In Zirin’s article, he makes the argument that money, whiteness, and athletic ability save people from court persecution. Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was accused of raping a 20-year old girl, and was not convicted of any crime. Zirin states that this is because he is white, rich, and is extremely talented at football and that Roethlisberger should “thank the heavens” for his whiteness, wealth, and talent because those three things make him able to get out of tough situations (Zirin 1). The strongest argument Zirin makes is when he compares Roethlisberger to Michael Vick. Michel Vick was not only convicted for dog fighting, but also he had to educate youth on the harms of dog fighting in addition to his punishment. These two happenings seem to show that dog fighting is more important than women, and that being white gets one things he did not earn or deserve, like in the Vick/Roethlisberger example, not being convicted of crimes.
Wise’s argues that white people are rewarded for their inappropriate behaviors through positive reinforcement of being called brave or defenders of the country when protesting political happenings or certain people in office, like Obama for example. He also argues that if black people were to do the same they are strongly sanctioned for their actions and are said to be acting their color. Wise strongest arguments come from a “game” in his article where one is to imagine what would happen in certain circumstances if colored person were to act or say racial slurs just as a white person would and actually has already said about President Obama. His conclusion was that the black person would be punished, when white person would not. One of examples was: imagine hundreds of blacks marching to Washington, armed with guns and spoke of wanting a political revolution. They would not be viewed as “brave defenders of the 2nd Amendment” but instead as acting their color by being violent. (Wise 2) Through the imagination game, it can be clearly seen that black people are strongly sanctioned for trying to protest, while white people are praised when they protest or say racial slurs about Obama.
These arguments are related to McIntosh’s specific example of unpacking the knapsack because she claims that white people are equipped with certain things automatically, for example bank accounts, credit cards, jobs, attorneys and status. Vick was convicted of a crime for dog fighting, while Roethlisberger was not convicted of any crime when accused of raping a girl. Dog fighting is a less serious crime than rape, so this shows that Roethlisberger, a white man, was equipped with good lawyers likely due to color of his skin, in addition to his wealth. These concepts are related to our discussions of White Supremacy because each article displays an example of how a white man escaped punishment while a black man could not. In the Zirin article, this was shown when Roethlisberger was not convicted of a crime, while Vick was, and displayed in the Wise article when white protesters were not sanctioned, while black ones usually are. Classism and Patriarchy are not as relevant to the Zirin article when comparing Vick and Roethlisberger because they both are upper class and they are both male. Therefore, they are both extremely privileged, but Roethlisberger is more so than Vick due to his skin color. Classism applies to the Wise article because white people tend to be in a higher class than white people. Because of this, it makes it acceptable for white people to act inappropriately, and even have their behaviors deemed as “brave” or noble because they are the privileged class. Unfortunately, if these behaviors came from a black person, they would be sanctioned (Wise 2).
Coakley’s argument of black athletic destiny is that young blacks, especially males, feel that they are culturally and biologically obliged to participate in sport. They feel that sports are the only way that they can gain wealth and status. The critiques that socialists make about black athletic achievement is that blacks attribute all of their achievements to biological factors, when if a white person is successful athletically, it is attributed to cultural and social influences. Blacks feel genetically superior to whites, so they feel obligated to successes in the athletic arena. This idea of being biologically superior could cause increases in motivation to succeed, contributing largely to why they are so successful. Studies are not done on NHL hockey players and Skiers from Austria because few are interested in studying the white athlete due to the fact that white successes are attributed to social and cultural factors, rather than genetic or biological ones. Another reason is that white hegemony creates a world where white success is seen as socially normal, so very few people see the need to study them. (Coakely 10).