You probably saw that Bret Favre, quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, has been fined $10,000 by the league for an illegal crack-back block on Eugene Wilson. That type of block has long been considered by players as dirty play. Frankly, it is about the only kind of block a quarterback can put on someone.
In any event, Wilson has been making some noise about wanting Favre to apologize to him for the block, which caused an injury to him. He doesn’t feel the $10,000 fine is adequate, and he feels Favre should apologize for his actions.
This brings to mind all the other occasions in our culture where people have demanded apologies from someone for some indiscretion. I think back to Jimmy The Greek, who was fired from CBS for making an ethnic slur, after an apology was demanded. The apology came, but he was fired anyhow.
Then there was Don Imus, who also was fired from his radio job at CBS for a racial slur, after he made the obligatory apology, which had been demanded, not from the women he had slurred, but from others of their race who habitually “demand” apologies for things people do to others, not to them.
Demanding apologies has become a cottage industry for some. They demand apologies when they have not been personally slurred, as if to say that when one person of their race is assaulted with slurs, all those of that race should demand an apology. Not only do they demand an apology, but they threaten boycotts unless corporate entities make a donation to their organizations. My guess is they would rather have the donation than the apology, but just to ask for a donation without demanding an apology would appear crass. And we all know that isn’t true. Yeah, sure!
This, I suppose, is another sign that political correctness is running amok in our society. Giving in to the demand for an apology smacks of superficiality to me. In other words, if I want them off my back I will apologize, but it really has no meaning.
Apologies should always carry with them a sincere desire for forgiveness. One should not apologize unless he truly understands the pain he caused some other individual. Apologies without that understanding are vapid.
When one understands the pain he caused by his remarks or by his actions, then an apology should be accompanied by a request for forgiveness for the remark or action.
Bottom line…apologies given simply because they are demanded is a waste of breath.
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