Deshaun Watson Is Handling Racist Views On Black Quarterbacks With Class
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports - Deshaun Watson
“When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback”
By: Omar Cook
Black quarterbacks are always under fire and judged at a higher standard than their white counterparts. One of the biggest stereotypes of black quarterbacks is that they are only good as athletes and not for their arm talent. And now you can add lack of “precision decision making” to the list of black quarterback stereotypes.
After the Houston Texans week 2 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Lynn Redden, the superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District in Onalaska, Texas, took to facebook to give his racist opinion on Deshaun Watson’s play. “When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback” said Redden. When asked about the post he said he regretted but “Over the history of the NFL, [black quarterbacks] have had limited success.” What??
This has to be one of the most casually racist things to say, and it’s crazy that people just let things like this “slip” out of their mouth so easily, better yet on social media. But this is a school superintendent. These are the people that are in positions of influence that feel this way about black athletes and black people. And of course they always regret or feel bad after they get caught saying it.
Being a black quarterback in the NFL has to be the toughest job there is because people will judge your every move, and wait for the moment you mess up to criticize you, as if they could do the job better. Deshaun Watson has been awesome since entering the league, so to judge him off of a bad play in a game because of his skin color is extremely low.
But of course, Deshaun Watson responded back with class:
"But I'm all about love, [so] I don't focus on [any] of that. I love all people. And that's what I focus on. It's part of life. I can't control other people and what their beliefs are. I can control what I can control, so I just focus on me, and that's it."
Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien also came to Watson’s defense.
"I really don't want to waste a lot of time responding to outdated, inaccurate, ignorant, idiotic statements," O'Brien said. "I'll just let Deshaun's proven success on the field, his character off the field, speak for itself. He's one of the greatest guys I've ever coached. He represents everything that's right about football, about life…His teammates respect him, his coaching staff respects him, and in this day and age, it's just amazing that this B.S. exists. But it does. But we're moving forward."
It’s 2018 and we’re still dealing with the stereotypes on black players as quarterbacks. At what point do we come to an understanding that race has nothing to do with being able to play a position, and that black quarterbacks are just as capable if not more capable of playing the position than their white counterparts? Who would’ve predicted that in 2018, racism would still exist? But here we are.
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