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Blackhawks Go Blacker Than They Should
 Posted
11/4/2009 2:43:00 PM
Yes...it's being thrown from pillar to post as the new controversy and really, the only people probably thrilled that this is being discussed are all those thoughtful Calgary Flames and their loved ones for snagging the last H1N1 vaccines last Friday before the entire province shut down the process hours later on Saturday.
As a media colleague of mine put it -- if 80 of them got the vaccine, that means 80 people who needed it didn't on Saturday. The math can't be argued with.
If you put money on Patrick Kane exhibiting much much much much much better judgement about what to do in the public eye since the violent cab driver incident in downtown Buffalo, you'd have lost that money based on Kane's Halloween costume, along with teammate Adam Burish.
Both players went old-school Chicago Bulls (what, no love for the Kirk Hinrichs or Steve Kerrs...THIS way, you don't have to make your skin darker...you do, however, with Hinrich have to make your ears stick out more. Similarily with Steve Kerr, you have to make an ill-advised acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal for a playoff run)....and dressed as Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman as you can see.
Nice idea, but I don't care who you are, where you are...you simply cannot make your skin black...you can't use makeup, you can't use shoe polish, and you certainly can't use that great new Ralph Lauren paint everyone is raving about. Well, these fellas ignored these basic principles. Are the rules fair? Who's to say? But they are the RULES. Think of how many "rules" of etiquette and decency we live by, sometimes question in our minds, but never challenge. This certainly should remain one of them.
It's not like I'm not afraid of offending people. You can't say anything in this day and age without someone getting up in arms. I'm a huge fan of the word "retard"...I just...like the sound of it, and enjoyed Robert Downey's monologue with repeated uses of the word in Tropic Thunder even more...but I try not to use it, because it offends some people.
But you absolutely can't go "blackface". It doesn't make you a racist - racism HAS to have intent behind it. I'm convinced of that. It's not like Kane and Burish went as KKK Grand Wizards. It does make you ignorant and foolish and certainly uneducated, as much fault as this is of the players, this also needs to be owned by people who could have prevented this from happening. We don't need to get to a point where media relations and public relations people need to be advised of all their players' Halloween costumes, do we?
Well, of course we shouldn't. But again -- it's a real simple rule: if you're light-skinned, you can't go "dark-skinned". Not for a laugh, not for a joke, not for a walk, not for a smoke. They don't need to apologize, neither does the team, neither does the league to its fans (black or otherwise) offended by this stupidity by these two players. Just get smarter. Please.
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