Newsflash: As much as you love them, dogs aren’t humans. And as much as it might have infuriated you, asking the police to do their job isn’t a fireable offense that should get you blackballed in your industry.
But that’s not how it works in America.
In this country, you’ll get more mainstream media coverage for killing dogs — which was really bad, but not as bad as storming the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overthrow a fair election with plans to kill government officials — or kneeling during the national anthem because you’re tired of white cops getting away with murder after they play target practice with Black bodies.
Brett Favre is a trash human being. Jenn Sterger tried to warn people about him years ago. But, being that she’s a woman — she was ignored. (Go do some research on that situation and learn something.) However, what Favre is (barely) in the news for this time around, should be something that ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and even FOX News should be airing around the clock.
One of America’s most “cherished” quarterbacks diverted funds intended for welfare recipients. But, most of all, money was taken away from innocent people that needed it. Usually, something like that would lead to a huge news push. (Favre denies the accusations and no charges have been filed against him at this time.) However, you have to remember who Favre stole from — poor Black people in Mississippi. Apparently, that’s not “news.” Ya know, kinda like how whenever a white kid is kidnapped it’s everywhere you turn. But when little Black kids go missing, you have to spend time looking for more information — and that’s if anyone even cared enough to cover it.
When Mississippi Today published their story earlier this month about how the state’s former governor assisted Favre in using welfare funding to pay for a volleyball stadium at his daughter’s school, it was the ultimate “gotcha moment” as it included text messages that proved that Favre & Co. were deliberately robbing the poor to give even more to the rich.
“Was just thinking that here is the way to do it!!” Favre texted.
“If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Favre asked.
Favre’s face should be on every tabloid in New York City, and updates about his case should be scrolling across the bottom of every sports and news network.
Why?
Because this is the norm when Black athletes do something — that’s nowhere as bad — that “upsets people.” I put that part in quotations because most of the time the offended aren’t mad, they just love to participate in false outrage. For instance, before we knew the full depth of horrific things that Jameis Winston was entangled with in the past — which included rape allegations and fondling an Uber driver — his crab legs shoplifting story was so major that CNN covered it.
When Vick did what he did, as one of the faces of the NFL, it became a story that was impossible to ignore, given that it should have been an inescapable story. And even after he served his time and was trying to make a comeback, the coverage around his return and the reaction to it was something you couldn’t get away from.
And when Kaepernick “dared” to hold America and law enforcement accountable for their behavior and racism, it landed him on the cover of TIME. But yet, I vividly remember Terrell Ownes being villainized because he had the audacity to do sit-ups in his driveway while answering questions from reporters.
The media needs to keep that same energy. The fact that it’s beyond believable that we’ve come to a place in which a man with Favre’s past can be caught red-handed doing what he did but isn’t receiving the same media attention as some of the other Black athletes who did things that don’t come even close to being this egregious — and that’s if they even committed a crime at all — is an example of just how low the bar is now.
Favre’s situation should be covered like it was the funeral of an old white woman that died in a foreign country as a member of a monarchy that has no power or influence in America.
But, it goes deeper than that. The NFL and Roger Goodell haven’t said a word or released a statement on the matter, and neither has the Football Hall of Fame. Don’t be surprised if anyone that’s ever dealt with or been close to Favre rides out this gag order for as long as possible. But, in the meantime, the mainstream media’s complicity in this crime is also a problem, as they’ve sat by and done nothing to help shed a light on what’s happened.
This is the second time Brett Favre has been caught with his pants down. That means that there will one day probably come a third. There’s no point in evolving if people keep turning a blind eye to your sins. Maybe if he had stolen money from a humane society or police fund he would be on the front page of the newspaper. Because apparently, stealing from poor Black people in Mississippi is only worth some chatter on Twitter.