Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a pretty foolish person. His recent racist and homophobic rant is indefensible and should not be forgiven or forgotten after the half-hearted apology he issued a few days ago. If Manny Pacquiao chooses to use it as extra motivation when these two (hopefully) come to blows one day, more power to him. Mayweather fully and entirely deserves the flack he is getting from the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) who condemned him for his hateful speech.
However, surfing the web, particularly on Pacquiao-devoted sites like “Pacland,” one can’t help but notice the hypocrisy involved in this situation. How strangely, some of the same fans and commenters who have referred to Mayweather as “Gayweather” for his refusal to fight their icon are now angry at his homophobic rant. How the same fools who have repeatedly called him a “monkey” and made other racially stereotypical remarks regarding Mayweather’s African American heritage, are saying his taunts about Pacquiao’s culture are unforgiveable.
Again, these fans are right about this particular case. Everyone currently condemning Mayweather for his illogical, stupid and poorly-thought out rant are entirely correct. The problem, though, is that too many fans are failing to see that they fall into the same hateful and disgusting trap that Mayweather fell into. They take a boxer that they dislike, and rather than focus on the only thing that matters (boxing skill) turn it into an issue of how manly, tough or hardcore he is.
Then, when derogatory racial statements are brought into the equation by one side, they’re quickly responded to by equally derogatory sentiments from the other side. In the end all you have is a bunch of senseless, moronic insults that only serve to make the people hurling them out appear ignorant and childish.
Case in point, here is a post from one of the articles that discussed Mayweather’s racist rant:
“too long people like floyd, for whatever reason, have lived under the assumption that because of what happened to their ancestors they've the right to do and say anything they want about other races sans repercussions. it's an astonishing trend in america and downright disgusting how african americans get the green light to demean other races yet hell to pay when ire is directed in their direction. that's why you see idiots trying to defend his astonishingly indefensible behavior.”
It’s absolutely amazing to watch the stereotypical, ignorant thoughts of a particular man be taken in, and then reversed by the general public into equally stereotypical, ignorant thoughts flung in the other direction. Not that the above poster is alone. There are thousands more just like him all over the web.
Generally, it’s not a good idea to lump a group of fans together and paint the whole batch with the same brush. Fans come in all shapes and sizes. In all genders, weigh classes and dialects. If you try to pigeon hole everyone you run the risk of being wrong about a lot of people.
That theory doesn’t apply with Pacquiao fans. This loyal to a fault group will defend their idol to no end regardless of the situation. They travel in droves on the internet, and have shown a tendency to defend their star regardless of what racial, cultural or generally accepted decency lines they may cross.
With that in mind, it’s fascinating that this group has decided to stand up and speak on the subject of the right and wrong associated with Mayweather’s rant. It’s amazing that this is the group that has decided to stand up for proper decorum as it applies to racial hate speech.
Again, no one is defending Mayweather. His actions were wrong, and he will suffer the consequences amongst his fans and detractors. That said, though, let’s call a spade a spade. A lot of the people currently outraged about Mayweather’s hateful speech never liked him anyway. A lot of the people angry about the stereotypical and homophobic slurs he slung at Pacquiao, have used similar language in the past. In fact, a lot have probably used it to describe Mayweather himself.
It's just sad that these same people won't look in the mirror before passing their judgement.
Not that anyone should be surprised by this. Hypocrisy and blind devotion amongst Pacquiao fans is nothing new.
Source: http://www.opposingviews.com
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