Feb 19 2007
Tim Hardaway and his “apology”
In a remarkable interview with Dan Le Batard of talk radio, CBS4 in Florida reported that former NBA star, Tim Hardaway, blasted homosexuals saying, “Well, you know, I hate gay people… I let it be known I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people. I’m homophobic. It shouldn’t be in the world, in the United States, I don’t like it.”
In almost the same manner as how most Muslims deny Israel’s right to exist, it is becoming more acceptable here in the United States and in Europe to take the public stance that denies homosexuals the right to exist. Similarly, in defiance of all logic, people such as Sean Hannity are advancing the view that their homophobia is nothing more than an “opinion” rather what it is— bigotry.
It is very eerie how people can condemn an entire segment of the population for whatever reason— race, smoking, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political party affiliation, etc.— it is frightening how people condemn others so casually, as if they are not going to stand before God’s throne to answer for it…
Here’s a video with Tim Hardaway’s comments:
A few days later, after he was banished from NBA-sanctioned appearances for the All-Star weekend and after losing at least one endorsement (and lots of money), Hardaway gave this pseudo-apology:
“I don’t hate gay people,” Hardaway said. “I’m a goodhearted person. I interact with people all the time. … I respect people. For me to say ‘hate’ was a bad word, and I didn’t mean to use it.”
…
“It was like, you know, I had killed somebody. … I never knew that this was going to escalate that high,” Hardaway said.
Rather than actually apologizing, like so many other pseudo-apologies in the wishy-washy modern dictum, all Mr. Hardaway has done is assert the contradiction of his previous remark (”I don’t hate gay people.”) and reassure the public that he really is just a wonderful person (”I’m a goodhearted person…”). Correct me if I”m wrong, but I don’t see an apology.
In fact, from his own statements, he was shocked that there was an outrage at what he said, as though he “had killed somebody”, implying that he didn’t believe there was anything wrong with his derogatory statements.
His “apology” also begs the question: How real is this apology when he has only apologized for using the word “hate” and not the content of what he actually said?
Perhaps he should have said, “I very, strongly, vehemently, vociferously dislike gay people and don’t want to be in the same city-block as them, but I don’t hate them”?
We all know what would happen if the same thing was said about a black man…