John Rocker

John Rocker (2/11/00)

Atlanta Pitcher John Rocker as quoted in Sports Illustrated:

On ever playing for a New York team: "I would retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the [Number] 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you're [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing."
On New York City itself: "The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. I'm not a very big fan of foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"

Observations:

This country goes absolutely crazy whenever a bigoted statement is made to the mass media. Based upon the reaction, you would think that John Rocker had degraded Jesus from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas.
Maybe its because we live in the South or in Texas, but his comments are similar to what is said every day in Decatur, Texas, over coffee. Come on, admit it.
When Major League Baseball announced its suspension of Rocker, cries of "First Amendment" violations were heard everywhere. Note: the Bill of Rights limits what government can do to an individual, not what the private sector can do to an individual. The city council of Atlanta, the State of Florida, Congress, or the FCC cannot sanction Rocker for his comments. Private entity MLB, however, can do so at will.
Is it ironic that Major League Baseball, an entity that wouldn't even let a black man play in the game just over fifty years ago, now becomes highly offended by a racist comment?
If a racist is in a position where he can effect the lives of others (i.e. a school teacher, police officer, judge, city manager) we certainly have a reason to be concerned. But when all a guy does is throw a baseball really hard, does his opinion matter?
Some of my friends are outraged at Rocker's suspension. However, if he had been a high ranking executive at Microsoft, do you think the computer giant might have reacted the same way as MLB or, perhaps, simply fired him outright?
This country values freedom of speech when the opinions expressed are those held by the majority.

Barry Green is the District Attorney for the 271st Judicial District.