The above passage is excerpted from the infamous "letter from a Tennessee mom" in which she took issue with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's exuberant celebrations. The mom, Rosemary Plorin of Nashville, framed her criticism of Newton through the eyes of her 9-year-old daughter who was at the game with her. That silly episode was only the most high-profile example of something that Newton has been dealing with all season, and today he finally got it off his chest. Only the most obtuse observer would deny that Cam Newton's race has everything to do with all of the criticism that is leveled at him. Black athletes have always had to walk a very fine line as far as how much emotion they could express without incurring the wrath of white society.
That goes back at least as far as the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, a man who gleefully broke every social convention having to do with the color line as it was drawn in early 20th century America. Johnson not only beat white fighters, and grinned broadly as he stood over their prone bodies, he also dated white women and that was the ultimate taboo. A frantic search was undertaken to find a "Great White Hope" who could defeat Johnson and restore the heavyweight championship to the white race. In tandem with that, Johnson was brought up on baseless criminal charges of having violated the White Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act.
Johnson would ultimately flee the country to avoid prison and eventually lose his title to a far inferior white fighter in a match that was surely fixed. There wouldn't be another opportunity for a black heavyweight until the incomparable Joe Louis came on the scene 20 years later. And the two black men who managed Louis drew up a strict set of behavioral rules for him to follow both in and out of the boxing ring. They had witnessed the destruction of Jack Johnson and were determined not to allow that to happen to their fighter. Which is why we see so few photographs of Joe Louis smiling. He was forced to wear a mask so as to not offend white sensibilities.
Those two examples might seem hopelessly dated and irrelevant in an age when black athletes dominate college and professional sports, but I'm not so sure we can dismiss them so quickly. The fact that Cam Newton plays quarterback, a position that has historically been the property of white athletes, adds a disturbing element to the mix. For a long time it was widely believed that black athletes didn't have the intelligence to play quarterback, at least not at the professional level, and black quarterbacks coming out of college would be turned into either wide receivers or defensive backs. Very few coaches, players, or analysts would openly acknowledge what was taking place. It was like the proverbial elephant in the room. And, speaking of elephants, let us not forget what got the conservative gasbag Rush Limbaugh fired from his gig as a commentator at ESPN after about two weeks on the job. This is what he had to say about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb back in 2003:
"Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go," Limbaugh said. "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."
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