Scholarship thugs

Full disclosure: Hofstra is my alma mater. I graduated long enough ago that almost all the athletes were white. As a matter of fact, my boyfriend was on a football AND baseball scholarship, but since he needed spending money, worked as a teaching assistant.

That’s the background. Here’s the story. Until the other day, I didn’t know about the four black basketball players who were on scholarship at Hofstra University, a very expensive, private university. Other peoples’ money paid for their room and board, excellent education, and even their textbooks. They admitted guilt to stealing over $10,000 worth of tech products from other students.Even though one of these young men had already been kicked out of school for his unacceptable behavior, apparently winning basketball games was more important to decision makers.

Instead, we should start calling a spade a spade (for the ignorant- that’s a common expression). These boys are nothing but ungrateful, talented thugs. but they were treated with reverence by students, faculty, and administration.

This story ties in with the Jovan Belcher homicide/suicide. A black football player murdered his baby’s mother and excuse after excuse was given to rationalize his barbaric behavior. Reporters went so far as to blame this horrendous incident on a concussion. Since when is murder a symptom of a concussion? A follow up story shows that this was the tragic ending of a night of drinking and visiting a woman who was not his ” baby momma.” It must have been the concussion.

I could go on and on with stories. When my son was a gymnast at the University of Nebraska a a black football player threw his white girlfriend down the stairs and she landed in the hospital. The administration threatened her with pulling her scholarship if she reported it to the police.

How about OJ? I was sitting with a group of extras working on a movie in Atlanta when the verdict came in. Even though I was familiar with the cultural differences, I was appalled to see how joyous the black contingency was. We white folks looked at each other with looks of horror, consternation, and bewilderment. It was very clear that justice was not served.

It is time to stop the adulation of a thuggish. criminal culture. It’s great that so many top athletes are black or brown, but unless we demand the same behavior from all our citizens and enforce justice for all, our country will end in chaos. As citizens we must call savage, barbaric behavior what it is. As Pamela Geller’s posters encourage, ” In the war between the civilized person and savage support the civilized man.” As Americans we have to take these words to heart and start calling bad behavior what it is. If I were one of the parents PAYING for my child’s education I would be furious.