Florida Bar Employee Under Investigation For Racist Messages Sent To Miami Player

An employee for the Florida Bar has been placed on leave and is under investigation for sending a series of racist texts to a Black football player at the University of Miami. 

AP reports that Kade McLendon, a computer technician for the Florida Bar, sent the messages after the Miami Hurricanes beat Florida State last weekend. The messages, which featured several racist and homophobic slurs, were sent to Hurricanes player Damon Wilson II. In addition to the slurs, McLendon also told Wilson he was “going to rape, beat and kill ur family.”

Wilson shared screenshots of the messages on social media, calling them a “glimpse into the life of a black student athlete.” The Florida Bar quickly responded to the messages.

“The messages in question are not only ethically and morally reprehensible but also violate our internal social media policy for employees,” the Bar said in its statement. “As the internal investigation continues, we are committed to enforcing our policies and procedures while making sure that any due process rights are protected.”

“That’s my brother, and I embrace him,” Miami offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez told Fox 13 when asked about Wilson and the online comments. “It’s more than a game. That’s my brother.”

This story is confounding for several reasons. From August to February, I spend my Sundays entirely watching football. I know what it’s like to watch my team get embarrassed. 

I’m an Arizona Cardinals fan; I’ve been disappointed in ways you couldn’t even imagine. Even when we win, I’m mad, because what do you mean we beat the Rams without scoring a single touchdown? What do you mean I have to watch another week of Jacoby Brissett football? 

At no point during the humiliation ritual that is being a Cardinals fan have I ever thought to send racist, homophobic, or threatening messages to players on the other team. Hell, I went to ASU, and we have a very heated rivalry with the University of Arizona. Even as a college student, I wasn’t out here DM’ing U of A players after a loss (granted, we only lost once against those bums during my time as a student, but still).

Mainly because I’m a (somewhat) well-adjusted human being, but also because I’m acutely aware they play football at the highest level and could easily kick my ass. 

While I’m prone to trolling MAGA trolls on the internet, I’m also savvy enough to not go too far because I live in late capitalism and can’t afford to lose either of my jobs. In recent years, we’ve seen people lose work for simply tweeting that Charlie Kirk spent his life being an inflammatory racist (which is why all my most messed up memes go straight to the group chat or close friends story on Instagram). We’ve also seen several instances of people losing their jobs for sending racist texts or posting racist memes on social media. 

If I have to choose between kinda gainful-ish employment and being a pithy bitch on the internet, I’m gonna choose employment. At least until I can successfully monetize being a pithy bitch on the internet. 

While I love football, at the end of the day it is just a game. It’s not worth losing a job over, and it’s certainly not worth harassing another human being over. 

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