Forget Rocker; Think of Future

A few weeks ago, Atlanta Braves ace relief pitcher John Rocker made a number of bigoted, ignorant and racially provocative statements. Not surprisingly, within hours of the release of his villainous remarks, he retreated and issued an apology. Personally, I felt the offended parties handled his insults very well; the “rank and file” did not ask for his head. But many of the media pundits wanted blood. Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, succumbed to the pressure and handed down professional baseball’s coup de grace: Rocker was banned from joining his Atlanta team until May 1 and fined $20,000. I think that this is overkill, although I understand that baseball felt it had to send a message.

My concern is not what is going to ultimately happen to John Rocker. As my grandparents used to say, “He made his bed hard, now he will have to lay in it.” I am more concerned about how we black Americans respond to the John Rockers of this world.

When Rocker offered his apology, Ted Turner, his boss and owner of the Atlanta Braves, publicly announced support of his ace reliever and asked the public to forgive him. As a black American, I stand ready not only to forgive the ignorant and racially insensitive Rocker but all of the Rockers before and after him.

Before anyone too hastily decides I am another one of Uncle Tom’s children, please hear me through. A first-year clinical psychologist knows that forgiveness is good for the soul. Harboring bitterness can be disastrous. It is tantamount to having cancer. No matter how benign it may appear, if it is not completely removed or destroyed, it is only a matter of time before it eventually kills its victim. How long are we going to allow our own anger and racial animus to hinder our progress? How long are we going to have this me-against-the-world mentality? Hate breeds hate.

It is time to move on. Many of our ancestors earnestly looked forward to the freedom we have. Men and women like James Meredith and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave their lives for the liberties we are enjoying today. Others have gone to war--men of every race and creed--so that all Americans might be free. To wallow in bitterness over past inequities is not only self-destructive, it is an affront to every American who fought for our freedom.

Racial bigotry is no longer the black man’s major problem in America. No matter how one sees the world today, America is not the America it was 100 years ago. To say things are the same is to disbelieve and dismiss the obvious. African Americans are not riding in the back seats of buses any longer (except maybe in our minds). It may be fashionable to say differently, but it is no longer true that we are “the last hired and the first fired.” We are no longer inhibited from going to the best universities and getting the best jobs.

As we move into this new millennium, as African Americans expect to be a force the world must reckon with, it is imperative that we shed a lot of our old baggage. Let’s forget about the John Rockers. They will always be with us. We have some within our own ranks. Remember racists come in all colors.

We have fought the war against racism. Let’s now fight the war against crime and ignorance. There is no denying that we have made huge inroads, but we have a long way to go. Let’s invade the professional ranks en masse as we have flooded professional athletics. Let’s concentrate on areas such as medicine, engineering, business, computer technology and other sciences. Let’s prepare our children for this 21st century by letting them know that they really can be whatever they choose to be. Let’s be models for them and give them hope and dreams based on our own faith in America.