Originally Posted by Ray McNulty from fortwayne.com

The way Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley sees it, Jeff Kent is a racist.

Oh, he didn’t exactly say so. He never dared utter the R word. Instead, Bradley spoke in code.

He talked about Kent, his teammate, sitting in the corner of the clubhouse reading a “motocross magazine.” He talked about Kent, the Dodgers’ veteran second baseman and cleanup hitter, possessing a sense of humor similar to that of “Jeff Foxworthy.” He talked about Kent, a 14-year veteran and former National League MVP, not knowing “how to deal with African-American people.”

Allow me to connect the dots: He was calling Kent a redneck.

And nobody – until now, I suppose – has taken him to task.

Can you imagine the outrage if Kent, who is white, had made similar remarks about Bradley, who is black? Can you imagine the storm that would’ve hit if Kent had talked about Bradley sitting in the corner of the clubhouse reading “Ebony” or “Vibe” or some “hip-hop magazine?” Or about Bradley having the same sense of humor as Chris Rock? Or about Bradley not knowing “how to deal with white people?” Who’s really the racist?

Among the comments Bradley made during his rant before last Tuesday’s game against the Florida Marlins was this little gem: “Me being African-American is the most important thing to me – more important than baseball.” A couple of days earlier, he told a reporter, “As long as I’m black, I’m fine.” And everyone let it pass.

You’d better believe the reaction would’ve been far different if Kent, or any other Caucasian player, had said: “Me being white is the most important thing to me” or “As long as I’m white, I’m fine.”

Bradley was angered by Kent, who, in a closed-door team meeting, criticized him for not scoring from first on a double during a victory over the Marlins. And, of course, Bradley couldn’t wait to play the race card.

“White people never want to see race – with anything,” Bradley said. “But there’s race involved in baseball. That’s why there’s less than 9 percent African-American representation in the game.”

No, Milt, you’re wrong.

The reason there aren’t more black baseball players is because more of the top black athletes are gravitating to other sports, especially football and basketball. The fact is, there’s also a smaller percentage of white players in the major leagues today. But the percentage of Hispanics and Asians is at an all-time high.

As for white people not wanting to see race ...

Isn’t that what Martin Luther King Jr. wanted? A nation where people were judged by the content of the character, not the color of their skin? We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.

Double standards, however, do more harm than good. The same goes for racially charged code words.

Not everything is a black-and-white issue. No matter what Bradley says – or how he says it.