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Potatoes, Football, and Miscegenation
The more things change...:
The Boise State running back who scored the winning points in the Fiesta Bowl, then proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend on national television, says he has hired security for their wedding because of racial threats.
Ian Johnson, who is black, and Chrissy Popadics, who is white, are due to be married Saturday in Boise.
When I saw the proposal right after the game, the thought occurred to me that this may not go over well in a good chunk of America--but surprisingly it was treated as a non-issue and I was glad for that.
It's times like these that I really hate it when I'm right.
ed|7.27.07 @ 1:46PM|#
Are you sure? Maybe he's being threatened for proposing on
national television.
That sort of campy exhibitionism should be thwarted, not
rewarded.
|7.27.07 @ 1:49PM|#
If you do something, anything, on national television, someone is going to hate you for it and make threats. There is nothing in the story to suggest that "a good chunk of America" are making death threats.
steveintheknow|7.27.07 @ 1:49PM|#
Ahem. Excuse me, but if you will, allow me to take this moment and blame it on Oklahoma. Let me take this moment to blame everything on Oklahoma. Thank you, carry on.
|7.27.07 @ 1:54PM|#
No sooner scored the winning points than proposed to his
cheerleader girlfriend.
No Sooner scored the winning points then proposed to his
cheerleader girlfriend.
|7.27.07 @ 1:54PM|#
I thought exactly the same thing. First, uh oh, some people
aren't going to like that black man proposing to that white woman.
Then, aw, c'mon, joe, it's the 21st century, don't be so hard on
your fellow Americans.
And now this. Dispiriting confirmation that my worries were correct
seems to be a theme this decade.
Charles|7.27.07 @ 2:01PM|#
I just want to point out that the on-field announcer at the time (whose name escapes me) is a total dick for ruining that question-popping by asking if there was about to be a proposal before Johnson could ask.
|7.27.07 @ 2:14PM|#
Aren't both of them actually of mixed race? You can't tell from the photo they have up, but I seem to remember her having some African-American features.
Russ 2000|7.27.07 @ 2:17PM|#
They're obviously color-blind at BSU. I mean, they play on a blue field, fer crissakes.
|7.27.07 @ 2:17PM|#
Kent Brockman,
They didn't seem to have a problem with Kip and LaFawnduh, did
they?
|7.27.07 @ 2:22PM|#
There are still people upset about interracial marriage? I figured they would have shifted those efforts towards fighting gay marriage, or interracial gay marriage at the least.
|7.27.07 @ 2:36PM|#
Crimethink: Kip & LaFawduh were in Preston; the opposite end
of the state from Hayden Lake.
Are we sure the people making the threats aren't resentful Fresno
State fans? Were the threats misspelled & written in crayon?
That would be Fresno State fans.
|7.27.07 @ 2:43PM|#
Could it be the threats are coming from black females? Could it be Ian is lying his ass off for some unknown reason?
|7.27.07 @ 2:45PM|#
Wait what?
I thought we didn't have race problems in America any more?
Hmmm...something doesn't compute
|7.27.07 @ 3:01PM|#
Could it be Ian is lying his ass off for some unknown
reason?
Maybe he's just trying to get attention. It's kind of a letdown
going from proposing on national TV after scoring the winning
touchdown, to being just a regular guy getting married.
I remember thinking at the time that it would be really funny if
they wound up calling off the marriage for some reason. That would
suck for both of them to have their moment in the sun become a
painful memory. Then again, as has been demonstrated on the
thread(s) below, I'm a sick, twisted fuck underneath my thin veneer
of civilization.
edna|7.27.07 @ 3:13PM|#
there's 300 million people in the usa. if 0.001% are furiously
anti-miscegenation, that means you've got 3000 people ready to make
threats.
but it does make a nice bit of publicity, and it's just the sort of
thing to make joe feel smug.
|7.27.07 @ 3:17PM|#
Seriously, joe and ChicagoTom jumping on this is almost as bad as Dondero et al. jumping on stories about al-Qaeda videos promising imminent terrorist attacks in the US.
|7.27.07 @ 3:19PM|#
He put himself out there by doing an incredibly tacky and annoying thing on national TV. There is going to be a backlash. Just take the rest of the WAC + OU and you have over 200,000 young internet warriors with means and motive. No my question is this- wouldn't it be racist in and of itself to ignore the race angle. I mean, if she was fat, nobody would find fault if his critics pointed that out. So maybe the fact that he's gotten so many racist comments suggests that the younger generation is actually moving beyond race. They don't see racial put downs as the huge taboo that the older generation does. Rather, they view it in the same context as fat jokes. You see this in other ares too, as Paris Hilton and Howard Stern (both of whom have a young support base) get passes for racist comments, while people with older fanbases (Imus or John Rocker) get torn apart.
Episiarch|7.27.07 @ 3:23PM|#
I thought we didn't have race problems in America any
more?
Seeing as all people everywhere will always have race problems (it
being human nature), it's more like your smartass comment doesn't
compute.
|7.27.07 @ 3:41PM|#
Uh, never mind my comment about him being let down by just being a regular guy. I thought he was a senior last year and hadn't been drafted. It turns out he's still playing at Boise State this coming season, so he may make it to the NFL yet.
|7.27.07 @ 3:44PM|#
I don't see any reason to believe "a good chunk of America" has
a problem with this.
Based on a very limited sample, I would say the demographic most
likely to get homicidal when a black dude hooks up with a white
chick is black women.
They didn't seem to have a problem with Kip and LaFawnduh, did
they?
Like you could even know that.
|7.27.07 @ 3:44PM|#
He put himself out there by doing an incredibly tacky and
annoying thing on national TV.
FD&S, if we're going to knock off everyone who does something
tacky, tasteless or stupid on TV, soon we'd have no TV
"personalities" at a...
[pauses]
You know, we may be on to something here.
|7.27.07 @ 4:00PM|#
And now this. Dispiriting confirmation that my worries were
correct seems to be a theme this decade.
Don't throw out your shoulder patting yourself on the back. There
are over 2 years left for you to return to form.
|7.27.07 @ 4:06PM|#
Based on a very limited sample, I would say the demographic
most likely to get homicidal when a black dude hooks up with a
white chick is black women.
Plus it seems from anecdotal evidence that most white dudes would
rather go for Asian women.
The white women are all about the drama...
...Me?...oh yeah, I am waiting for the robots.
|7.27.07 @ 4:25PM|#
As an Idahoan from North Idaho, the Hayden Lake end, I must
point out that we managed to shut down the Nazi skinhead scum many
years ago. Yeah, we have our share of racists, too, but no more
than I've found in my travels in 49 states.
I'd like to see a few of the scumbags making threats caught and
puniished.
By the way, most of us were so happy with the outcome of the game
that we sort of enjoyed the on screen proposal and wish them a
long, happy and safe marriage.
Now, if the University of Idaho could only win a few games...
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.27.07 @ 6:14PM|#
ahhhh, we have in-laws from (Nampa/Maridian/Caldwell) Boise
Valley. They use the N word a lot. On the up side, they're too busy
drinking and bailing each other out of jail to cause much
trouble.
Never, ever let an Irish guy marry an Indian and have ten kids.
They don't stop drinking until somebody dies from it. And the break
only lasts until the wake starts. And this goes on for three
generations or until somebody breaks the chain by escaping to
another state, far, far away.
How's that for some stereotyping and bigotry?
|7.27.07 @ 6:18PM|#
POPADICS? BEST NAME EVER.
Second-best. I used to know a woman whose last name was pronounced
"Pop-in-dick." It was spelled somewhat differently,
though. Pappendieck or something like that.
If she'd chosen to let her name be pronounced more like it was
spelled, English-phonetics style -- "Pappen-deek" -- she probably
would have saved herself some trouble. She stuck defiantly to the
way it was pronounced in the old country, though.
|7.27.07 @ 6:20PM|#
They're obviously color-blind at BSU. I mean, they play on a
blue field, fer crissakes.
And blue/orange uniforms. I think you're onto something.
I love the FatDrunkandStupid theory that the racial death threats
are a sign of the decline of racism. Though I'm not the best person
to speculate on this, I'd say that there has been a big decline in
racism in this country over the past couple of decades. This
episode notwithstanding.
|7.27.07 @ 6:51PM|#
Based on a very limited sample, I would say the demographic
most likely to get homicidal when a black dude hooks up with a
white chick is black women.
Dunno about that, but I can say black men don't appreciate white
men dating outside their race. I have been in an interracial
marriage for about a decade now. I moved from the south to
California, and at the time we got together, interracial marriages
were still illegal in my home state of Alabama. They finally
rescinded the law in 2000. (No, I didn't misplace a decimal.) But
it was never enforced for as long as I can remember, and I remember
interracial families in my town. And we were never harassed when
visiting Alabama.
Well, until we visited Philadelphia for a conference. On 3 separate
occasions, I had an angry young man yell that I should stick to my
own kind. One man followed us for a few blocks telling me "I hate
you, I hate you," over and over. Kinda soured the whole "Liberty
Bell" trip. The only time it ever got frightening was once in
Oakland, 3 young men surrounded us and asked her what she was doing
with that. After some racial epithets, they left us alone,
though. We live just a few miles from Oakland, but never go there
as a family. Too dangerous.
Growing up middle class, white, and male in the south, I never had
to deal with something like that. I hope I never do again. I
sincerely hope Ian and Chrissy's wedding goes well, and, like it
has been with myself, I hope they are just dealing with some
disaffected loud-mouths.
And, as for those making threats, I can only hope they expire a few
years early from heart disease due to the twisted vitriol they
choose to carry with them each day.
|7.27.07 @ 7:49PM|#
It seems to me as if America is beginning to enter a period that
is roughly commensurate to that of the Roman Empire circa 100 A.D.
By that time, the concept of a "pure" Roman had slowly disappeared
in favor of a more enlightened, though ever cautious, point of view
that accepted almost all races within the Empire as potential and
equal citizens.
Some would argue that this Golden Age of Rome, with it's
liberality, Pax Romana, relatively free trade and exchange and
progressive views on race was soon destroyed by a sort of cultural
double-edged sword: the increasing openness of Roman society also
presaged a sort of polyglot anarchy, leading to a weaker and less
secure society.
|7.27.07 @ 7:56PM|#
The worst part about this whole thing is it's a reminder that a lot of people really care about football. Ugh. B-O-R-I-N-G. Please, my fellow Americans, pick a better sport.
|7.27.07 @ 8:43PM|#
I think we need a drinking game ammendment to deal with strained analogies to the Roman Empire. What's the procedure, agreement of 2/3 of the posters in the thread and then ratification by 3/4 of the satellite blogs?
|7.27.07 @ 10:06PM|#
Please, my fellow Americans, pick a better sport.
Are you one of the soccer hounds? If so, I'd like to inform you
that the reasons I have for not enjoying soccer, strangely had
nothing to do with the absence of David Beckham.
|7.27.07 @ 11:44PM|#
there's 300 million people in the usa. if 0.001% are furiously anti-miscegenation, that means you've got 3000 people ready to make threats.
Yeah... All it takes is one or two assholes and you have someone
"recieving death threats". It is even easier in this day and age of
internet anonymity.
The thing about death threats though is that people who really
intend to kill someone don't usually send death threats. At one
time I worked for a record company, and my duties including going
through fan mail and email, and I have read through thousands and
thousands of death threats. I have even had a few frustrated fans
direct death threats at myself. Not a single one of these people
ever bothered so much as to drive over to our offices and throw a
brick through the window, let alone kill anyone.
That being said, I don't blame someone in the spotlight for wanting
security. There are still the crazy people who DON'T send death
threats that you need to worry about.
|7.28.07 @ 8:44AM|#
crimethink . . . you can take your "ammendments" and shove them up your ass. When you learn how to spell and better state your case for a silly and ignorant rule to an open thread, then speak your case. I will be waiting.
|7.28.07 @ 1:03PM|#
And here I thought drinking game rules were supposed to
be silly and ignorant!
I think you might have to move your Roman Empire Parallel Date up
to 150 AD, when humorless ideologues scratched derisive spelling
critekes (sic) into the walls of the Forum. Because we know that
every society has to follow the same path of development
as the Roman Empire did.
|7.28.07 @ 1:23PM|#
American football is the greatest sporting concept ever devised
by man. If you didn't dig on what Boise state did, you have no
heart. You feel no love. You are an empty shell.* Statue of
frikkin' Liberty for a two point conversion. Do you hear me?!
* I think I'm quoting this from the god-awful Van Helsig movie, but
don't hold me to it.
|7.28.07 @ 5:22PM|#
crimethink ... no, dolt, no. You somehow missed the analogy. I
stated "It seems to me as if America is beginning to enter a period
that is roughly commensurate to that of the Roman Empire circa 100
A.D." Now, little man, allow me to educate you on something called
"context".
The word means this: The part of a text or statement that surrounds
a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.
What is evident is that the contextual, if not direct, meaning of
the aforementioned phrase has nothing to do with your statement:
"Because we know that every society has to follow the same path of
development as the Roman Empire did."
It is clear that I was drawing a "rough"link between modern America
and the Rome of anitiquity.
I do believe that you have participated in one too many of those
drinking games. Please, for the sake of threads like these, go dry
for a month or two and allow some salubrious brain-cell
regeneration to occur.
edna|7.28.07 @ 9:43PM|#
nfl football is the greatest sport in existence. college football is only slightly more interesting than pop warner.
|7.28.07 @ 10:29PM|#
"Rough" is quite an understatement, Vius, especially if you're
insinuating that the rough parallel will cause our society to share
the fate of Rome.
By the way, reading your first post over, I feel compelled to
remind you that the English third-person neuter possessive pronoun
doesn't have an apostrophe in it.
|7.29.07 @ 2:53AM|#
"Aren't both of them actually of mixed race? You can't tell from
the photo they have up, but I seem to remember her having some
African-American features."
Come on Crimethink, Neu Mejican and DA Ridgely have assured me that
there is no such thing as race and that features tied to a "race"
are impossible.
|7.29.07 @ 8:16PM|#
American football is the greatest sporting concept ever
devised by man.
I gotta disagree. One of the ESPN stations shows Women's Beach
Volleyball matches.
God bless America.
|7.29.07 @ 8:41PM|#
Meh, women's volleyball suffers from a serious lack of the bouncy-bouncy. From what I hear it's because you can hit the ball over them, to the left of them, or to the right of them, but you can't hit it through them.
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