his?"
My stance? Racism will NEVER go away. It's a hot topic and it drives people to click on websites, tune into news programs and go to movies. Racism is as much of our country's history as the Declaration of Independence. The difference is, we want to sweep it under the rug and ignore it. We know what eventually happens when you do that too often. One day you will trip over it. That's what happened in Boston.
What happened to Adam Jones on Monday is talked about because someone threw peanuts at him. You're fooling yourself if you believe the verbal attack has not happened before. I can guarantee it has happened and not once. If he shows anger from the incident, he's an angry black man. If he doesn't respond with enough anger, people will ask why.
There's no winning here. It's an unfortunate thing to happen to him but what's even more unfortunate is the fact that it happens to other far too often.
Keep your head up, Adam.
