A Penalty for the N-Word, but Not for the R-Word?
  • February 26, 2014

A Penalty for the N-Word, but Not for the R-Word?

A Penalty for the N-Word, but Not for the R-Word?

Nation sports editor Dave Zirin appeared alongside Muhammad Ali’s daughter Rasheda on MSNBC’s The Reid Report to discuss Ali’s legacy.

Dave Zirin
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“How is it you can have a team in Washington that’s named after a racial slur for Native Americans, but punish young African- American men for how they speak to each other?” This is how Nation sports editor Dave Zirin thinks boxing legend Muhammad Ali might feel about the NFL’s new proposed rule to penalize players for using the n-word on the field. On the fiftieth anniversary of the famous boxing match between Ali and Sonny Liston—an event that Sports Illustrated called the fourth-greatest sports moment of the twentieth century—Zirin spoke with Ali’s daughter Rasheda on MSNBC’s The Reid Report. The two discussed the role that athletes like Ali play as political advocates, a very germane topic after Jason Collins just became the first openly gay player to play in a major American sport.
—Dustin Christensen

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Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Dave Zirin Dave Zirin is the sports editor at The Nation. He is the author of 11 books on the politics of sports. He is also the coproducer and writer of the new documentary Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL.


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