Jon Gruden and The Man in The Mirror
Jon Gruden "resigned" yesterday from the position of head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Resigned in quotes because it occurred after a meeting with the team owner, where it was made clear that Gruden would not be allowed to continue as coach as a stream of racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments surfaced.
I wondered if the initial controversy, which centered on racist remarks Gruden made about NFL union official DeMaurice Smith, would cost him his job. I wasn't sure it would, even though ESPN reporter Adam Schefter heard from several other NFL team officials that "Gruden would not survive this."
As it turned out, his racist, stereotypical comments about the size of Smith's lips were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The New York Times got their hands on other email Gruden sent, and let's say that hardly any non-White, male, straight group was spared Gruden's ire.
Of course, before he was forced to resign on Monday, Gruden repeatedly apologized, saying that he was sorry, but that he was not racist, and "didn't have a racist bone in his body."
If you want to easily spot someone who is racist, listen out for the "I'm not racist" defense.
Racist people are the first to declare that they are not racist.
The email evidence demonstrates that Jon Gruden is a liar.
But as much as I want to rail and condemn Gruden and people like him, and I have and I will, I also have to realize one inescapable fact.
I'm prejudiced just like Jon Gruden.
We are all prejudiced.
It manifests itself in different ways, but we all have our biases.
The gender, race, ethnicity, and people group, singular or plural, that we regard with suspicion and contempt.
The ones that we make fun of, or don't defend when others make fun of them.
It has taken guilt, confession, and continual repentance for me to acknowledge my prejudices, and to realize that this process will last the rest of my life.
While I would like to think of myself as a recovering bigot, I know that I will always be a recovering bigot.
I'm human.
I'll always have certain biases and prejudices.
My faith doesn't provide wiggle room to hate or be intolerant.
Those of us who do not have a faith system must also guard against their bigotry because hatred only leads to more hatred.
Unchecked bias only leads to more unchecked bias.
None of us are immune.
More than anything, I would like to believe that I'm better than Jon Gruden.
But unfortunately,
I can't.