Of course I did -- I was pointing out that tons of people, not just your example of black athletes, are afraid to be outspoken because of the reaction. I specifically said that athletes get cut more slack than do ordinary people. I didn't make it racial deliberately so as not to violate forum rules.
But its not about being "afraid" of the reaction, my point was about the media taking Beckham out of context in a two-week old interview to make it appear as though he's opposed to a season.
This classic stereotyping simply isn't the same as the "cancel culture" discussion you've turned this into.
It IS racial because black athletes are often stereotyped in this way, but I'll touch on that in a bit.
As to the media, I do not agree that athletes who are black get singled out for additional media criticism because of their race. LeBron, for example, gets shitloads of praise for being outspoken. In general, athletes who are outspoken quite naturally tend to be singled out because that's what being "outspoken" almost means by definition, but it has nothing to do with race. The guys who keep their mouths shut don't get the same treatment because there's nothing to treat differently.
LeBron has faced an entire career of criticism for his attitude. Is this honestly a serious argument?
He's been labeled with stereotype upon stereotype upon stereotype throughout his career. From Pat Riley's coded racial language against his "posse," to Skip Bayless, right on down the line.
If you say something perceived as positive when you're outspoken, you'll get good press. If you say something perceived as negative, phrased badly, or that just sounds dumb, you'll get negative press. Just as Drew Brees. But again...that's content-based rather than race-based.
I'm not sure I see the comparison here.
Brees received negative attention for his comments, but is nowhere near systematically labeled as a "diva" by the media for his history of questionable commentary on the social issues concerning his teammates.
Moreover, the media isn't going out of their way to purposely take his comments out of context.
Its simply not the same, and I don't want to pretend that it is.
If you want a clear example of the difference, lets cite Colin Kaepernick vs. Drew Brees for a lesson in race differences with regards to treatment by the media and consequences for their comments (as it pertains to anything "political," as OBJs comments were not political).