The Outshot: Randy Mossā Face
A listener named Clement Chow saw me ranting about this face on Twitter, and suggested I write a piece about it for my show Bullseye. So I did. You can hear the piece at 54:40 in this episode of the show.
Iāve gotta talk for a minute about Randy Mossā face.
Because I know this is radio. I canāt just show it to you. But youāve gotta believe me. Itās amazing.
Maybe you donāt know who Randy Moss is - he was a football player. A wide receiver. Now he talks about football on TV.Ā
The other day he was talking on ESPN with Trent Dilfer. Dilfer was a quarterback.
And for context here: Moss is black, Dilferās white.
The two of them were talking about Colin Kaepernick. Heās the 49ers quarterback whoās been taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racism in America.
And Dilfer said this thing Iām about to play for you, and Moss made a face. Youāre about to hear Dilfer talking, but itās important you imagine the look on Mossā face. Like you wouldnāt believe this face.
Mossā face was likeā¦ eyes narrowed. Brows furrowed. Mouth pursed. Stare at full blast. Full on-laser beams shooting from his eyes. He looked like a cartoon character with steam coming from his ears.
And maybe it was just the āIām really paying attention face.ā But oh boy did it look like the āYou must be playing face.ā The āyou gotta be kidding meā face. Or the āThis dude canāt be for real face."Ā
And this face went viral.
What does that even mean? The unity of the team is more important that racism? I mean, seriously?
This is a classic white people move. The call for unity. I say this as a white person. We love to tell people who are pointing out racism, who are protesting inequalityā¦ that theyāre trying to tear us apart.
But Randy Mossā face says it all.
Because us white people donāt have to live with racism. We donāt have to see it. Itās transparent to us. We can choose not to see it. As long as weāre not saying the n-word or writing "whites onlyā above a water fountain, we think weāre cool.
Our skin color means we can choose to look past wealth disaprities, or job discrimination, or discrimination in the legal system, or cultural hegemony, or any of a thousand other ways we are given the upper hand by our laws and culture.
But people of color know whatās really going on. Even rich people of color who get to be on TV like Randy Moss. And if people of color say something about racism, we say back that itās an attack on unity. That theyāre not doing their part to hold the country together. Theyāre not turning the other cheek enough.
But why is holding the country together their job? Thatās what I think that face meant.Ā
This whole youāre promoting division thing is a trick. Itās a feint.
Protesting racism isnāt what tears us apart. Racism is what tears us apart.
Protesting racism doesnāt tear us apart. Racism tears us apart.
So Randy Moss made that face. That YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND face.
Hereās the deal, my fellow white people. And yeah, people of color, relax for a minute, take a break, have a sandwich. This part is between me and Trent Dilfer and all my other whites out there.
White people: itās not people of colorās job to protect us. Itās not their job to make us feel better. Itās not their job to end racism. Ending racism is OUR JOB. We made it. Letās unmake it.
When someone tells you about racism, whe someone protests racism, THEY are not the source of the problem. The RACISM is the source of the problem.
And we are the source of the racism. And we have the power to change it.
So Trent Dilfer: I believe you that you care. I bet youāre a good dude. I thought you seemed smart and brave when you played for my favorite team, the 49ers. Most of us are good people of good will. I believe that.
But letās be real right now.Ā
Donāt want racism to get in the way of football? Letās work to end racism.
Donāt want racism to tear our country apart? Letās work to end racism.
If we really want unity, itās time for US to step the heck up. Unity is within our reach. If WE step up.
You know who already stepped up? Colin Kaepernick. A brave multi-racial black guy with white parents who knows exactly how this stuff goes down on both sides of this divide. In a way that you and me Trent never will. In a way that none of us white people ever will.
Kaepernickās telling us something. Heās asking us to do something. Letās listen. Letās take action. Letās take responsibility. This is our problem. And thereās no better time for change than now.
OK: thatās all I got for white people right now. Sorry for the haranguing. I want you to know Iām not perfect, and Ā hope you know I love you.
OK, people of color I hope you enjoyed your break. I love you too. Welcome back.
Now everybody: I have one last proposal for unity. Letās all go check out the look on Randy Mossā face and laugh our asses off together.
