Nunnie on the Sideline
By Nunnie Robinson, WG Sports Editor
We all know that mental health is a serious problem in our country, impacting every segment of society. For some, that rationale doesn’t apply to Black Americans. If it did, explaining the very recent hanging deaths of nine Blacks in America by suicide would conceivably be more palatable. We do a lot of dumb, unimaginable things, but suicide by hanging ain’t one of them. 47’s racist policies, anti-immigrant vitriol, and the egregious assault on Black America have openly encouraged the evil remnants of the past to reemerge in the most sinister, deleterious manner—taking Black lives. And they are doing so with impunity.
The NABJ, aka the National Association of Black Journalists, has a category—Thumbs Down—for individuals whom they believe have betrayed their journalistic integrity. Two notable honorees were ESPN’s pompous, self-serving, gregarious Steven A. Smith and former Mississippi police officer Brandon Tatum, infamous in Black circles for his biased interviews of alleged drowning victim Nolan Wells’ friends.
As I continue to advocate for Black athletes opting out of the SEC/ACC (Confederate states), a brief scrutinization of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s right-wing, MAGA agenda is in order. He is a loyal Trump sycophant, a member of Congress from 2011 to 2013, having been elected in the Tea Party wave. Additionally, he received a zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard for his single term.
When Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU, he stated emphatically that recruiting Black athletes would be easier at LSU. I thought, how hypocritical, since, politically, Louisiana is a former Confederate state that zealously denies Black representation via voter suppression, gerrymandering, and redistricting. Get WOKE, Black parents and athletes!
Now that I’ve gotten past the POLI, sports is a wonderful segue. The Orange Blossom Classic, featuring defending champion South Carolina State and FAMU; the Red Tails Classic between Tuskegee and West Alabama in Montgomery; the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio, featuring Albany State and Johnson C. Smith; and Edward Waters vs. Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi, in the Hope Labor Day Classic are just four worthy of note on this page.
The Orange Blossom Classic will be contested on Sept. 6 in Miami Gardens in front of a national television audience.
The pageantry and excitement of HBCU football will always be there as long as democracy exists.