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Dying Young, Black
The Washington Post ^ | Wednesday, November 28, 2007 | Michael Wilbon

Posted on 11/28/2007 4:30:04 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

If you're hoping to read about the on-field exploits of Sean Taylor, or a retrospective of his time with the Washington Redskins, it would probably be better if you cast your eyes to a piece elsewhere in this newspaper.

Seriously, you should stop right here.

Because we're going to have a different conversation in this space -- about the violent and senseless nature of the act that took his life, about trying to change course when those around you might not embrace such a change, about dying young and black in America, about getting the hell out of Dodge if at all possible.

I wasn't surprised in the least when I heard the news Monday morning that Sean Taylor had been shot in his home by an intruder. Angry? Yes. Surprised? Not even a little. It was only in June 2006 that Taylor, originally charged with a felony, pleaded no contest to assault and battery charges after brandishing a gun during a battle over who took his all-terrain vehicles in Florida. After that, an angry crew pulled up on Taylor and his boys and pumped at least 15 bullets into his sport-utility vehicle. So why would anybody be surprised? Had it been Shawn Springs, I would have been stunned. But not Sean Taylor.

It wasn't long after avoiding jail time and holding on to his football career that Taylor essentially said, "That's it, I'm out," to the world of glamorized violence he seemed comfortable negotiating earlier. Anybody you talk to, from Coach Joe Gibbs to Jeremy Shockey, his college teammate, will cite chapter and verse as to how Taylor was changing his life in obvious ways every day.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: seantaylor; washingtonredskins
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1 posted on 11/28/2007 4:30:06 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Fault = Bush


2 posted on 11/28/2007 4:32:01 PM PST by Bertha Fanation
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To: MinorityRepublican

Rest in Peace, # 21 Sean Taylor.


3 posted on 11/28/2007 4:32:29 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
This is a good piece, but I doubt if it will win Mr. Wilbon many friends for stating some unpleasant truths so plainly.
4 posted on 11/28/2007 4:40:10 PM PST by mojito
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To: MinorityRepublican

Wow, this article is almost as good as the one written by Jason Whitlock and posted in another thread.


5 posted on 11/28/2007 4:40:39 PM PST by KevinB
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To: MinorityRepublican
DAYUM. Wilbon has been hanging around Kornheiser too long - he's learning to speak his mind, consequences be damned. Wilbon gets it. Damned fine article.


6 posted on 11/28/2007 5:09:51 PM PST by Viking2002 (Waterboarding the Left every chance I get.)
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To: mojito

Odd enough, Michael Wilbon is a huge liberal.


7 posted on 11/28/2007 5:10:05 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

great article. Very true.


8 posted on 11/28/2007 5:16:50 PM PST by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
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To: MinorityRepublican
I think this story has been written for white people too. Guy gets into the thug life, tries to get out, succeeds in getting out, everything is lookin' great, but... his old pals don't want to say goodbye, so to speak. Happened to one character in "Rich Man, Poor Man," a novel by Irwin Shaw that was made into a mini-series in 1976. In fact, "Rich Man, Poor Man" was the first TV mini-series.
9 posted on 11/28/2007 5:20:14 PM PST by Steely Tom (Steely's First Law of the Main Stream Media: if it doesn't advance the agenda, it's not news.)
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To: KevinB

The article by Whitlock was excellent.


10 posted on 11/28/2007 5:31:54 PM PST by Sweet_Sunflower29 (Dear Santa, I can explain...)
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To: Steely Tom

Ultimately, the thugs had the last word.


11 posted on 11/28/2007 5:44:04 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

More stupid, senseless violence. It’s tragic that Taylor couldn’t get away from it.


12 posted on 11/28/2007 5:55:26 PM PST by popdonnelly (Get Reid. Salazar, and Harkin out of the Senate.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
I'm not going to create another Taylor thread, so here's a link to an interesting article from A Rolle

Cardinals’ Rolle: Taylor's death was no burglary Childhood friend says player was ‘scared every time he was down in Miami’

13 posted on 11/28/2007 5:58:42 PM PST by Dysart
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To: Steely Tom

“I think this story has been written for white people too.”

I felt the same way when Bill Cosby’s comments first came out - everything he said applied to EVERYONE - he may have been directing it at blacks, but it applied to all kids and parents everywhere.


14 posted on 11/28/2007 6:44:36 PM PST by smalltownslick
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To: Dysart

That doesn’t make sense. If he was turning away from his former life in Miami, then why didn’t he sell his house and move to either MD or VA?


15 posted on 11/28/2007 7:17:04 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: Steely Tom

Same with druggies, drinkers, partiers . . . whatever . . . You want to change your life, you have to take out the trash. And keep it out, whatever it takes.


16 posted on 11/28/2007 9:57:26 PM PST by fightinJAG ("Tell the truth. The Pajama People are watching you.")
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To: MinorityRepublican
Most of us, perhaps even the great majority of us who grew up in big urban communities, have to make a decision at some point to hang out or get out.

Michael Wilbon has a point about blacks to want to make something out of themselves, whether in sports, music, journalism, etc. They have to get out of the culture that wants to accuse them of being 'oreos' because they want something more than what the gangs can offer.

What Wilbon probably doesn't realize is that young white kids can have the same problem. If they've grown up in a lower class lifestyle, they face the same problem from friends and even family. If they want to rise above their upbringing, they're often considered traitors to their families and friends. It takes strength to do that.

17 posted on 11/29/2007 12:29:49 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: SuziQ

You make good points. But it’s toughest for a poor black man growing up in the ghetto where hip hop culture glorifies gang warfare


18 posted on 11/29/2007 7:17:02 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

From the details so far, it appears that it is a failed robbery that turned into unexpected murder rather than gang homicide.


19 posted on 11/30/2007 9:59:14 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

20 posted on 11/30/2007 10:03:16 PM PST by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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