Politics and Sports Only See Skin Color

The United States is in the midst of an era in which our most influential figures essentialize individual persons based on the color of their skin. They don't see John go to the market anymore -- they see John, who is a [insert gender], go to the market. This means John's life is crumbled up into a ball and thrown aside. None of it matters. He has been defined by whatever race he is. From now on, that's his identity.

This mindset is applied to large-scale issues. George Floyd's death was tragic, as are all unnecessary deaths. Most public figures didn't refer to it as tragic though. Politicians, talk show hosts, and journalists barely uttered the word. They called his death racist. We have yet to see or hear definitive proof that Floyd's death was, in fact, racially motivated. The only evidence we have is that a white person killed a black person. That's it. 

Ever wonder why even the prosecution in the Floyd murder trial didn't call the crime racist, except maybe once? Because it couldn't be proven. It's a narrative, a narrative that led our leaders to accept riots across the country and allow outside pressure to influence the jury. Derek Chauvin was ultimately found guilty on all charges.

Perhaps Chauvin is guilty of murder in the second degree. I wasn't in the courtroom, so it's not my place to say. But was it anyone's place? Or was Chauvin on trial for systemic racism, which was demanded we believe?

In the recent past, people who judged others based on skin color often at least attempted to hide their motives. Now, they don't even try. In fact, now their racist outlook is cheered.

Look no further than the selection of Kamala Harris as Vice President. Perhaps then-presidential candidate Joe Biden chose her to be his running mate because of her personality, ideas, vision, and credentials. I won't dismiss that possibility. However, Biden and his team said they picked Harris because she is a black woman. Influential people and groups literally demanded that he select a black female VP, and he obeyed.

Harris also likely had other appealing qualifications. After all, she was not the only black female candidate. Yet whatever those other qualifications were, the Biden campaign mostly kept them from the public. It's as if they didn't matter, weren't worth a mention.

What a disservice to Harris. Democrats and the media may think they did Harris a favor, but they didn't. They aren't doing favors for anyone. They are reducing every single one of us down to our race and gender.

Biden's New York Times-acclaimed "equity" campaign just furthers this movement.

As Victor Davis Hansonwrote Sunday, this entire racial pivot goes against everything for which Martin Luther King Jr. fought: to make race incidental, not essential, to who Americans are.

In Washington, there is no going back. It's not a shot at the Democrat Party to say it views everyone through the lens of race. They are championing this cause. They believe it's the path forward.

This political push has trickled down so far that it has now changed the ways industries such as higher education, Hollywood, and professional sports are viewed and operated.

Students have been told that the only way to succeed at major universities is to agree, listen, and to not question. An assistant dean just publicly stated last week that “all white people are racist.” All white people. All of them.

"I hate whiteness," says Kate Slater, the Assistant Dean at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

That statement is blatantly racist, and it's not an exaggeration or an insult to say so. Slater and her bosses agree that it's racist. Both are likely proud of it.

Entertainment is the same way. Turn on an award show and listen to the topics. The days celebrating Gandalf and Jack Dawson are no more.

Then there's the world of sports. For reasons few can explain, those who are paid to talk and write about sports use the word racist as frequently as civil rights activists do. Whose talking points are more focused on race: Al Sharpton or Max Kellerman? Al Sharpton or Bomani Jones? Al Sharpton's MSNBC colleagues or talent on ESPN's payroll? Let's have that conversation.

Sports stories that were once covered in a fun, light-hearted way are now drenched in baseless accusations of white privilege. In the first 85 NFL drafts, commentators rushed to the mock drafts to count how many quarterbacks could go in the top 10. For the 86th, ESPN's leading talk show, First Take, counted how many "white guys" could be taken early.

Tim Tebow may be the most popular college quarterback in our lifetime, and his former college coach has given him an opportunity to play backup tight end in the NFL. Historically, that would've been a fun subplot during the NFL offseason.

Not now. There's nothing fun about it. Since the day Ian Rapoport reported that Tebow could get a shot to make the roster, media members have screamed racism. Context and logic don't matter. Tebow is white. That's all the media sees. This development fired Stephen A. Smith up so much that he ignored the fact that the four highest-paid quarterbacks in NFL history are all black and said that black players are not given the same chances to make the money that white players are. He lied, but so what?

Viewing John, who is a [insert gender], going to the market is a habit. One that we won't easily break. That's why every week panelists on Real Time with Bill Maher can't help but point out the skin color of the subjects at hand and why on Monday, Stephen A. Smith reacted to the punk who threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving as a "white punk." Not "a punk," but a "white punk." Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also recently declared that she would take questions only from "black or brown" reporters. It's somehow normal to refer to individuals by their race now.

We are all currently viewed by our skin color, and unless something is done, your children will be viewed by theirs. That's the blueprint, and it's spreading.

Think about that. Does this sound like an ideology that's good for anyone? If it does, what does that say about us?

Follow Bobby Burack on Twitter.