Think Bonds cheated? You're a racist

At least that's what this guy has to say. Amidst some thoughtful reflection on the state of segregation and discrimination in sports, he clearly feels that whites who dislike Bonds - and feels he does not deserve the home run record - are racists. Recent polls show that whites are three times as likely as blacks to want Bonds to fail to get the record - a damning indictment of someone, but is it quite so simple?

Bonds has complicated his approach to the record by his likely use of steroids in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then probably lying about it to a grand jury, which could result in a perjury indictment sometime this year.

Of course, you could also look at the part of the survey that asks if fans believe that Bonds should be recognized as the career home run leader if he breaks the record. In that case, 53% of whites and 78% of blacks agree that's okay. Still a racial gap, but not quite so drastic.

Here's another tidbit. 85% of blacks feel Bonds deserves to get into the Hall of Fame, along with 53% of whites. That means that half the blacks who think Bonds doped think he deserves the Hall, same as for whites. (15% of blacks think he doesn't deserve the hall, whereas 37% think he doped. Thus, at least 22% of blacks think Bonds doped and deserves the hall. For whites, 76% think Bonds doped but only 53% say he deserved the hall, meaning at least 29% of whites think a doper deserves entry.)

In other words, a sad quarter of whites and blacks thinks a doper deserves the honor the Hall of Fame.

But why look at those numbers. I, a white dude, sit on my couch and feel that Bonds is probably guilty. I therefore feel that he doesn't deserve the recognition of various baseball records accrued with the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs. I, therefore, am a racist.