Remember That 9yo Chiefs Fan Defamed As ‘Blackface’? He’s Taking Deadspin To Court!
Will this make professional scribblers think twice about those drive-by attacks of 'bigot'?
You may remember the story about some clown from Deadspin writing an article — not about a football game, but about the clothes and facepaint worn by a young fan in the stands.
Here’s a little free advice for any wanna-be journos out there. If you are tempted to make an example of someone in a story and you can count their age on your fingers? Don’t do it.
Not only do you come out looking like an ass, courts really REALLY don’t like it when minors are defamed in the press. Just ask Nick Sandmann. He could tell you all about it.
First off, the public dragged one writer from deadspin who made an example of a kid who showed up to cheer his team (the Kansas City Chiefs) in a full native headdress and a half-and-half face paint with his teams colors: red and black.
Deadspin writer Carron J. Phillips made it sound like the kid was wearing ‘blackface’ and ran a side-view only photo that does not show the rest of his face, while using this kid as a foil for a supposedly necessary conversation America needed to have about race and the NFL.
Not only was it NOT ‘blackface’, but the criticism of the headdress boomeranged badly as well. It wasn’t mocking native American culture. It was an authentic headdress. And it belonged to his family. (Guess why!)
Raul and Shannon Armenta, parents of the 9-year-old Kansas City Chiefs fans accused of blackface and racial insensitivity last year, have sued the outlet Deadspin for defamation.
In November of last year, Deadspin made a fool of itself when it featured an article from Carron J. Phillips attacking a 9-year-old wearing face paint and an Indian headdress at a Chiefs game.“The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress,” the headline read. The article went even further:
It takes a lot to disrespect two groups of people at once. But on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.
[…]
The complaint further said that the family received death threats, including a pledge to kill someone with a “wood chipper” while destroying the father’s professional life, making him a “pariah at work, forcing the family to consider moving out of state.”
“They have branded a nine-year-old child with false allegations that will live forever online. H.A. has already suffered significantly—his test scores and grades have dropped in school, and he has shown emotional damage from the onslaught of negative attention,” it said. — Breitbart
After a malicious stunt like that, destroying the lives of voiceless people with no way to hit back, I hope this family takes Deadspin to the cleaners.
Maybe if Deadspin flirts with bankruptcy over malicious and baseless allegations, it will make others think twice about playing the same game.
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