The NFL and the mainstream media have offered grace and given the benefit of the doubt to Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis after he tweeted an anti-Asian slur three weeks ago.
Davis, who is black, tweeted, “Gotta stop letting g***s in Miami.”
Yikes. Carlton Davis had a lot of potential after the slant boy Twitter beef. Then he went and tweeted this shit pic.twitter.com/jtsGgtES7l
— Carlton (@SlopingGiraffe) April 4, 2021
He has since deleted the post, offered an apology, and explained that he thought the term meant “lame.”
“I would never offend any group of people,” Davis wrote on Twitter, April 4. “You reporters can look for another story to blow up. The term was directed towards a producer claiming he ‘ran Miami.’ With that being said I’ll retire that word from my vocabulary giving the hard times our Asian family are enduring.”
“I used a term that from where I come from has always meant ‘lame’ but I did not realize it has a much darker, negative connotation,” he added. “I have learned a valuable lesson and want to apologize to anyone that was offended by seeing that word because we need to focus on helping each other during these tough times.”
Davis posted a screenshot from Urban Dictionary of the fourth definition of the racial slur he used, which was defined as, “As term [commonly] used in South Florida to describe a person who is Lame,” adding, “Synonym for Lame, wack, Fool or Stupid.”
Notably, Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht boasted about Davis’ participation on the league’s left-wing “Social Justice Player Board” when addressing the tweet.
“We have been in communication with Carlton regarding his social media post from Sunday evening,” Licht said. “Carlton has been an active member of our Social Justice Player Board over the past two seasons and has played a key role in our organizational support for finding peaceful and productive ways to bring attention to societal issues that have plagued our country for many years.”
“Words carry weight and it is incumbent upon all of us to have a thorough understanding of the words we choose and the effect they may have on others,” the statement added. “We look forward to working with Carlton to find appropriate ways to learn from this experience and continue our joint efforts to put an end to all forms of social and racial injustices.”
Statement from GM Jason Licht: pic.twitter.com/pBtEUHOl8t
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) April 5, 2021
It’s been three weeks since Davis first posted the tweet and the NFL, known for their “woke” anti-racism initiatives and statements, has not said a word about the matter. The media, always hungry to “cancel,” have entirely backed off the story, too.
Davis was offered grace and the benefit of the doubt over the tweet, as he should have been. But this is, of course, not the case for those with the wrong identity — namely the wrong politics and skin color.
Others not protected by their politics and their race, like actress Gina Carano, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, and canned CEO Sam Johnson, were never given a chance because of who they are and what views they hold.