Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has gone full C. Montgomery Burns. That type of detachment from reality can happen when you grow up in a family that owns an atom-smashing plant — pardon me, the Colts franchise.
People who have had the silver spoon in their mouth for their entire lives can sometimes forget that it is there. Irsay basically wagged the spoon at the marginalized people of the world during an appearance on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. He said that he was a victim of police discrimination when he was arrested in 2014 for driving while intoxicated. (He eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count.)
“I am prejudiced against because I’m a rich, white, billionaire,” Irsay said on Tuesday’s episode. “If I’m just the average guy down the block, they’re not pulling me in. Of course not.”
For a moment I am going to ignore that if there was an ounce of truth to that statement, then quite a few people would have gone to jail behind the 2008 Financial Crisis. The words, delivery, and Andrea Kremer’s reaction deserve a deep dive.
Kremer looked like a doorknob had just shocked her with static electricity when he said that he was a victim of prejudice. This woman reports for Real Sports. She sat across from Bikram Choudhury — the founder of Hot Yoga — and listened to him address accusations of sexual assault by saying that people would be willing to spend $1 million for a drop of his sperm. This award-winning journalist’s upper body jerked at what Irsay said.
How could she not react? Irsay did not speak like a real person. When has anyone ever used the phrase “average guy down the block.” “Down the block,” is used to reference location. An average guy would say, “Jim, oh he lives just down the block.” When asked to describe someone he would likely not say, “Jim, oh he is just an average guy down the block.”
And Irsay uttered his ridiculous statement with the same passion James Dolan sings into a microphone as the lead vocalist for his band, JD & the Straight Shot. Irsay closed his eyes and cut the air with his hand to add more punch to his delivery.
He has me convinced. I believe that Jim Irsay is a delusional person.
I know he has dealt with addiction issues, but that is not the type of intoxication that causes a person to co-opt the word “prejudice” when that person has access to all of the justice that money can buy. Police don’t beat up white billionaires because they know there will be consequences from a better lawyer than the FOP can provide. They pound on Black people because they want to, and know getting away with it is not terribly difficult.
Socialization, and systemic racism, make it easy to believe that a Black person, especially a poor male, is always a threat. I imagine that people do not clutch their purses when sharing an elevator with Jim Irsay. And they certainly don’t cross the street when approaching him on the sidewalk, because he has enough money to only walk outdoors for exercise and explorations.
What Irsay said on Real Sports is humorous, absurd, and problematic. And once all of these think pieces about his statement have been read, and the social-media jokes cease, he will still have enough money that people will be forced to deal seriously with a person who said on camera that rich white men are targeted by police.
Oh to be born into a family with an atom-smashing plant in its portfolio.
Original source here
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