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| The way we want to think of Desmond |
Clark
went to his son’s high school in suburban Vernon Hills to confront officials
about what he thinks is unjust treatment, and HE winds up facing criminal
charges. School officials say they felt intimidated by Clark’s demeanor.
ACTUALLY
BY BOTH Clark and his wife, Maria. He is charged with disorderly conduct, while
she is charged with assault. Both are free on $2,500 bond.
The
two got arrested for an incident on Aug. 29 at the high school that was
supposed to be a discussion about the fact that their son says he’s being
harassed on racial grounds.
They
wanted to see what, if anything, the school was prepared to do about it. The
fact that the high school appeared to be interested in doing nothing about it
angered the Clarks – which is totally understandable.
Even
though the high school wants to believe they’re the victim in this saga – and I’m
sure there are enough people out there who get all squeamish whenever racial
issues come up that they’ll be willing to believe that the former ballplayer
ought to just shut up about it!
THIS
MAY BE the one “cardinal sin” a former professional athlete can commit. Many
bad things would be forgiven because of the fact that Clark was once athletic
enough to wear the uniform of the Chicago Bears.
But
bring up racial issues? That’s very bad, in some eyes.
Most
of the news accounts I have read about this incident have been rather vague.
Which is why I find it ridiculous that the high school district felt compelled
on Monday to say it thinks the incident has been taken out of context.
I’d
argue the reports have not put the problem in any true context. We really don’t
know what happened, or what the behavior is that the son has had to endure that
had the parents so upset.
EXCEPT
FOR A WBBM-TV news report where Clark opened up to a little more detail, saying
his son has been harassed on racial grounds ever since he started at the school
in 2012. Such as being called assorted racial slurs and being told his parents
hang from trees in the front yard.
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| Usually, they'd be proud to have former Bear amongst parents |
Totally
believable in light of the fact that there are people with their own racial
hang-ups, and at that age they’re stupid enough to think their nonsense
actually means something.
But
the current outburst is related to the fact that Clark’s son was being
disciplined by the school for being seen intoxicated while at a rally
celebrating the Chicago Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup victory earlier this year.
Because
of that, school officials said he was prohibited from participating in a
lip-synch contest being held at the high school. When the son tried challenging
that decision, a school administrator is alleged to have said, “If he wants to
act like a criminal, he can get out.”
A
COMMENT THAT infuriated Clark to the point where he and his wife went to meet
with school officials, and tempers were lost to the point where the school
called the police – and Clark is now banned from the high school campus.
A
move that strikes me as being motivated more by trying to make Clark look bad
when the criminal case eventually goes to trial – or winds up getting settled
with some sort of plea deal.
Admittedly,
Clark’s account makes it seem like an open-and-shut acquittal for him,
particularly since the school is refusing to say much of anything – usually a
sign of someone covering up. But I don’t doubt that there are those who wish Clark
would just pipe down so we can go back to just thinking of him in terms of
those former Sunday afternoons when he took to the gridiron at Soldier Field.
Although
if we want to be honest, those people who can’t view ballplayers as human
beings and don’t want to address such racial outbursts most often are the real
problem our society faces.
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