“Those fuckers injured our quarterback! Their fans gloated about the injury. We’ll kick their asses!”
Thus spoke my then seventeen-year-old stepson as his team prepared for the first round of the Missouri high school football playoffs.
My stepson’s rant is a fine example of trash talk: trying to make us feel better about ourselves by demeaning others.
Four principles guide trash talk. The best defense is a good offense. We’re the victim, you’re the victimizer. Our intentions are holy, yours…..
Peter Altschul (PA): What does racism mean to you?
Man of Straw (MoS): Something about being better than them because of my race.
PA: OK. So how can we tell if a certain action is racist?
MoS: I don’t know. You tell me, smart guy.
PA: Something to do with excusing a behavior of someone from our race while coming down hard on the same behavior if someone doing the deed is from a different race?
MoS: So black people…..