Homophobic Racist Reggie White named to NFL Hall of Fame

[davidinalameda]

do a google search on the man

I for one was not sorry to see him die

[msongs]

1. lucky him, will spend eternity with Lou sheldon and Dr. Dobson nt

[catnhatnh]

2. Has to do with playing football...

...nothing else...

[MrSlayer]

3. He was a hell of a player.

R.I.P. Reggie.




Read some more about him, he renounced his previous beliefs a few years before he died.

[Duncan Grant]

13. I can find no evidence that White renounced his homophobic remarks.

The Death of Reggie White: An Off the Field Obituary
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1228-34.htm

MrSlayer, if you have a source that quotes White renouncing his anti-gay beliefs please post it. It would bring me great pleasure to quote White's change of heart in future threads. Thanks. :)

[bluestateguy]

4. And Ty Cobb was a racist too, but he's in the baseball Hall of Fame

What's your point?

[billkurtmeyer]

5. When you say you aren't sad to see him die you are no bette than...

Fred Phelps.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. not sad to him die is very different from wishing his death

[Kagemusha]

6. Hey, O.J. Simpson is in the Hall. O.J.!

There's problems with going and rooting out people for personal faults and not professional ones after the fact. Because of that it's hard to keep people out just 'cause they're not saints.

[jobycom]

7. The voters are "forbidden" from considering non-football related

criteria for the NFL Hall of Fame. They obviously do, or Michael Irvin would be in, but they are technically not supposed to. With Irvin, you can make an argument based on football that he doesn't deserve it. That would be impossible with White.

I think it's tragic that he died so young. Some people are full of hate, and are homophobic and racist because of it. White wasn't full of hate. He was full of misunderstanding, and of what he was taught and exposed to. But he was also constantly trying to make himself better. When he was told that he could not truly understand the Bible, for instance, because it was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, he began learning Hebrew. A person like that may have come to understand his mistakes if he had lived long enough. Someone above said that he had changed his views in the last few years, so maybe he already did.

As for him being racist, I don't buy that. He was a bit clueless on some issues, as his infamous speech to whichever state legislature proved. It was full of racial stereotypes and stupid remarks. But the gist of the speech was that everyone had something to contribute to the world so we should all be proud of our differences. That's not a racist sentiment, no matter how stupid and offensive the speech was.

He did a lot of harm with his statements and attitides, and died before he had a chance to make them better. I think that's sad, not happy.

[gizmo1979]

8. I'm sorry he had his faults

but I still liked him as a player and a person.His later years he learned alot of the stuff he had been sold was false.He learned from his mistakes and besides it's not very nice to talk ill of the dead.

[cboy4]

9. All you straight football fans are perfectly welcome to post

your opinions in this room.

However, keep in mind, if you're not gay, then there is no way you will ever, ever, ever, ever understand how hurtful the things were Reggie White used to say.

And being African American, he should have known better.

[pansypoo53219]

10. well, he was a good player

he was just a dumb jock who was fed bullshit and believed it. and playing really good gave him a platform.

[Innocent Smith]

11. RIP Reggie

nt

[Duncan Grant]

14. self-delete

[Lisaben2619]

12. Football fans are really something else...

not only did White speak at the Captitol against the LGBT community, he lauged all the way to the bank with thousands of dollars worth of donations from stupid Packer fans who sent him $92 checks (to match his uniform number)for the rebuilding of a homophobic church (which was never rebuilt). Of course, these same fans also "bought" worthless shares of stock in the Packers, bought scraps of the old grass from the footbal field through a drive-up window, and voted to fund the remodeling of Lambeau Field with tax money while their schools are suffering. Go Pack!

[Duncan Grant]

15. The quotable Reggie White: Indefensible Bigotry

Read it and weep.

http://www.hatespeech.com/subpages/hatespeech/claremont.html

Gays are like liars and cheaters

" 'Homosexuality is a decision, it's not a race,' White said. 'People from all different ethnic backgrounds live in this lifestyle. But people from all different ethnic backgrounds also are liars and cheaters and malicious and back-stabbing.' " - Reggie White, Associated Press, March 25, 1998.

Gays hurt children, kill our people

"White said he stands by his remarks regarding gays. `I am going to speak the truth and I am going to speak out against things that's hurting our children, that's killing off our people,' White said. `If people think that's a contradiction and that's hate, they need to take them up with God, not with Reggie White.'" Associated Press, April 26, 1998, quoting White's 20/20 interview.

Gays are like backstabbers and malicious people

PEGGY WEHMEYER of ABC's 20/20: "Just last week, Reggie White and his wife, Sara, met us for an exclusive interview. White told us he was sorry if he offended anyone, but he wasn’t backing down one inch. (on camera) Are you saying there that homosexuals are like liars, cheaters, backstabbers and malicious people?"
REGGIE WHITE "Yes." - ABC's 20/20, April 27, 1998.

"Sodomite community"

"Reggie White's wife said CBS was `'too scared'' to hire her husband as a football commentator because of his controversial speech before the Wisconsin State Assembly. White, the Green Bay Packers defensive lineman who retired and unretired last week, used ethnic stereotypes and called homosexuality `'one of the biggest sins'' in the Bible in his remarks last month. 'They were too scared of the Sodomite community is what they said,' Sara White told ABC's '20/20'." - ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 26, 1998

Gays responsible for STDs

"America is not big enough to shake her fist in the face of a holy God and get away with it, and as I read this I want to explain something. I'm going to read this and then I want to explain something. As America has permitted homosexuality to establish itself as an alternate lifestyle, it is also reeling from the frightening spread of sexually transmitted disease. Sin begets its own consequence, both on individuals and nations."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Homosexuality one of the biggest sins

"Let me explain something when I'm talking about sin, and I'm talking about all sin. One of the biggest ones that has been talked about that has really become a debate in America is homosexuality."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Gays have problems

"Now, I believe that one of the reasons that Jesus was accused of being a homosexual is because he spent time with homosexuals. I've often had people ask me, would you allow a homosexual to be your friend. Yes, I will. And the reason I will is because I know that that person has problems, and if I can minister to those problems, I will."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Being gay compared to lying, gays hurt nation

"But the Bible strictly speaks against it, and because the Bible speaks against it, we allow rampant sin including homosexuality and lying, and to me lying is just as bad as homosexuality, we've allowed this sin to run rampant in our nation, and because it has run rampant in our nation, our nation is in the condition it is today."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.

Offended that gays say deserve rights

"Sometimes when people talk about this sin they've been accused of being racist. I'm offended that homosexuals will say that homosexuals deserve rights. Any man in America deserves rights, but homosexuals are trying to compare their plight with the plight of black men or black people. In the process of history, homosexuals have never been castrated, millions of them never died. Homosexuality is a decision. It's not a race."- Remarks by Reggie White to the Wisconsin Assembly, March 25, 1998.


And here's yet another worthwhile read about White:
White Doesn't Worry About What Others Say
http://www.jsonline.com/packer/sbxxxiii/comm/baum72198.stm

edit: link

[cboy4]

16. Nice Job

;)

[Duncan Grant]

23. Funny how being "the greatest" defensive end gets you a pass here at DU.

Honestly, how can people defend this man? I don't get it. :hi:

[cboy4]

33. I know...take for instance, Barry Bonds with the Giants...

Everyone hates him because he's an ass to the media and may or may not be taking steroids.

So:

Reggie White: Great player who was offensive to gays = Oh we just love him, who cares if he hated gay people

Barry Bonds: Great player who is offensive to the media = Oh we just hate him, how dare he not be polite to reporters

Can you say double standard? It's fuckin ridiculous....but you and I already know that. :hi:

[Chovexani]

37. He was an athlete, silly.

After all, how well a person can run, throw a ball or tackle someone is of far more importance than how they treat their fellow man. :eyes:

[terrya]

17. Thanks for the great research

Such blinding, irrational hatred.

No, I'm not sorry he's dead, also. From a man who SHOULD know better.

[Duncan Grant]

24. I bet there are better links out there re: White.

terry -- you and I both know that the most powerful institutions on the planet are now aligned against GLBT people.
That we should be encouraged by "progressive" people to accept White as admirable is -- unbelievable. :crazy:

[terrya]

28. I'm sure there are.

And you're right. I'm really sort of saddened in this thread...justification for what a swell guy White was because of his prowess on the football field. I read these quotes (and like you said, I'll bet there are better links with more info about White and his attitudes) and thought to myself...there's NO excusing this kind of hate. And I don't think he apologized at the end...he carried his homophobia to the grave.

[joeybee12]

18. If he had been white, and said such hateful things about African-Americans

Think he'd be in the Hall? Absolutely not.

[bluestateguy]

19. Ty Cobb? Cap Anson?

He was a virulent racist who opposed integration of the game. Cap Anson is in the Hall of Fame even though he set a precedent in 1887 for 60 of baseball segregation.

[joeybee12]

22. When were they voted in is my point...

...it wouldn't happen today.

[dsc]

20. It is entirely based on football talent

of which he had a great deal. I am firmly in favor of Rose being in Baseball's Hall of Fame and racists like Cobb are in Baseball's. He deserves to be in the Hall, that doesn't make him a great person, just a great football player.

[kweerwolf]

21. To be put in a "hall of fame"

... is to be deemed worthy of respect and serve as a role model.

Bigots like Reggie neither deserves respect nor should he be considered a role model for anything.

[foreigncorrespondent]

25. For all the straight folks...

...who have posted in this thread with the crap that he was a good player, misunderstood, bullshit.

He may have been a good player. He may have been fed countless hours of bullshit. He may have changed his beliefs later in life. However, none of this will ever change his bullshit rhetoric against the LGBTIQQ community.

We claim to hate Phelps because of his picketing of gay funerals. We were outraged when certain religious figures claimed that certain groups with in the United States were responsible for 9/11. Amongst the groups mentioned was the LGBTIQQ community. Yet you would have us forgive White because he was a good player?

I am sorry, but the man used his fame, to turn many in the sporting community against the LGBTIQQ community, all in the name of God.

Don't come to the LGBTIQQ section of DU and expect us to sit back and forgive a shit head for using God against us. We don't tolerate that shit from Robertson, Falwell or Phelps, and we most certainly are not about to tolerate it from some rich wacko bastard who got his kicks throwing a football around a field.

I expect so much from people who claim to be lefties, unfortunately the last five years have woken me up to just how right wing the left can be. Posts in this thread just proves that.

[theHandpuppet]

29. Well said!

I've nothing to add to your post but a "great job!".

[cboy4]

31. You rock Foreign! Well said, as always

:loveya:

[foreigncorrespondent]

35. Thanks, cboy!

:loveya:

[foreigncorrespondent]

34. Thank you!

It's nice to get kudos every once in a while. :)

[MountainLaurel]

38. Amen!

Says this straight woman who also isn't sad that White has left this plane.

. . . the last five years have woken me up to just how right wing the left can be. Posts in this thread just proves that.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

Threads on abortion and feminism have done the same for me.

[Jella]

27. Good Riddance

[Democrats_win]

30. The hall of shame. And don't forget Romanowsky: drug addict & racist

Never underestimate the willingness of the American public to accept the unacceptable.

Romo's crimes:
Doctor shopping
using drugs
spitting in the face of a former teammate
hitting a teammate and breaking his eye socket
trying to legitimize his drug use through racism


Can't we see that these people belong behind bars rather than people worthy of even a second of acclaim? BTW, John Elway is in the Hall of Shame and he got drunk just before a playoff game in 1984.

Rot in Hell Reggie!!!

[Montauk6]

32. Reggie's Self-Revelation

He would rise every morning and descend to the basement where an office full of books, translations and lessons waited for Reggie White, his pursuit of knowledge and truth being as ferocious as his running down of quarterbacks.

White, the greatest pass rusher the NFL has ever known, is almost assured on Saturday to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2006, just over 13 months since dying of arrhythmia at the age of 43.

His expected enshrinement this August is sure to bring White back into the spotlight, flushing the public with memories of his dominating play on the field and his high-profile Christian preaching off of it. But it will also bring to a controversial light the striking conflict between that man and the one who found what he called his greatest victories down in that basement with his nose in an ancient book.

Ordained at 17, White earned the nickname "The Minister of Defense" in college, but he didn't believe in ministers in his final years.



http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=dw-white020306&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Duncan Grant]

36. White's wife says, he "never backed down" from his anti-gay views.

The article is an interesting read. Thanks for posting it.
edit: subject line