Jason Lee Whitlock (born April 27, 1967, in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a sportswriter for Foxsports.com, as well as a former columnist at the Kansas City Star, AOL Sports writer, contributor to ESPN, and radio personality for WHB and KCSP sports stations in the Kansas City area.
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College and sports
Whitlock was an all-state offensive lineman at Warren Central High School in Warren Township in the eastern part of Indianapolis, and he blocked for quarterback Jeff George, who later became the first overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. He attended Ball State University on a football scholarship, lettering two years as an offensive lineman. He graduated with a degree in journalism in 1990.
Journalism career
Whitlock previously worked for the Bloomington Herald Times, The Charlotte Observer and the Ann Arbor News. He has also been published in Vibe Magazine and The Sporting News. In the June 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine, Whitlock wrote a 5,000-word column questioning American's incarceration and drug-war policies. Playboy headlined the column "The Black KKK," which provoked Whitlock into writing two columns—one in the Kansas City Star and another on Foxsports.com—criticizing Playboy editorial director Chris Napolitano for the misleading and inflammatory headline.
Whitlock was the celebrity spokesman for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City. Whitlock had guest-hosted several ESPN shows, including Jim Rome Is Burning, and Pardon the Interruption. He also appeared regularly on ESPN's The Sports Reporters until he was fired from ESPN in September 2006. He is a regular fill-in host on the Jim Rome Radio Show.
The Scripps Howard Foundation awarded Whitlock its National Journalism Award for commentary on March 7, 2008. Whitlock was the first sports writer to win the award and $10,000 prize. His Kansas City Star columns garnered the trophy for their "ability to seamlessly integrate sports commentary with social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."[citation needed]
Whitlock announced the departure of his on-line column from ESPN.com's Page 2 in favor of AOL Sports, but initially expected to continue his television work for ESPN. However, after the announcement, Whitlock was interviewed by sports blog The Big Lead, and in that interview, he disparaged two of his ESPN colleagues. Whitlock labeled Mike Lupica "an insecure, mean-spirited busybody", and referred to Robert "Scoop" Jackson as a "clown", saying that "the publishing of [Jackson's] fake ghetto posturing is an insult to black intelligence." Jackson, like Whitlock, is African-American. Whitlock went absent from any ESPN television work. He soon announced to The Kansas City Star readers in September 2006 that he was fired altogether from ESPN as a result of his remarks; he wrote that the company doesn't tolerate criticism and acted as they saw fit.[1]
Whitlock's first AOL Sports column was published September 29, 2006. Whitlock's first Fox Sports on MSN column was published August 16, 2007. On August 16, 2010, the Kansas City Star announced that Whitlock would be leaving that paper.[2]
Controversy
On February 10, 2012, in the middle of the Knicks' 92–85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, with Jeremy Lin scoring a career-high 38 points, Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock posted on Twitter, "Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight."[3] Hyphen wrote that Whitlock "reinforced the insipid and insidious 'small Asian penis' stereotype.[4] The Asian American Journalists Association demanded an apology. Later, Whitlock said, "I debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I'm truly sorry."[5][6]
Bob Costas once again inserted Jason Whitlock into controversy by delivering a half time speech on NBC's "Football Night in America" on December 2, 2012 that quoted from an article Jason Whitlock wrote for Foxsports.com about the murder/suicide of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins. In it Jason Whitlock condemned the gun culture prevalent in America and concluded by saying, "What I believe is, if he (Belcher) didn’t possess/own a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."[7] The Costas commentary and Whitlock article have generated support from gun control advocates and condemnation from second amendment supporters.
In a follow up interview with Roland Martin on December 3, 2012 Jason Whitlock stated: "I believe the NRA is the new KKK. And that the arming of so many black youths, uh, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people who obviously don’t have our best interests [at heart]."
On January 3, 2013, Whitlock tweeted that Samuel L. Jackson's character in Django Unchained, a house slave, was closely related to Thomas Sowell a black, liberterian economist. After he was criticized by other Twitter users, Whitlock responded, "Too many of you base your 'brilliance' on whether someone tells you what you want to hear. Thomas 'Django Stephen' Sowell is Exhibit A." [8]
On January 24th, 2013, Whitlock tweeteda joke that Sgt Hammerclaw, editor of dogspin.co, had created and posted on Deadspin.com. Whitlock refused to credit the original author of the joke, therefore the Sarge called Whitlock out.
References
- ^ Whitlock, Jason. Freedom to speak has price Kansas City Star, 24 September 2006 (Retrieved 27 November 2006).
- ^ "Columnist Jason Whitlock is leaving The Kansas City Star". Kansas City Star. 2010-08-16. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/16/2154473/jason-whitlock-is-leaving-the.html. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
- ^ "Sunday's NBA notebook: Rajon Rondo's triple-double carries Celtics over Bulls". The Detroit News. Associated Press. February 12, 2012. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. http://www.webcitation.org/65QoYjpwX.
- ^ Kim, Sylvie (February 13, 2012). "Spike, Jeremy, and Stopping "Asian Profi'Lin"". Hyphen. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. http://www.webcitation.org/65RIDoBdK.
- ^ Schilken, Chuck (February 13, 2012). "Fox Sports' Jason Whitlock apologizes for Jeremy Lin tweet". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. http://www.webcitation.org/65Qogs97v.
- ^ Dwyer, Kelly (February 13, 2012). "Jason Whitlock apologizes for his unfunny Jeremy Lin comment on Twitter". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. http://www.webcitation.org/65Qoqh5mc.
- ^ http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/jovan-belcher-kansas-city-chiefs-murder-suicide-tragedy-girlfriend-self-leave-orphan-daughter-why-still-playing-sunday-120112
- ^ http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2013/01/04/Whitlock-Sowell-House-Slave-Django