Campus Carrier Editorial Board

The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship on Sunday and are going to the Superbowl. After making a game-saving play, the Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman was interviewed and started yelling and talking poorly about the 49ers’ wide receiver Michael Crabtree. Talking ill of another player is unacceptable, but within minutes, racist comments were smeared every inch on the Internet about Sherman. He was discriminated against his race was seen as his problem, when really the problem is his disrespect he showed for Crabtree.

Sherman is African-American so, unfortunately and unnecessarily, his race was a main part of people’s discussion on the matter. He was stereotyped as a ‘thug’ because he yelled about another player immediately after the game ended. How does this action warrant that stereotype? Any person from any race is capable of yelling and talking poorly of another person. He was angry and emotional after winning a game before going to the Superbowl. He should have held back his anger, but his unwillingness to refrain from doing so shouldn’t lead to racial slurs. 

The question a lot of people have asked is: If the player were Caucasian, would he be receiving the same amount of backlash and criticism? People should be able to separate his comments from his race. We should make more effort in pointing out that expressing ill opinions about someone publicly, no matter who does it, is unjustifiable.   

Sherman isn’t the only one who has made this mistake, and unfortunately more people will make the same mistake as time goes on. But this circumstance captured how there are still people out there who express racism, some without realizing it. Race is not the problem. The problem is that racism still exists. For this to cease, there needs to be an elimination of stereotyping. Next time a celebrity disrespects someone publicly; you should hold individuals accountable for their actions rather than resulting to racial stereotyping.