“Sticks and Stones will break my Bones, but Names Will Never Hurt Me”
We, of course, know this 19th century children’s
rhyme never was entirely true. Names
sometimes do hurt and, in some circumstances, are and should be punished. Witness the idiotic statements of a particular
owner of a professional basketball team whose words resulted in a very quickly
imposed million dollar fine and the loss of his ability to be a member of that
exclusive club of NBA franchise owners.
But, just as words may hurt, much more often so do “sticks
and stones” and fists. It seems to me
that the use of “sticks and stones” or other forms of physical force isat least
as objectionable and should be punished just a severely.
The Journal, in its
Sunday edition, reported that an NBA player (who did time at Wake Forest), had been arrested. According to an affidavit, the player allegedly
“hit his wife in the face with an open hand before choking her.”
Why no call for banishment from professional
basketball? Why no huge fine? While I have no chance of ever owning an NBA
team and never had any chance of being a player, I think that, if I was in
either position, if I had to choose, I would much rather associate with a
bigoted idiot than someone who battered a woman (or anyone else). Why the difference in treatment by the NBA
and the public?
Letter to the Editor, Winston Salem Journal, June 16, 2014
