Communist or Confucius?

September 11^th 2001…those three words are still powerful enough to bring many Americans over the age of 21 to the emotional brink. The events of that day are ever present in the back of our minds and were brought back to forefront by the assault and killing of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. forces last month. The jubilation seen on countless television stations here in America was understandable although this exuberance was more typical of the inhabitants of distant lands, distastefully cheering the demise of American soldiers or civilians.

Twitter had not hit the scene in 2001…the news of the events in New York traveled the “old fashioned” way…through 24 hour cable news and text messages. With Twitter now providing faster, less filtered information to the public, we are apt to find ourselves in situations with celebrities and athletes that can quickly become uncomfortable…something that Rashard Mendenhall has recently discovered. As a running back and NFL champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mendenhall has become accustomed to the adulation and blind devotion that usually accompanies an athlete of a certain status. After the death of Bin Laden, Mendenhall took to Twitter to make his voice heard.

The question that arises from this circumstance is, once again, how can we judge free speech? Rashard is right to ask the question “What kind of person celebrates death?”. Time and time again, the Al-Jazeera images of Arabs celebrating the death of innocent American citizens have been burned into my memory. When I saw those images I asked the exact same question “What kind of person celebrates death?”. What makes my question shameful is that, like many Americans, its undertone asked, “Who are these other irrational people who are behaving so despicably?” Rashard’s last tweet that asked, “How would God feel about your heart?” is a question that haunts me. Like many Americans, I hold anger in my heart toward Bin Laden and the hijackers. I want the survivors and victims of 9/11 (the parentless children, widows and widowers) to have the peace they have sought for so long. Mendenhall has a right to want people to follow the Golden Rule and do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. It is also conceivable that some would rather choose an eye for an eye.

On the surface this argument is about patriotism and loyalty to our country. The undercurrent of the response to Mendenhall seems to have very little to do with how much he loves the United States of America. The many tweeters who decided to give Mendenhall a piece of their mind received the following response: “There is not an ignorant bone in my body. I just encourage you to think”. This comment got me thinking about why Mendenhall’s comments in particular touched a nerve in so many people. Is it because he is an athlete saying these things? Is it because he is a black athlete saying these things?

With the advent of Twitter and other similar technologies, athletes are more accessible than ever before. For better or worse, the curtain has been lifted and I don’t think we will ever dial back the clock to the “good ol’ days” when athletes were seen and not heard (except for what the League wanted you to see and hear). Some sports fans would rather keep their athletes in a very specific box—one in which they can imagine the athlete to be exactly who they want them to be. A reflection of themselves, albeit with more muscles and a better 40 time.