RAW TALENT - The Mis-Education of Jason Whitlock

Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock is in the news again for his insensitive tweet about Jeremy Lin after Lin's stellar game against the Lakers on 2/10/12.

Many have chastised Whitlock for this tweet. Some have called for his head, others can't believe he would sink to this level.  Whitlock followed up with an apology on twitter:

"I get Linsanity. I've cried watching Tiger Woods win a major golf championship. Jeremy Lin, for now, is the Tiger Woods of the NBA. I suspect Lin makes Asian Americans feel the way I feel when I watch Tiger play golf. I should've realized that Friday night when I watched Lin torch the Lakers. For Asian Americans and a lot of sports fans, his nationally-televised 38-point outburst was the equivalent of Tiger's first victory in The Masters. I got caught up in the excitement. I tweeted about what a great story Lin is and how he could rival Tim Tebow. I then gave into another part of my personality -- my immature, sophomoric comedic nature. It's been with me since birth, a gift from my mother and honed as a child listening to my Godmother's Richard Pryor albums. I still want to be a standup comedian. The couple-inches-of-pain tweet overshadowed my sincere celebration of Lin’s performance and the irony that the stereotype applies to pot-bellied, overweight male sports writers, too. As the Asian American Journalist Association pointed out, I debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I’m truly sorry."

My focus in writing this blog is not to point out the obvious and pile logs on the flame in writing about Whitlock's lack of judgment and humor in tweeting about Lin. I created this blog site to add a point of view that might not be obvious to all. This is my third piece on Whitlock. The first blog I wrote on Whitlock dealt with his flawed thinking on NBA players. 

My next piece was a Chirpstory that asked, "Who is Jason Whitlock?" The Chirpstory came about because of a 'Real Talk' podcast that Whitlock conducted with Bomani Jones. Whitlock was impressed with a blog Bomani wrote after being a panelist at Deadspin's "Blogs with Balls 4(BWB4)." Bomani's blog, "Why Aren't More Blacks in the Sports Blogosphere?" ignited a lot of debate amongst journalists and bloggers. It's a good read and an important topic. 

I decided to write 'Who is Jason Whitlock?' because of comments Whitlock made about Michael Tillery.  The gist of Whitlock's comments on Tillery were that his "intentions are good. He works hard and has put a lot of energy into developing a site, but he's clueless and exhibits a comically, stereotypically black perspective." I was offended and disgusted how Whitlock used Michael Tillery as an example of what not to do to succeed as a Black Sports Blogger. Three separate times in the interview Whitlock came back to disparage and demean the talents of Tillery, and indirectly, the other writers who were and are a part of The Starting Five. Jason Whitlock once again showed me his true colors by this display of callousness towards a colleague.

Before writing his infamous tweet on Lin on 2/10, Whitlock tweeted about Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire:

Saw this tweet and wondered why Amar'e and Carmelo should be embarrassed. I found out when I read Whitlock's column, "Real Reason I Think Lin is a Great Story."

The following paragraph on Amar'e and Carmelo offended me as much as Whitlock's tweet that referenced Lin's genitalia:

"Amar'e and 'Melo should be embarrassed. They have more RAW TALENT than Jeremy Lin. They should wonder what is it about their personalities, their values, their culture and their style of play that didn't allow them to impose a winning imprint on the Knicks."

So that is what Whitlock meant when he said Amar'e and Carmelo should be embarrassed. No, Jason, you should be embarrassed for writing the paragraph and the subsequent paragraphs after it. Not going to even get into the personalities, values, cultural components and how they relate to imposing "a winning imprint on the Knicks. Just going to deal with two words, 'RAW TALENT.'

 Jason, your ignorance is astounding.  You know nothing, I repeat nothing about the game of basketball.  Your use of the word 'RAW TALENT' shows your prejudice towards Lin, Amar'e, & Carmelo. 'RAW TALENT' - Black athletes get subtly dissed liked this all the time; that their success is predicated on 'RAW TALENT,' and not the countless hours in the gym they spend honing their craft. Michael Jordan was great because he had RAW TALENT, a great work ethic, and a brilliant basketball mind. Your quote demeans Lin because it assumes he doesn't have 'RAW TALENT.' Lin is a fine athlete, with athletic gifts that put him in the highest echelon. Coordinated, strong, quick, fast, flexible, and blessed with good endurance.  Lin possesses the 5 biomotor abilities that are the foundation for measuring athletic ability. Know what the hell you're talking about before you print it.Your makeup article on Jeremy Lin offends me as much as your penis tweet because it demeans three people and perpetuates a stereotype of Black athletes. You have no clue of the qualities inherent in a successful athlete and the qualities that contribute to a cohesive team.


Hope the readers of this blog now have a better idea of who Jason Whitlock is. I can tell you who Jason Whitlock thinks he is by just looking on his twitter background.  He views Ralph Wiley and Mike Royko as mentors in the journalism profession. Idolizes David Simon, who created his favorite television series, "The Wire." And, he describes himself to his audience as speaking "truth to power. Black people think I'm a sellout; White people think I'm a racist.  I think I'm too honest. My perspective is for people unafraid to think and willing to challenge their own biases. P.S. It also doesn't hurt if you like to laugh."

I'm not laughing Jason and most of America isn't either.  Readers, here are the last 5 paragraphs of Jason's makeup article to Jeremy Lin, "Real Reason I Think Lin is a Great Story." Chime in and tell me who you think Jason Whitlock really is!

"Amar'e and 'Melo should be embarrassed. They have more raw talent than Jeremy Lin. They should wonder what is it about their personalities, their values, their culture and their style of play that didn't allow them to impose a winning imprint on the Knicks."

"Lin's success, even if it disappears, should not be dismissed. There is something to be learned from the results of his play and the absence of two star hip-hop, AAU athletes, 'Melo and Amar'e."

"Yes, I played the hip-hop culture card. Hip-hop music is a capitalistic success. Hip-hop culture is an utter failure. The me-first, rebellious, anti-intellect culture directly contradicts all the values taught in team sports and most of the values necessary to sustain a civilized society."

"I don't get to pick which tweets my supporters and critics choose to interpret. In 140 characters, I can't link to all the on-an-island-by-myself columns that directly contradict the absurd notion that I'm for the unfair treatment of any human being, regardless of color, religion, legal sexual preference, etc."

"Writing columns that discomfort the comfortable and defend the vulnerable is far more important to me than being outrageously popular and irreverent on Twitter."