Black On Black Crime

Donavan McNabb described former teammate Terrell Owens' criticisms of Donavan as "black on black crime." Obviously, McNabb has received a lot of flack for that comment. However, the critique of that comment has generally been on the belief that Owens' comments were not racially motivated.

Michael Irvin wondered aloud whether the Philadelphia Eagles would be considerably better with Brett Favre at quarterback than McNabb. When asked about that possibility, Owens agreed that Favre would be a better fit. McNabb claimed that he was hurt by the choice of a white quarterback. That led to his "black on black crime" comment.

It seems everyone is missing the problem with the whole situation. One rich man criticizing another rich man does not constitute a crime. Black on black crime is a serious concern for not only the black community, but also America, as it represents the inequality of opportunity in this country and its tragic results.

Regarding McNabb, besides his exaggerated comment, his overall point is important. McNabb is the target of an inordinate amount of criticism for the simple reason that he is a black man playing a position that was almost totally white less than ten years ago. Brett Favre had a miserable year, but because of his past accomplishments and his race he is given a free ride. Irvin and Owens clearly played to this fact in order to antagonize McNabb further.

McNabb was deemed a traitor to his race because he didn't run the ball enough from his quarterback position by the president of Philadelphia's NAACP chapter! As I wrote before, a former high school coach, who now substitute teaches in Montgomery County, stated that blacks aren't smart enough to play quarterback professionally, citing the few number of black quarterbacks. Race is still very much an issue with the NFL quarterback.

So, to those that claimed within the last day that, "I don't see Brett Favre as a white quarterback; I see him as the gold standard at that position." Guess what? He is a white quarterback. Just as Donovan McNabb is a black quarterback and has been treated as one his entire career.

To sum up: rich men criticizing each other is not a crime. More importantly, McNabb's large point is correct and he has been unfairly criticized by the media, players, and even the NAACP, because of his race.