JJ Watt has decided not to indulge in the outrage following Rashard Mendenhall’s outrageous and racist social media post in which he said white people weren’t good at football and proposed an “All-Black vs. All-White” Pro Bowl.
For those unaware, on Monday, Mendenhall took to X to voice his disgust with “average white guys commenting on football.”
Mendenhall wrote, “I’m sick of average white guys commenting on football. Y’all not even good at football. Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football. I’m better than ur goat.”
I’m sick of average white guys commenting on football. Y’all not even good at football. Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football. I’m better than ur goat.
— Rashard Mendenhall (@R_Mendenhall) December 18, 2023
To this, Watt responded with a light-hearted post.
We’d get cooked at corner, not gonna lie.
Nobody on our squad is covering Tyreek 😂 https://t.co/CLCugkM4LS
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 18, 2023
However, when an X user accused Watt of ignoring Mendenhall’s “blatant racism,” the future Hall of Famer explained why he didn’t need to get offended by things with no “validity.”
Buddy, listen…
We don’t need to be offended by everything in the entire world.
He said white guys can’t play football.
I thought to myself “I’m a white guy. I’m very good at football” and concluded that his statement had no validity.
Instead of arguing, I had some fun.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 19, 2023
It needs to be said that Watt is 1000% correct. We do not need to get offended by everything, nor should we be. In addition, humor is an excellent way of dealing with ignorant people and their comments.
In fact, Watt’s method of dealing with ignorant racism is so good that all should copy it!
J.J. Watt #99 of the Arizona Cardinals runs onto the field during player introduction before the start of the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on January 08, 2023, in Santa Clara, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
But therein lies the problem: it won’t be. Had a white football player or athlete made a similarly racist or disparaging remark about black football players or athletes, he would not have been greeted with humor. He would have been greeted with scathing anger, not only by black media personalities but also by white media personalities, who would have felt the need to voice outrage despite the obvious stupidity of the statement, lest they be themselves considered racist.
Outrage, condemnation, cancelation, these are the sacraments of a modern race theology that doesn’t seek to forgive, make light of, or correct the ignorant among us, But instead, seeks to pounce on even the least significant and dumbest among us to further their woke religion which is bent on sowing racial division.
This is why none of the usual suspects at ESPN, such as RGIII or Stephen A. Smith, have taken to the air to condemn Mendenhall. If they were truthful about their stated or implied intent to stamp out racism at every turn, they would have pounced on Mendenhall.
But they didn’t because they didn’t care about ending all forms of racism, just some forms of racism.
So, JJ Watt is absolutely right. But, as he may one day find out as a new member of the woke sports media, the same rules don’t apply to everyone.