Black Athlete Forum Revisits Whitlock-Stringer Debate
The Black Athlete Forum was held Monday night at Morehouse College in Atlanta to “focus on, among other things, the glaring disparity” between the number of African-American athletes and African-American sportswriters, according to Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com. The panel was moderated by Spike Lee and included, among others, K.C. Star columnist Jason Whitlock, N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden, Atlanta Constitution columnist Curtis Bunn, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Pro Football HOFer Jim Brown, Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer, Falcons TE Alge Crumpler, Wizards C Etan Thomas and Heat C Alonzo Mourning. The “most charged moments of the evening” occurred when Stringer defended herself to Whitlock, who last month “criticized Stringer’s handling of the Don Imus situation and wrote that she conducted a public and grandstanding ‘pity party/recruiting rally.’” Stringer said, “We need to step on each other’s heads to get the little piece of the American dream. It became green. It was power. You (Whitlock) understand that. That’s the reason why you chose these few minutes to get your one moment of (fame).” Wojciechowski noted Thomas, Bunn and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Claire Smith “were no less critical of Whitlock” (ESPN.com, 5/9).
WHITLOCK RESPONDS: Whitlock wrote in Thursday’s K.C. STAR the meeting “lost much of its importance rather quickly,” adding it “turned into ‘The Jason Whitlock Roast,’ a discussion of out-of-context snippets of things I’d written about NBA All-Star weekend, Vivian Stringer and Imus.” After talking to Stringer privately, Whitlock wrote, “I believe she thought she was doing the right thing at the time. She thought she could defend her players and promote women’s basketball without putting her kids in harm’s way. Naïve but plausible.” However, he added, “I was there to discuss a real crisis in the black community. ... What others viewed as a night of terrific drama, I viewed as a blown opportunity and another indication of how committed we are to remaining in denial” (K.C. STAR, 5/10).
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