Bernard Hopkins Has A Lot To Learn

Bernard Hopkins shots at Donovan McNabb were unwarranted and uncalled for and in the end he shows how much he needs to learn, even though he is in his mid 40's.

Hopkins said that McNabb isn't "black enough" or tough enough. For years black people have said that about other blacks when they are educated and have money. If Hopkins had any sense at all instead of denigrating McNabb, he would actually praise him for his professionalism and the way he carries himself.

In the "cool" black culture, its okay for you to use slang, wear your pants down to your ankles and smoke weed and drink all night. Its not okay to go to college, use correct grammar and try to break a cycle that has plagued a race for many years. That perception that having a rap sheet is better than having a college degree is mind-boggling to me.

Hopkins really doesn't understand what it means to say that about another professional. Hopkins goes on to say that McNabb lacks toughness because of his so-called privileged childhood. I guess Grant Hill and Kobe Bryant aren't tough either because their families were well off too. Yes life on the streets can make you tough, but also what your parents instill in your can make you tough. Life in general is hard and if you learn at an early age (whether you have money or not) that you have to work to be the best and nothing is handed to you, then you will become a better person.

Bernard needs to look into Donovan's past and see that when his family moved into their first house in Chicago, someone from the neighborhood broke into the house and spray painted the "N-word" in the living room. But that's not tough enough to Mr. Hopkins. I guess you can only be tough and black enough by going to jail for felonies. Going to school three to four years and playing two-sports, is not tough to Bernard. (BTW-McNabb played both basketball and football in college.)

This conversation is usually had by other black people and is normally kept hidden from other races. I have dealt with this my entire life. I still have family members that associate me and my sister as the "ones who talk white." I don't really get why "keeping it real" requires one not being able to assimilate with all cultures. In Hopkins world, if you side with management and wear a suit, then you are a sellout. Great message to all the young people you supposedly help.

As a father, there are not many athletes that you want your children to be like these days. Guys being in the news for shootings, DUI, drugs and other outrageous things, you crave guys that stand out for good morals and principles; someone that your child can hang up their poster and you can say to him or her, this guy or girl did things the right way. Donovan is one those guys that I would allow a poster of his to be in my home.

McNabb is the ultimate professional and carries himself with a lot of dignity and class. He doesn't have to run the streets to be considered down; he's become what the majority of black people want to be and want their children to be--that is both successful in his career and personally. Not like Hopkins, who feels it is better to tear down than and destroy than to uplift. Once he learns that, then maybe Bernard can open his mouth again.