OJ, Vick, Isaiah: The Other Axis of Evil

[Morphizm's sports professor Amy Bass is back with a short blast on the unholy trinity of offenders known as Michael Vick, OJ Simpson, and Isaiah Thomas, who was recently found guilty of sexual harassment. And before you get your knickers, no pun intended, in a twist over the article title, remember that this is pro sports we are talking about. Twisted terminology and overstated importance just come with the territory. -- ST}

OJ, Vick, Isaiah: The Other Axis of Evil
[Amy Bass, Morphizm]
"You must be up to your ears writing these days," is the gist of what many friends and colleagues keep saying to me.

"Why?" I ask, thinking that they must know about my obsession with the Red Sox magic number for the AL East, and think that anyone cares to read about it.

Michael Vick. Isaiah Thomas. OJ Simpson.

Michael Vick. Isaiah Thomas. OJ Simpson.

Michael Vick. Isaiah Thomas. OJ Simpson.

Apparently, the holy troika of black athletes -- Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali -- has been replaced by sports’ own Axis of Evil: Michael Vick, Isaiah Thomas, OJ Simpson. And no, I haven’t written about them. Any of them. At least not lately, and not in the context in which I’m apparently supposed to be writing about, or at least in terms of what people think I should be writing about.

Michael Vick has likely committed heinous acts of cruelty towards animals. Isaiah Thomas has likely changed the way in which we think about the racial politics of the word "bitch." And OJ? The list is long, but he has both published what will likely be a bestseller, one not much more heinous than much of what Mickey Spillane ever published, and likely will have to provide some answers for what took place in a Las Vegas hotel room.

And I don’t feel the need to comment on any of it in any capacity.

Yes, I write copiously about the politics of race in sports. I write about many, many black athletes, focusing on their role in the popular imagination of American society, thinking about how the figure of the black athlete operates on many levels in American life. I regard sport as powerful arena in which to explore multiple articulations regarding race, nation, gender, commerce, and sexuality.

That said, there is something wrong with an assumption that when a case like that of Michael Vick arises, I automatically find something to write about. When a black athlete such as Owens, Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Althea Gibson, Tiger Woods, or Allyson Felix succeeds and thrives in the United States, the story is posed and digested as an example of the opportunity offered by the American way of life, with the black athlete becoming a national and societal project of victory. However, such high points of achievement work in a constant dialogue with events such as Mike Tyson’s rape conviction, O.J. Simpson’s murder trials, and -- more recently -- Vick’s involvement with a dog fighting ring, Thomas’s involvement in a sexual harassment case, and Simpson’s publication of a "fictional" account of his wife’s murder and his Vegas arrest. In these cases, the "failure" of the individual involved is placed within a context of subversion antithetical to American national belonging. The individual, seen as an incapable citizen, is accused of misusing their innate talent, demonstrating just how dearly America holds on to the spurious belief that black athletes are naturally more gifted than others.

The ramifications of this process are devastating, as pseudo-scientific beliefs regarding race blend with firmly entrenched social tropes, providing justification for broader perceptions regarding the role of the black community in American society. The black athlete -- off the track, off the court, off the field -- returns, as Tommie Smith once said, to being "just another nigger."

And that’s why I’m not writing about Michael Vick.

Or Isaiah Thomas.

Or O.J. Simpson.