Boxer Bernard Hopkins Doubts Donovan McNabb's "Blackness"

Your Black World reports

Boxer Bernard Hopkins recently told Philadelphia Daily News that Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb isn't "black enough". "He's got a suntan. That's all,"said Hopkins during press day at his gym. Hopkins went on to say that McNabb's privileged upbringing set him up for a rude awakening when the Philadelphia Eagles traded him to the Washington Redskins last year. "Why do you think McNabb felt he was betrayed? Because McNabb is the guy in the house, while everybody else is on the field. He's the one who got the extra coat. The extra servings. 'You're our boy,' " Hopkins said, patting a reporter on the back to illustrate his point. "He thought he was one of them."

McNabb and Hopkins' upbringing differed tremendously . McNabb was raised in a Chicago suburb, excelled at Mt. Carmel High School, and was offered a full scholarship to play quarterback for the Syacuse Orange. Hopkins, on the other hand, was raised in a rough section of Philadelphia, engaged in crime-related activities by age 13 and was a convicted felon by 17-years-old. This led to him being imprisoned for nearly 5 years.

McNabb himself hasn't responded to the comments. However, McNabb's agent, Fletcher N. Smith III, called Hopkins' remarks "ill informed," "dangerous" and "irresponsible," saying they perpetuate "a maliciously inaccurate stereotype that insinuates those African Americans who have access to a wider variety of resources are somehow culturally different than their brethren." The fact that these two successful athletes' backgrounds aren't a match is not the major issue at hand. It's that "blackness" is typically associated with poverty, crime, violence and other negative stereotypes.

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