Sports and the uncivil society

[Hannah Bell]

THIS WEEK, the grand media theme from USA Today to ESPN has been that "we have lost a sense of civility in U.S. society." The examples have ranged from Serena Williams' expletive-infused outburst at the U.S. Open and Michael Jordan's brutal basketball Hall of Fame speech to Rep. Joe Wilson bleating "You lie!" and the tea bagger "Up with Racism" parade that plagued my hometown of Washington, D.C...

The idea that we are all just a bunch of uncivil goons sounds like common sense, especially when you toss in the worst of reality television and anything done by Kanye West. But this conventional wisdom is not only wrong-headed, it's downright dangerous. The reactions to Serena Williams' outburst at the U.S. Open and Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech say more about the media's prejudices than they do about "civility."

...Long before reality television, when the Kardashian sisters weren't even a gleam in someone's bloodshot eye, Ty Cobb went into the stands to beat up a disabled fan. In 1965, Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal beat catcher John Roseboro with a bat right at home plate. And as long as there has been hockey, there's been blood on the ice....

But that's a far cry from showing up armed to town meetings. It blows up the importance of Jordan and Serena and tamps down the violence being brewed on the right. By saying it's all the same stew of incivility, we are just giving political cover to an inflamed minority that needs to be peacefully confronted and not coddled.

http://socialistworker.org/2009/09/22/sports-and-the-uncivil-society