Skin Color Perception on Hard Knocks

On Wednesday’s episode of HBO’s HARD KNOCKS, a series chronicling NFL training camp with the New York Jets, viewers saw long sewn seeds of racial insensitivity bloom again right before America’s eyes. In a contest where the players crowned a teammate “King Ugly,” the top three prizes were given to two men. Brian Jackson and Vladimir Ducasse: the two darkest players on the team.

Jackson: "King Ugly"

Black people are well aware of the discussions, feelings, and history associated with skin complexion. From blacks trying to “pass” for white during the Jim Crow era to individuals being excluded from social clubs because they couldn’t pass the “Paper Bag Test” – we’ve had our share of issues and insecurities regarding color.

I don’t place the blame at the feet of the white players and coaches for this. I generally feel like they voted for these guys on the basis of pure “ugliness,” meaning, I don’t believe skin color had as much to do with it. They just thought the players were funny looking or unattractive. White folks see color of course, but things are more, for lack of a better term, black and white to them. There’s less awareness of the distinctions between light-skinned, caramel complexioned, and darkly hued African Americans.

To quote Q-Tip, “Black is black.”

On the other hand, WE know. Growing up, I’m positive that the Jets’ black coaches and players remember the dark skinned kids being the objects of ridicule. The darkest girl in class was always the ugliest. She wasn’t pretty as her fair, long haired counterparts. Boys were called “too black” or even worse, “African.” Those kids were laughed at for being ashy, or their eyes were too white, and they couldn’t be found if the lights got turned off. Certainly, these men remember because they very well could have been the ones getting skewered by childhood insults.   Let's say that the white players did vote these players the ugliest because they were dark.  Then the black teammates should have stepped in to explain that this perception is wrong, using it as a teachable moment. 

Ducasse: 2nd and 3rd place

I played team sports in high school, so I understand how teammates joke or “bust” on one another as a means of bonding. It can be harsh. Often the jabs get personal and sometimes players might even come to blows. What you hope happens is that through this playful teasing, the players build relationships that translate to wins on the field. The NFL gets called the "No Fun League" by people who want to see more end zone celebrations and violent hits. It’s not my intent to take the fun out of this. I can take a joke. It was just ironic to me that the two ugliest guys on the squad were guys with dark skin.

What I fear happened was that people in the Jets' locker room and viewers of the show came away equating ugly with the color of those young men’s skin. If that happened, then we’re right back at square one in the discussion of American beauty image. This is usually an issue reserved for women in the fashion/modeling industries. Who thought we’d see it touch pro football?

No matter the arena, mutual respect needs to be shown to everyone regardless of their skin tone. People without natural pigmentation spend thousands of dollars at salons to keep that year-round “tanned” look. We as Americans, regardless of race, need to fight the notion that having too much color is a bad thing.


[HBO "Hard Knocks" recap: The Jets get down with triple Asian flu]
 
Photo credits:
http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/ (Ducasse)
http://www.profootballweekly.com/ (Jackson)