When Aaron Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots, there was some noise about other teams passing on him because of "character issues," and getting busted for pot was the only thing ever specifically mentioned. I remember thinking at the time Really? Pot? I mean, I can see being mildly concerned about a person who can't fly right for a little while when it will make him a lot more money soon, and I get it that someone who is too obvious about it may also have judgement issues, but seriously? College boy? You have a problem with a little pot use? As opposed to what, binge drinking? Steroids?
I get it now. Pot use is code for "criminal friends" or "gang ties." Because you can't say that out loud in the papers unless you can prove it. So I never saw this coming, not the remotest clue. Everyone is surprised that we're talking about murder and shooting guys, but apparently a lot of folks close to the team aren't surprised about the criminal friends.
Staffan's comment not showing up for some reason. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteI can't figure it. Here is Staffan's comment: We have media-codes here in Sweden too. The worst is "Rumanian" as code for Gypsy since it suggests that Rumanians are criminals. Perhaps because of this some have switched code to "campers", as if people camping with there caravans are prone to stealing.
ReplyDeleteAnd "undocumented resident" is the code or euphemism for illegal alien.
But people affiliated with organized crime are rarely socially relevant here. There was an actor way back in the 1990s but that's about it.
His blog is here, and the current top entry is "Why Social Psychology Sucks." http://staffanspersonalityblog.wordpress.com/
I think he needs to go to the sidebar.