Hanna Strong's "Hate Speech"

[thisnewday]

[The following is my response to a Syracuse.com article which was among several in their recent coverage of an off-campus incident involving Syracuse University women's soccer player Hanna Strong. That article, along with related links, is found here: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/syracuse_soccer_player_hanna_strongs_racist_rant_likely_didnt_break_student_cond.html#incart_related_stories.]

It's interesting to me that a black male student athlete, wearing the uniform of his team, and playing in front of several thousand fans in one of the most recognizable sports venues in the country, can punch an opposing player in the face, be ejected for half of a game and be back for the next one, no harm done. On top of which his apology is qualified by references to "what happened before that people didn't see" as a mitigating circumstance. And he is immediately supported by his sports icon/mentor who assures us that this young athlete simply made a mistake which will not happen again.

All of which is in stark contrast to the treatment of the white female student athlete who verbally abused a presumed aquaintance in an off-campus social setting under circumstances we know nothing about except for the contents of a thirty second or so video clip which tells us nothing about what may have precipitated this incident. And does anyone step up to suggest that she has at least the right to a fair hearing before penalties, both social and institutional, are assessed? Instead of that, we have the university engaging in an ugly and unseemly tug-of-war over who gets to throw her under the bus and run from the scene first.

As much as I'm sickened by the incident itself, as hurtful as her words may have been personally and to the institution, which it's a stretch to say she represented at the moment they were said, I'm much more concerned about the obvious double standard suggested by the handling of these two incidents. If a man can throw a punch and be coddled afterward by his mentor, the sports community, and the press, then a woman who responds unwisely with words should at least be afforded the same support and opportunity for due process before her name is publicly smeared and her athletic and academic careers are all but terminated.

LPK
LiveJournal
9.11.14 (a)

Comments

[blue-by-you.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about your use of black and white to describe them and yet, at the end, you keep to male and female. Did the race have meaning to you in this? If you don't mind me asking.

[olbuksings.livejournal.com]

Interesting point. The racial component is, of course, central to the incident which got Ms. Strong suspended in the first place.

But from the start it seemed to me that the university's inept handling, of what was very possibly a staged racial incident, suggested an even more egregious gender bias on the part of the institution.

The year before, the quarterback of the school's football team punched an opposing player in the face, was ejected from that game and suspended for another before being reinstated.

And the year before that, a star defensive back on the same team punched a male student in the face in an off-campus incident which resulted in some token sanctions before his reinstatement.

In both instances, the male athletes were black but it seemed quite obvious to me that the half-hearted sanctions imposed by the university were owing to their starring roles in male-dominated, revenue-generating sports.

So I guess it was simply that the gender bias issue won out with me in deciding how to frame my argument for a more equitable treatment of Ms. Strong.

That's not to say that others would not have framed it as a case of racially-based, reverse discrimination. It's just that those voices are typically dismissive of women's sports in general and would simply not engage in what they would regard as superfluous discourse.

The real answer, of course, is that I simply should've done a better job of presenting my argument. It would've saved us both some time, LOL...