News broke earlier this week that Rich Incognito repeatedly bullied his Miami Dolphins teammate Jonathan Marthin at the behest of his coaches, in an attempt to help Martin "toughen up."
Now, an anonymous Dolphins teammate is defending Incognito's actions—which include calling Martin a "half n——r"—by saying that he's an "honorary" black man. According to CBS Sports, " 'Richie is honarary,' one player [said]. 'I don't expect you to understand because you're not black. But being a black guy, being a brother is more than just about skin color. It's about how you carry yourself. How you play. Where you come from. What you've experienced. A lot of things.' "
Not sure what to make of this defense. Does Incognito get a pass for making racist comments because of this distinction? Or are his comments not racist because of this special invite from a subset group of The Blacks to join the delegation? Or is it that white Incognito must become black in order to act like a horrible person? So much to ponder.
The larger question, though, is this: What does it mean to be an honorary black person? What do you get to do? More importantly, is honorary white status a thing for which those of us who are actually black can apply? ESPN's @BomaniJones illuminated on all of this:
If we're actually dolling out honorary race passes, I'm with @BrokeyMcPoverty on how we should barter:
Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.
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If you want to see what's hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.