Race and Sports Journalism

Kevin Blackistone was very approachable. As a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, and a former writer for Politico.com, he discusses race and journalism from time to time. I had a discussion with him about his high school, Good Counsel and sports in general. The panel discussion was provocative. When asked about how he handles the media with his team, Williams said that his team needs to be more sensitive to race issues because of the vicinity to Washington, DC. "...it's not like we are a backwoods place like Durham, NC". That set the theme for the night; both a serious topic with a layer of light comedy.

Wilbon discussed his column immediately after the death of Sean Taylor. His comments referencing Taylor's past history with the criminal element brought criticism from all around. Scott Van Pelt interjected stating that Wilbon could write that, even though he took criticism. "You can write that, I can't". Van Pelt also brought up the point that he chooses his words carefully. When analyzing the Duke basketball team this upcoming season, he used the words "less athletic", which were chosen over "more white" because that wouldn't be criticized as a stereotypical or racist remark. Van Pelt brought up another example. Since being on SportsCenter, he has received regular snail-mail letters from a viewer in Virginia he called "Rumar". Rumar accuses him of being biased with many different innocent remarks. One time, Van Pelt was so angered by a letter, he looked up Rumar and called him. After a long debate over the phone, Rumar apologized and said Van Pelt was not bias in that case. It shows that no matter what journalistic setting he took, it could still be construed as bias.

Len Elmore and Sage Steele brought their unique situations to play. Len as both a former star player and now analyst and commentator with various networks. Steele as a female minority journalist. They brought those aspects to their journalistic duties in approaching athletes. Some athletes may feel more comfortable with journalists of their own ethnicity. The panel also discussed use of the N-word. Wilbon stated he frequently uses it in his personal life, but more as a pronoun, not a derogatory word.

After the discussion, the crowd was free to speak with the panelists again. Scott Van Pelt was surrounded by students immediately. He is very popular with the college crowd. Wilbon, as one of the stars of Pardon the Interruption, was also surrounded. It was a great night to think about the relationship between journalists and their subjects. In particular how integration took place much earlier in the sports world than in parts of the real world. I could write about all the topics discussed, but I'd be writing for days.

Obama was brought up during the discussion about how he transcends some of the stereotypes. As both an athlete and a scholar, President-Elect, and a minority, he could change the world in a different way than most Presidents will.