Am I missing something with this Jason Collins debate? Unfortunately, I stumbled across a Nate Beeler cartoon today (thanks Columbus Dispatch and Facebook), which showcased a picture of Collins on the left, saying, "I'm a 34-year old NBA center, I'm black, and I'm gay." Six people can be seen enthusiastically calling Mr. Collins a hero. On the right is a picture of a a guy at a coffee-shop, who says, "I'm a 24-year old barista, I'm white, and I'm gay." He takes an order from a middle-aged woman who responds with, "Venti, no-whip, skinny mocha latte, please."
Since when did race have anything to do with this? The big story wasn't about Jason Collins being the first black homosexual athlete of a major team sport to announce he was gay. It was about him being the first homosexual athlete of a major team sport to announce he was gay.
If the cartoon wanted to suggest that a person, regardless of their profession, should keep their sexual orientation to themselves and just go about their work, that would have been one thing. However, with the inclusion of race, the cartoon becomes tasteless and borderline racist.
The before-mentioned cartoon can be viewed at the following site (and others):
http://www.westernjournalism.com/gay-nba-player/
If interested, you can file a complaint against Nate Beeler and his cartoon here -
http://www.dispatch.com/content/sections/contacts/index.html
Since when did race have anything to do with this? The big story wasn't about Jason Collins being the first black homosexual athlete of a major team sport to announce he was gay. It was about him being the first homosexual athlete of a major team sport to announce he was gay.
If the cartoon wanted to suggest that a person, regardless of their profession, should keep their sexual orientation to themselves and just go about their work, that would have been one thing. However, with the inclusion of race, the cartoon becomes tasteless and borderline racist.
The before-mentioned cartoon can be viewed at the following site (and others):
http://www.westernjournalism.com/gay-nba-player/
If interested, you can file a complaint against Nate Beeler and his cartoon here -
http://www.dispatch.com/content/sections/contacts/index.html
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