Bill Romanowski calls Cam Newton, "boy" in a tweet after Panthers loss

[TLO]

You will never last in the NFL with that attitude. The world doesn't revolve around you, boy! #CamNewton

— Bill Romanowski (@billromanowski) February 8, 2016

Activate thy popcorn.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

There's no need to ask me anything. I've already told you. Cam's immaturity is the #1, by far, criticism. It's as though you can't have a conversation about Cam without someone bringing up his maturity. The context to refer to Cam as a "Boy" has been there for years.

If someone wants to compare his maturity to a "male child", im not going instantly scream racism. It's silly.

All you've told me so far is that had Ol' Billy said "Male child" instead of "Boy" then everything would be ok. But by saying that, you're ignoring intent.

You're saying that changing the word is changing the intent, even though they describe the same exact thing. That's not right.

I am saying that. It's called a filter. He could have easily said "child" but chose "boy" as it is in his nature.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Fish

Are people completely unaware of the racial history of the word?

Does context not matter?

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by eDave

I am saying that. It's called a filter. He could have easily said "child" but chose "boy" as it is in his nature.

Doesn't make it racist. INTENT is what makes it a racist word. It's about how the word is used and the message you're trying to deliver with it, not the word itself.

Kind of like calling someone "My ****a", which was popular even among white kids when i was in school. It's such a common term now because the INTENT isn't malicious.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Does context not matter?

Only insofar as someone using it in a critical manner is or isn't unaware of its historical use.

If one IS AWARE that their remarks are phrased identical to historically widespread racial slurs, then it's incumbent on them to alter their remarks or stand behind the connotation.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Does context not matter?

Of course it does. But I don't buy any out of context excuse for this one for several reasons.

Cam's almost 27, and I don't care how old you are you don't call a 6'5" 245lb 27 year old a "Boy".
There's ample history of racist use of the word which someone Romo's age would know.
Romo is a known racist piece of shit.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

Only insofar as someone using it in a critical manner is or isn't unaware of its historical use.

If one IS AWARE that their remarks are phrased identical to historically widespread racial slurs, then it's incumbent on them to alter their remarks or stand behind the connotation.

We're talking about twitter. This isn't a formal piece of writing that was well thought out and reviewed before posting.

If someone doesn't have racism on his brain, then the idea that "Boy" can be mis-construed for racism probably didn't register when he hit "send".

[Dante84]

NY Daily News columnist calls ex-Bronco Bill Romonowski a racist after he tweeted about Cam Newton

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/spo...#storylink=cpy

Former NFL standout Bill Romanowski is a racist.

Last night, after Cam Newton, who broke records for being sacked in the Super Bowl, saw his dreams of winning the game dashed. After it was over, as expected, he was utterly dejected.

This is normal, but black men are not often given the space to be emotional or expressive without being subjected to white anger.

Romanowski, a former Denver Bronco with a bad reputation, could not wait to chime in. In a now deleted tweet, he said “You’ll never last in the NFL with that attitude. The world doesn’t revolve around you, boy! #CamNewton”

Apparently, even though it’s 2016, I have to explain where the racism is in that tweet.

Newton is not a boy. He’s not a rookie. He’s the MVP of the NFL. He’s a father. He’s the face of his franchise. He’s a businessman and a role model.

Racist white men, for hundreds of years, have found power in calling grown black men “boy.”

Age has nothing to do with it.

Throughout history, black men who were decades older than white men have been called “boy” by them. It’s meant to belittle and dehumanize. It has deep roots stemming from slavery, all the way through Jim Crow, and, as we now see, into modern America.

Let’s not mince words here. Romanowski wasn’t saying Newton was acting like a boy. He made a statement to Newton, put a comma after that statement, and followed the comma with the word, “boy.” He was calling Cam a boy.

Show me one instance where another league MVP has been called “boy” by anyone other than a stone cold racist. Show me one instance where any athlete in the Super Bowl has been called such a slur.

We should have seen this coming. Last week, Romanowski openly threatened Newton, saying he would choke him and hold on to it for a long time, until he couldn’t breathe. One of the commentators then using the exact words of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by the NYPD, said the words “I can’t breathe.”

Who says this stuff? I don’t care how crass this man is known for being — this is disgusting.

To be clear, this was no coming out party for Romanowski. He was a racist before he wrote a bigoted tweet about Newton, but he has now proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt that being an African American quarterback still requires athletes to wade through a sea of ridiculousness that has nothing to do with athleticism.

Romanowski once spit in the face of another black player. That’s about as deeply insulting as it gets. Later, another athlete told Sports Illustrated that Romanowski referred to other black players privately by the “n-word.”

After a denial of the allegation by Romanowski, Sports Illustrated stood by their story and their source. It doesn’t matter though — he keeps getting asked his opinion. At a time when Donald Trump is a popular candidate for president, how can we be surprised?

To be clear, I wasn’t even a Cam Newton fan a few weeks ago.

His Carolina Panthers are division rivals to my hometown Atlanta Falcons and he has pretty much made our lives miserable these past few years.

But to see this man subjected daily to thousands of racist messages and critiques, online and off, has caused me — and thousands of others — to root for him more than ever.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/spo...e59137308.html

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Dante84

NY Daily News columnist calls ex-Bronco Bill Romonowski a racist after he tweeted about Cam Newton

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/spo...#storylink=cpy



http://www.charlotteobserver.com/spo...e59137308.html

We can do without this crap too. Perpetuating.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Fish

Of course it does. But I don't buy any out of context excuse for this one for several reasons.

Cam's almost 27, and I don't care how old you are you don't call a 6'5" 245lb 27 year old a "Boy".
There's ample history of racist use of the word which someone Romo's age would know.
Romo is a known racist piece of shit.

Would you agree that "boy" would be a common word to use to describe an immature young male?

It's unnerving to me that people want to change the context and intent of a word based on the color of someone's skin.

Bill isn't the first person to question Cam's maturity. Probably not the first one to refer to him as a boy either. Yet we're acting like it is. We're acting as if this is some abnormal word used to describe an immature male.

[Kiimo]

OH my god just stop it, it's a racist term, everybody knows it. If you don't, you live under a rock.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

OH my god just stop it, it's a racist term, everybody knows it. If you don't, you live under a rock.

I live under a rock

until now I guess

[KCUnited]

if only there was a month every year dedicated to this type of awareness.

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by eDave

We can do without this crap too. Perpetuating.

It's an opinion column; sharing because its relative to the topic.

I don't think it's inaccurate, either. Is he passionate on the subject, and takes a hard-line stance? Sure, but again, its an opinion column, not reporting the news.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

OH my god just stop it, it's a racist term, everybody knows it. If you don't, you live under a rock.

You're right. We should just get rid of the word all together.

From here on out, anyone who uses the word "boy" is a racist, because "it's a racist term, everybody knows it".

Thank god im not white....

[loochy]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

if only there was a month every year dedicated to this type of awareness.

Back in school we learned things about the Tuskeegee Airmen and George Washington Carver. We did not learn about "boy".