Roger Clemens: Is Anyone Surprised?

We have been getting email after email referencing the latest choice detail in the Roger Clemens saga. That detail being that Clemens may well have been involved in an intimate relationship with a female minor.

Many of our readers are up in arms that the media is not dragging Clemens over the coals. That the media is not providing non-stop coverage. That children's and women's advocacy groups are not speaking out. Certainly, if Clemens had been a young, Negro accused of not stopping dogs from having fights on his property...advocacy groups would be organizing mass demonstrations against his very existence! Or had Clemens been the Negro Home Run King, we might now be questioning his moral character as a result of his philandering.

But, Clemens is the Cy Young and Strike Out King (read: white), so expectations are different. Media spin is different. And public reaction is different.

Many Negroes and supporters of fair reporting and unspun media commentary have suggested that the media goes out of its way to shine a negative light on the circumstances that Negro athletes find themselves. Many have said that Barry Bonds has been held to a different standard than players such as Mark McGwire. The insinuation is that the media has taken an unfair approach to painting a negative picture of Bonds. That the media has introduced things such as a loose lipped mistress to further soil the linen in which the public perception of Bonds rests.

All of this certainly begs the question: Why is Roger Clemens not being mercilessly demonized? Why is there not a public outcry to nullify his records and awards? Why are baseball people not taking an oath to keep him out of the Hall of Fame?

These are legitimate questions. And, as righteous thinkers we can provide effective and legitimate answers to them.

The answer isn't complicated. And, despite institutionalized efforts that are intertwined between the government, corporations and media; the example of Roger Clemens treatment by the press juxtaposed to Barry Bonds' is not a sinister or conspiratory plot to hold the Negro down or to sully and besmirch a race. Now, be clear in your understanding, this sort of thing is a common tactic used by the Big House to hold down the chattel, but the example we provide here is more rooted in the admission of the differences between the races than in attempts to provide a means to overcome those differences by holding the righteous and Originals back or down.

At times, institutionalized discrimination can reveal more than a simple hatred or distaste for that party or group being mercilessly persecuted and marginalized. It can lend us the opportunity to understand just where that hatred originates. Most of a righteous mind would agree that hatred between humans originates in fear. And fear is borne of a jealous womb.

And, righteous minds understand that even in an institutionally corrupt and fetid environment, the wardens and bosses occasionally allow an honest thought or action to escape them and give away their minds and thoughts. And fears. And jealousies.

Our righteous readers, at this point, understand what we are about to say. They understand that watching Roger Clemens' actions and character be treated with nothing more than a passing glance out of the corner of the media's collective eye is actually something in which the Original athlete can take pride.

We mentioned expectations and standards earlier. Why does a Jared Allen, a convicted habitual drunk driver, get a mere slap on the wrist and a record contract? While a Pacman Jones, unconvicted and characterized by some in the legal/law enforcement profession as a 'hero', get a years suspension? Why is Barry Bonds, whose story seems to parallel Clemens (except Bonds extra-marital dalliance was not started with a minor), run out of the game?

Clearly, the answer is race.

The empirical and anecdotal evidence is not confrontable. It can't be challenged. Please, save your emails. Disagreement is not entertainable.

Let's agree on that. But, also, let's understand what that means.

As we suggested earlier, hatred is rooted in fear is rooted in jealousy. What does that mean? Well, it takes us back to the words expectation and standards.

Negro athletes are held to higher social and moral expectations and standards than their bleached counterparts.

Jared Allen's contract. Roger Clemens' ability to still get a job in baseball if he chooses. These are the proof in the pudding.

Michael Vick. Pacman Jones. Barry Bonds. Carmello Anthony. The list goes on and on. Demonized and crushed under the media grind.

More is expected of our Negro athletes. The media and public don't expect a Jared Allen to be able to control himself and make reasonable choices when it comes to alcohol. The media and public don't expect a Roger Clemens to perform at a high level without chemical assistance. They don't expect a Roger Clemens to exercise the moral restraint to keep his hands off a teenage girl.
The media does expect Michael Vick to have control over what happens at property he pays for. The media does expect Pacman Jones to leave a strip club as soon as he recognizes there is the potential for trouble. The media does expect Barry Bonds to hit massive and numerous home runs with the assistance of balanced nutrition and consistent strength training. And the media does expect Bonds to set a moral example that young people can take value in.

So righteous readers, take pride in the media's continual and relentless pressure cooking of Original athletes who find themselves in odd situations. And take greater pride as white athletes who break laws, lie and show the moral fortitude of a Chicago-machine politician, are reported on in passing and small print by the media.


It's a simple and righteous tip of the hat to the Negro athlete.


More is expected of you.


Because you are better.


Better talents, better people.


Original people.


The day that Roger Clemens goes into the Hall of Fame is the day that Barry Bonds is crowned the greatest baseball player of all time.


The media set the standards.


The Original athlete simply tries to meet them.