What Sean Taylor Means to Black America
Originally Published: jarrett-carter.com
To most people, the news of Sean Taylor’s death hits harder than any tackle the 24-year-old safety laid on anyone during his superlative and stormy four years with the Washington Redskins. The death of any well-known athlete speaks to the heart of sports fans, who grow to identify with a number, a passion, and a presence that fills their Sundays.
But the death of Sean Taylor is a story that plays out in black communities all too often, without cameras, analysis, or widespread mourning. A black male with all the potential in the world to succeed, cut short because of past transgressions. His physical gifts and talents on the football field gave him an opportunity to turn his life around, but despite the multitude of resources, we still hear about the links to his violent, and sometimes criminal past.
So what will be the lesson that black folk take from this tragedy? Will black mothers hold the newspaper stories up in front of their sons with teary eyes and shaky voices? Will black fathers learn to talk to their sons as men about consequences and loyalty to circumstances beyond their control?
Will black sons look at Taylor as a martyr, a symbol of quiet toughness falling prey to haters within an altruistic ideology of loyalty to the friends and sins of the past?
What happens when the hope and tragedy of so many black men in this country intersects? What happens when the fame and riches of sports that allures so many children, intertwines with the reality of their everyday lives? What happens to black boys when they see that even sports can’t save you?
They figure out that life isn’t something to be saved, but to be invested in the moment they have right now. That you can only live for this day, and the desires of this moment. Ultimately, that’s the only thing that they have complete ownership of, so why not make the most of it. That’s what Sean Taylor did. When he was angry in the past, he acted. And how he wanted to channel that anger was exactly how it would be channeled.
And with as much passion and ferocity as he tracked down open receivers and leveled hapless punters in exhibition contests, he lived in fierce protection of his manhood, and his pride. Nothing he had attained or would attain, was more important than the respect he was owed, in any situation. And this same fire motivated him to become a better man and player, but not before the elements of his past would claim his life.
Perhaps the tales of Taylor defending his house and family in his last hours will become the stuff of urban lore among black men. The details of his wielding a machete against coming intruders may live on in the streets as a heroic epic that exemplified the passion with which he lived his life. The fact that he was prideful enough to occupy a home that had been breached just eight days earlier may speak to the heart of realness, and may erroneously supply definition to how a black man should conduct himself, even to his death.
But reality is Sean Taylor is dead. There will be others like him that won’t get the goodbyes of a nation. We can only hope that the lesson in this tragedy won’t be how to live and die as a loyal soldier, but to live forever as a leader of men.
