For those that don't know, Facebook status updates are broadcast to everyone you know. So, if you're going to post something that sounds racist or bigoted, well, don't. Texas Longhorn lineman Buck Burnette learned this the hard way. See, here was Buck's Facebook status following Barack Obama's win the presidential election:
"all the hunters gather up, we have a #$%&er in the whitehouse"
Geez, Buck. Even if you actually feel that way -- which is sad -- why not just keep it to yourself? You know, instead of telling five million people. But he didn't, and naturally, he is now paying the price; he's been kicked off the UT football team.
On the very tiny bright side, Burnette at least claims to be somewhat remorseful and not racist, issuing the following apology:
Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on facebook in the light of the election. Im not racist and apologize for offending you. I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be ok to write that publicly and apologize to you in particular. I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate which I dont even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.
Yeah, that's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't really help the whole situation.
And maybe Buck doesn't feel that way -- but I also, sadly, believe that there is a significant amount of this type of hatred still hanging around our country. After all, if there wasn't, Obama being the first African-American president wouldn't even be a big deal (or, at least, he might not be the first).
But to close out on a somewhat good note, this situation was resolved in a positive manner -- a young man acted in a totally unacceptable way, he immediately paid the price for it, and appears to recognize that it is completely of his own accord. It won't stop the hate, but at least visible consequences can maybe serve to curb some of those feelings.