Sport's Politcs: Jim Brown criticizes two famous black athletes

Editor's Note: I can somewhat understand Tiger Wood's dilemma because golf is an ivory country club sport.  I do remember several years ago when Bill Clinton called Tiger to congratulate him on a big victory and all The Tiger could do is whine about his taxes.

Michael Jordan is retired and should be doing more than he is doing. In his time halfback Jim Brown was as big as star as both of them. I applaud him for calling out Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. Both can do more.

by Gene Wojciechowski
Originally Published: July 2, 2009

Jim Brown: "I was asked a question," he said when I spoke with him Wednesday. "I
gave an answer."

The question, posed by HBO's Bryant Gumbel, essentially asked why there aren't more prominent black athletes willing to do what Brown, Arthur Ashe, Jackie Robinson and Bill Russell did during and after the height of their influence: make stands, make change, make noise as social activists.

The answer was as blunt as the working end of Brown's walking cane.

He called out Tiger Woods.

He called out Michael Jordan.

"There are one or two individuals in this country that are black that have been put in front of us as an example," he told Gumbel. "But they're basically under a system that says, hey, they're not going to deal with certain things.

"Yes, that disappoints me because I know they both know better. Yeah, I know they both know better, OK? And I know they both can do better without hurting themselves."

But it was Woods who took the full force of another Brown verbal forearm shiver. First, Brown marveled at Woods' hyperintensity as an athlete. And then …

"He'll run you over, he'll kick your [butt], but as an individual for social change or any of that kind of [stuff] -- terrible … terrible," Brown told Gumbel.

"We are the least-respected culture of any in this country," Brown said of African-Americans. "One of the reasons is that we allow ourselves to feed on each other. Black kids kill black kids. We allow neighborhoods to run down.

Black fathers are not at home. Education suffers. There's a dilemma, and if we don't do something about the violence, if we don't get some self-esteem, then we're going to have a war zone in every community in this country.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?

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