The Steroid Controversy:  Racism in Disguise?

The defenders of Barry Bonds have claimed, loud, early, and often, that the mainstream media, the Federal government, and the Mitchell investigation targeted Bonds for racist reasons. Indirectly, baseball fans and the so-called mainstream media fed this beast by comparing Bonds to Babe Ruth. Obviously, if there is a ?victim? in this tawdry tale of steroid use, tax evasion, and perjury, then that victim has been Hank Aaron. The last time I checked, Hank Aaron is still black. (I have met Hank Aaron in person on three occasions, and I?m pretty sure about this one folks.) However, comparing Bonds to Aaron is like comparing Bobby Orr to Jaromir Jagr, just because they are both ?white.? Culturally, economically, and historically, Bonds and Aaron might as well hail from different planets. Born into a life of wealth, privilege, and opportunity, Bonds decided to play the role of the stereotypical ?angry black man? for the fans and media. This has alienated many people from Bonds over the years, as it is widely known that he was born in Riverside, California and grew up in the wealthy California suburbs of San Carlos and San Mateo. Taking full advantage of the quality of instruction available to the son of an MLB player, Bonds dominated in baseball at all levels, from Little League to college to the pros. It is widely acknowledged that Bonds has always been an insufferable braggart in light of his success. In contrast, Hank Aaron was a self-made man. Hank Aaron was one of eight children born to Herbert and Estella Aaron in a Mobile, Alabama slum known as ?Down the Bay.? Aaron did not attend school regularly as a youth, as his family needed him to work. For many years, Aaron picked cotton during the baseball season. Before joining his high school team, young Hank never had access to ?real? baseball equipment, so he practiced by hitting bottle caps with sticks. Aaron never had formal instruction, and he incorrectly taught himself to bat cross-handed. Hank would not break this habit until he entered the Braves? minor league system. Aaron dropped out of high school in 1952 to join the Indianapolis Clowns, making him the last MLB player to have played in the Negro Leagues. Over the winter of 1973-74, it was obvious that Aaron would break Babe Ruth?s career record for home runs (714), provided he lived that long. Not only did Hank receive death threats, but so did his entire family and various Atlanta journalists who were covering the chase. Lewis Grizzard, editor of the Atlanta Journal, received enough death threats and phone calls calling him a ?nigger lover? himself to prompt him to prepare an obituary for Hank Aaron. At the time, Grizzard was positive that Aaron would be murdered prior to the 1974 season. Say what you want to about how Bonds has been treated, but the situations are not comparable by any stretch of the imagination. At the time Hank Aaron was born, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi each averaged at least one black man lynched every year. The last mass lynching in Georgia took place on July 25, 1946, or when Aaron was twelve years old. Two young black couples who worked as sharecroppers, Roger and Dorothy Malcom and George and Mae Dorsey, were lynched by an unmasked mob at the Moore?s Ford Bridge. Prior to the hangings, the couples were beaten and shot multiple times, and their corpses were subsequently mutilated. These incidents were common knowledge in Mobile. In short, there is no doubt that Hank Aaron was a victim of racism, well before 1974 for that matter. Aaron grew up in a society that systematically brutalized blacks. By ?brutalize,? I mean not only were blacks in constant danger of random violence (brutality), but blacks were treated as brutes, not human beings. Despite all of this, Aaron?s life after baseball has been marked by an exceptional generosity of spirit and dedication to public service. In recognition of his participation in various charities and minority programs, the United States honored Hank Aaron in 2002 with the highest decoration conferred upon civilians, the Presidential Medal of Honor. In contrast, Bonds, who grew up wealthy, privileged, and protected, has never hesitated to play the ?race card? when it suited his purposes. Is there any validity to the claim? As I mentioned earlier, people tend to compare Bonds to Ruth, rather than Bonds to Aaron. Frankly, I don?t understand why, as this tends to inject racism into the issue for its own sake, since Ruth?s record became meaningless in 1974. Perhaps it is because it is widely believed that Ruth never took performance enhancers. If anything, Ruth should be criticized more often for being a glutton. In fact, there has almost been a backlash against Aaron, as it is often suggested that he may have taken ?greenies,? or amphetamines during his playing career. This is ridiculous for several reasons: 1) studies demonstrate that amphetamine use has no measurable effect on athletic performance, although withdrawal may decrease performance; 2) no one has proven that Aaron took ?greenies? in the first place (although their use was more or less endemic during his career); and 3) neither amphetamines nor anabolic steroids could hope to influence visual acuity and timing, which are more important to hitting than raw power. Unlike Ruth and Bonds, Aaron was known as a power hitter at every level of baseball. Call me crazy, but I highly suspect that Mobile?s Central High School didn?t pass out amphetamines to its players. Is race such a pervasive issue in America that people are afraid to compare Aaron and Bonds? After all, Aaron is more or less typical of his generation. That is, while it is obvious that Aaron has dedicated much of his private resources and energy to minority causes, Aaron is not particularly outspoken or often found basking in the limelight. In other words, Aaron has been a ?doer,? not a great motivator like Malcolm X or MLK, Jr. In contrast, Bonds is typical of other high profile blacks of his generation (see Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, etc.). To my knowledge, Bonds has never actually lifted a finger for his race, but he certainly talks a good game. In the final conclusion, it appears that Bonds plays the ?race card? solely for his own benefit. In his defense, Bonds treats poor whites and blacks equally; that is, he doesn?t seem to give a shit about anyone but himself. I suspect that the mainstream media avoids a direct comparison between Aaron and Bonds for complicated reasons and racial motivations. Aaron is loved; Bonds is reviled. Most sportswriters are my age or older, and they have fond memories of Hank Aaron. Dragging Aaron into the discussion provides ignorant demagogues an opportunity to toss around phrases like ?Uncle Tom? or ?house nigger.? If someone called Aaron an Uncle Tom in my presence, I would certainly beat him or her to a fine pulp, and I know I?m not the only one. While I do not doubt that Bonds has faced some racism in his life, their situations are not comparable at all, and most reasonable people seem to grasp this fact. Additionally, unlike Ruth, Aaron is still alive. By and large, people seem to hate Bonds for being a real asshole, not because of the color of his skin. Unfortunately, Bonds plays up his race as a distraction, making it an issue. Racism is so pervasive in American society that common sense tells us that Bonds would not be as reviled if he were white. In other words, the same behavior from Jeff Kent earns him the ?asshole? label. In the case of Bonds, it also makes him an ?uppity nigger.? In the final analysis, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to hate Barry Bonds on an individual basis without resorting to racial prejudice. Still, it is hard to believe that race isn?t entering the equation at all. Your thoughts?