Don't Use Jason Collins as an Excuse to Blame Homophobia on Black People

Jason Collins began his coming out essay in Sports Illustrated with the words, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay." There's a reason Collins chose to mention he was black and gay--as though those two things were in as much tension as being the first openly gay male athlete active in one of America's favorite sports--but it deserves a more thoughtful examination than the one offered by Charles P. Pierce in Grantland. Pierce, feigning a familiarity with the history of the civil ...