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.

Comments

ed | July 27, 2007, 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.

Brandybuck | July 27, 2007, 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 | July 27, 2007, 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.

D. Greene | July 27, 2007, 1:50pm | #

POPADICS? BEST NAME EVER.

MikeP | July 27, 2007, 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.

joe | July 27, 2007, 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 | July 27, 2007, 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.

Kent Brockman | July 27, 2007, 2:10pm | #

We're talking about Idaho, right?

This barely qualifies as news.

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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 | July 27, 2007, 2:17pm | #

They're obviously color-blind at BSU. I mean, they play on a blue field, fer crissakes.

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 2:17pm | #

Kent Brockman,

They didn't seem to have a problem with Kip and LaFawnduh, did they?

tomWright | July 27, 2007, 2:18pm | #

crimethink loses the thread

John | July 27, 2007, 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.

MyTube | July 27, 2007, 2:24pm | #

As long as the police don't get involved, I'm cool with whatever happens.

Finkelstein | July 27, 2007, 2:35pm | #

Crap. More job security for those in the race business.

Pedro (Vote for me) | July 27, 2007, 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.

Eric Atkinson | July 27, 2007, 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?

ChicagoTom | July 27, 2007, 2:45pm | #

Wait what?

I thought we didn't have race problems in America any more?

Hmmm...something doesn't compute

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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 | July 27, 2007, 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.

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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.

FatDrunkAndStupid | July 27, 2007, 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 | July 27, 2007, 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.

Good Ol'Boy | July 27, 2007, 3:35pm | #

It's Adam and Eve not Adam and Lakqueesha!

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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.

R C Dean | July 27, 2007, 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.

swillfredo pareto | July 27, 2007, 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.

joshua corning | July 27, 2007, 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.

rm2muv | July 27, 2007, 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® | July 27, 2007, 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?

The Wine Commonsewer® | July 27, 2007, 6:15pm | #

Oh sorry, I guess it's Meridian.

Stevo Darkly | July 27, 2007, 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.

joe | July 27, 2007, 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.

Trea | July 27, 2007, 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.

Tha Boo Vius | July 27, 2007, 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.

Qwert Uiop | July 27, 2007, 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.

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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?

crimethink | July 27, 2007, 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.

Rex Rhino | July 27, 2007, 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.

Tha Boo Vius | July 28, 2007, 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.

crimethink | July 28, 2007, 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.

JasonL | July 28, 2007, 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.

Tha Boo Vius | July 28, 2007, 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.

The Wine Commonsewer® | July 28, 2007, 8:33pm | #

Crime: I thought you was taller.

edna | July 28, 2007, 9:43pm | #

nfl football is the greatest sport in existence. college football is only slightly more interesting than pop warner.

crimethink | July 28, 2007, 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.

wayne | July 29, 2007, 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.

joe | July 29, 2007, 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.

Col DuBois | July 29, 2007, 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.