I used to think Obama resentment birthed MAGA, but was it backlash to Barry Bonds?

[get these nets]

The Kwame Brown story, and his comments about media feeding Black athlete bashing to an eager audience......gave me flashbacks to the fury unleashed on sports radio when Bonds approached and then passed the number 2 person on the all time HOME RUN list, Babe Ruth.

Who else remembers hearing ""when he passes Babe Ruth's record, it will be with an asterix"
WTF? The number two person on a list no longer has a record!!!!

shyt drove me crazy because I'd been an avid sports radio listener that year. The white sheets/hoods came out in full force though, and I had to fall back listening to it.

 

[Bubba T]

Barry Bonds was an all time great that didn’t like talking to the media, so naturally the media took offense to that and painted him worse than he actually was.

 

[acri1]

Yeah but if we're honest the percentage of the population that cares about baseball is pretty low.

Resentment at having a black president is still the main root cause of the MAGA shyt.

 

[Ghostface Trillah]

Obama winning ---> Tea Party Republicans ---> Tea party politicians ---> Maga and Donald Trump

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

One of the PBS Frontline Documentaries about him laid it out perfectly in how the MAGA base came to be. Trump saw an opening and used the segment of the base Republican that Romney and McCain refused to acknowledge. He started plotting after Romney's election loss and it was a perfect storm of running against Hilary and the government shutdown happening during the same year. The Republicans biggest mistake was bringing him into the fold in the first place years before as he doublecrossed them all. Even Mitt had trotted him out on stage during his election run not realizing Trump's true intentions.

The MAGA base was always there, but Trump gave them the voice to speak and act through.

 

[NoMoreWhiteWoman2020]

The Kwame Brown story, and his comments about media feeding Black athlete bashing to an eager audience......gave me flashbacks to the fury unleashed on sports radio when Bonds approached and then passed the number 2 person on the all time HOME RUN list, Babe Ruth.

Who else remembers hearing ""when he passes Babe Ruth's record, it will be with an asterix"
WTF? The number two person on a list no longer has a record!!!!

shyt drove me crazy because I'd been an avid sports radio listener that year. The white sheets/hoods came out in full force though, and I had to fall back listening to it.

Not gonna lie I wish Ken Griffey Jr did it instead of Barry.

 

[Tom Foolery]

We're blaming Bonds for starting White Nationalism now?

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

We're blaming Bonds for starting White Nationalism now?

Honestly, I don't see how this thread even exists as it's two completely different scenarios with nothing in common.

 

[Child_Of_God]

Racist cac’s hated seeing a Black president so in return they elected one of their own as president.

It’s as simple as that.

 

[NoMoreWhiteWoman2020]

Honestly, I don't see how this thread even exists as it's two completely different scenarios with nothing in common.

White nationalism saw a generational uptick starting with 9/11. I think the GOP was falling off with the failed Clinton removal, Gingrich and bush etc. 9/11 gave the leeway for the GOP to promote white nationalism with a carte Blanche card bc of the war on terror. That’s one of the many reasons why they are hesitant to label their own as terrorists, especially after Waco and Oklahoma City bombings

 

[Piff Perkins]

It wasn’t Bonds but the OP is hitting on something key to racism: the way sports media, especially sports radio/tv, foster white resentment. Think about the black narratives that are always in sports media:

-Anger over large contracts given to black players
-Anger over black players commenting on social issues
-Anger over black players using leverage in FA
-Fake narratives about black players not trying hard enough
-White players are smarter, black players more athletic
-“Lack of father figure” criticisms of Bron
-Dismissive attitude towards black coaches/“token hires”

Then think about the way hosts tackle political topics that relate to sports. The “good cop bad cop” dynamic where black hosts often take hard positions against black players talking about racism/police/etc. The way Stephen A is trotted out whenever a player goes too far off the plantation.

White people sit around mad at sports all day and it mirrors their general views on race.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

White nationalism saw a generational uptick starting with 9/11. I think the GOP was falling off with the failed Clinton removal, Gingrich and bush etc. 9/11 gave the leeway for the GOP to promote white nationalism with a carte Blanche card bc of the war on terror. That’s one of the many reasons why they are hesitant to label their own as terrorists, especially after Waco and Oklahoma City bombings

I'm more so referring to the Bonds/Obama connection that the OP is trying to create.

White people would care and hate more about a black man becoming president by default. As another poster mentioned, the majority of the population doesn't care about sports anyways enough to be upset by Bonds passing Babe Ruth.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Honestly, I don't see how this thread even exists as it's two completely different scenarios with nothing in common.

Agreed. OP must have been on something good to come up with this type of reach

 

[BaviKingVA]

I remember Cax saying a long time ago that racism was going away until Obama got in. Nerve of those mfs

 

[get these nets]

We're blaming Bonds for starting White Nationalism now?

Yeah but if we're honest the percentage of the population that cares about baseball is pretty low.

Rush Limbaugh was laying the groundwork for this for decades. No coincidence that he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Trump

What I'm saying is that, at the time, I underestimated how much the resentment of Bonds contributed to what was brewing.
Baseball is still at the core of mainstream Americana, and Ruth is still one of the big white sports icons.