Current:Home > StocksColts owner Jim Irsay needs to check his privilege and remember a name: George Floyd -InfinityFinance
Colts owner Jim Irsay needs to check his privilege and remember a name: George Floyd
View
Date:2025-04-12 20:47:45
Do you want to see what privilege looks like? In all of its arrogance and ignorance. In all of its lack of historical knowledge. In its lack of understanding of how race and power in America works. Do you want to see? Look no further than Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, in a staggering television interview dripping with almost unfathomable ignorance and memory holes.
Irsay spoke to journalist Andrea Kremer from “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” on a segment scheduled to air on Nov. 21, and as she has done for decades, as well as anyone in sports journalism ever, she got an interview subject to open up. To reveal their inner selves. And that’s what Irsay did and what we saw inside was something remarkably problematic.
Irsay spoke about a number of topics, including his battle with addiction. But one of the most interesting parts of the interview is when Irsay talks about his arrest in Indiana in 2014 for driving under the influence. According to records obtained at the time by the Indianapolis Star, officers "recovered numerous prescription medication bottles containing pills.” They also discovered approximately $29,000 in cash.
Irsay pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He also admitted to having a number of drugs in his system including hydrocodone, oxycodone and Xanax.
Irsay tells Kremer that “the arrest was wrong” and he only pled guilty because he wanted the entire ordeal to end. This is where the interview gets troublesome.
Read more NFL coverage:NFL power rankings Week 12: Eagles, Chiefs affirm their place at top
"I am prejudiced against because I'm a rich, white billionaire," Irsay told Kremer. "If I'm just the average guy down the block, they're not pulling me in, of course not."
Kremer then asked: "Do you know what it's going to sound like if people hear you say they're prejudiced against a rich, white guy?"
"I don't care what it sounds like. It's the truth," he said. "You know, Andrea, I could give a damn what people think how anything sounds or sounds like. The truth is the truth and I know the truth."
Let’s all pause for a moment and give our prayers to the rich, white billionaires. They need our support. It’s a rough life for them. The tax breaks. The private jets. The mansions. Please be considerate in their time of need.
It would be easy to dig into the data about the advantages rich, white men have in this country. Or, white men, period. Or how Black Americans are killed at a higher rate by police than any other group.
But I truly want to focus on one person, someone Irsay apparently needs to be reminded of: his name is George Floyd.
You see, privilege is when you, who has more money than many Americans combined, with a straight face say you are the victim, apparently forgetting what a true victim looks like. Floyd, and many people of color, are actually targeted by police. Floyd was brutally murdered by multiple officers.
Irsay doesn't seem to understand the multiple Americas that exist when it comes to law enforcement and encounters with police. Or he just doesn't care. Many times, encounters with police for people of color are exasperating or life altering. Or life ending.
Even the smallest encounters can be chilling. Several weeks ago, I was jogging around 4:30 in the morning. I was running on the left side of the street and at one point a police cruiser drove by on the right side. It stayed on that side of the street, pulled about 15 feet in front of me, and slowed to my pace and drove like that for a good three minutes. Then, wondering if I was imagining things, I stopped running and stood there. The car stopped. Keeping that distance. I started running again, the car started moving again, keeping the same distance. This part of the encounter lasted about another two minutes.
I was jogging. I didn't have 29K on me in cash like Irsay (unfortunately). The only drug in my system was the caffeine from a drink of Diet Pepsi that I had before leaving. There was no communication from the officer or officers in the vehicle. It just followed me. It was menacing behavior and there was no reason for it. Did the officer think I was going to rob a house while wearing all my night gear where I'm lit up like a Christmas tree?
The police car only stopped following me when something rare happened at that time of the morning: another car came along on the same side of the street as the police car and pulled behind it because the cruiser was moving so slowly. The cruiser was essentially blocking the road. The police car then sped up and drove off.
I apparently drew attention from the police just jogging. I'm unaware of any laws that I could have possibly broken unless there's one for jogging too slow.
This is the world Irsay apparently doesn't see or understand.
Irsay's comments are damaging on a number of fronts but more than anything they demonstrate such glaring privilege. I can't imagine Black Colts players seeing his words and not rolling their eyes.
So, again, do you want to see what privilege looks like? In all of its arrogance and ignorance. In all of its lack of historical knowledge.
Just listen to Irsay.
veryGood! (89172)
Related
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Police ID suspects in killing of man on Bronx subway car as transit officials discuss rising crime
- Massachusetts governor faults Steward Health Care system for its fiscal woes
- Death row inmate Thomas Eugene Creech set for execution this week after nearly 50 years behind bars
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Why Martha Stewart Says She Doesn't Wear Underwear
- Man beat woman to death with ceramic toilet cover in Washington hotel, police say
- How The Underground Railroad Got Its Name
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- West Virginia House passes bill to allow religious exemptions for student vaccines
Ranking
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Economists see brighter outlook for 2024. Here's why.
- Texas man made $1.76 million from insider trading by eavesdropping on wife's business calls, Justice Department says
- Francia Raísa Gets Candid on Her Weight Fluctuation Amid PCOS Battle
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Husband of BP worker pleads guilty in insider trading case after listening to wife's work calls, feds say
- Buffalo Wild Wings to give away free wings after Super Bowl overtime: How to get yours
- Supreme Court to hear challenges to Texas, Florida social media laws
Recommendation
Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
US Rep. Andy Kim sues over what he calls New Jersey’s ‘cynically manipulated’ ballot system
United Daughters of the Confederacy would lose Virginia tax breaks, if Youngkin signs off
NASCAR Atlanta race ends in wild photo finish; Daniel Suarez tops Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
Supreme Court hears social media cases that could reshape how Americans interact online
2 killed, 2 wounded in Milwaukee when victims apparently exchange gunfire with others, police say
How Keke Palmer and Ex Darius Jackson Celebrated Son Leo on His First Birthday