Riley Cooper: A "Sincere" Apology Is Inadequate, Sometimes

I have been out of commission for a few weeks for a number of reasons, but I am back on task.  That said, I want to discuss Riley Cooper and his poor choice of words.  If you are not familiar with Mr. Cooper's choice words, I will enlighten you.  Riley Cooper is a caucasian member of the Philadelphia Eagles.  His race is important here because he made a racially insensitive comment.  Unfortunately for him, he was filmed at a public event while making the comment.  Because he was caught on film, he had no way of denying the comment.  The only thing he could do was apologize, repeatedly.

Cooper used the "N" word and said that he would "fight every [N] in here."  That word is one of the most derogatory and offensive words ever created.  For many people, it is a constant reminder of slavery, Jim Crow, and institutionalized racism.  If you watch the video of Riley's comment, you may notice that he seemed very comfortable using the word, despite being at a public event.  Obviously, many people make racially, or otherwise insensitive comments, but, making those kinds of remarks at a public event is not smart.  Of course, he has made it clear that he was drinking alcohol at the time he made the comment.  However, some people say that only two kinds of people tell the truth: (1) children; and (2) drunk people.  You be the judge.  Additionally, we live in the social media era where every event is subject to being recorded and uploaded to Twitter, Facebook, Worldstar or Youtube.   This is especially true when the person making the comment is a celebrity.  He should have known better and he should have used better judgment.

To his credit, I suppose, he has offered an apology.  He has stated that he cannot believe that he said something so repulsive. For many people, however, his apology has fallen on death ears.  Also, some people probably believe that his apology was not sincere, and was made because of media pressure.  Others undoubtedly believe that his apology should be accepted and that his comments were not that big of a deal.  These people may contend that members of the hip hop community use the word all the time and that any person should be able to freely use the word.  Regardless of your thoughts on that issue, Cooper's future with the Philadelphia Eagles will likely be determined by the players in the locker room.    

The Eagles suspended Riley from the team and are making him enroll in a cultural sensitivity class.  I am not sure how long he will be away from the team, but I am sure that some of his teammates will not forgive him.  If they do, it won't likely be anytime soon.   If he is not able to make a sincere plea to his teammates, I think he will be ostracized and ultimately released from the Eagles.  His comments simply have the potential to be corrosive and divide the Eagles' locker room. It will be interesting to see how this situation is handled in the near future.



Peace