Racism for the 21st Century Rant

Preface: I'm not a fan at all of Richard Sherman's post-game antics/behavior, so let's throw that out there. What I hate from this is the selective racism casually throw in. Sherman said something I firmly agree with, hiding behind the word "thug" is our equivalent of the N-word now. Was Calgary & the Canuck's shameful display of a brawl before the puck could be touched more "thug" like than Sherman's rant on Crabtree? ABSOLUTELY. What is the difference in these situations? White people play hockey, so that was about toughness and grit, Sherman is black, and that equates to being a "thug". Richard Sherman is by all accounts and insightful, genuine, and great person. Despite the fact that he's a 5th round draft pick and makes 1/50th as much as some players, his charitable deeds far outweigh almost all other players. I'm giving him a pass on his antics since if someone threw a microphone in my face after winning the biggest game of my life, I may have said some things that I would regret. I personally despise what I consider "Gamesmanship", or "showing up" an opponent, but if I dominated Michael Crabtree and the 49ers the way Sherman did, and knowing there is plenty of animosity between the teams, I may have used that opportunity to get on a soap box and say some things that were far from gentlemanly. Hank Aaron backs him, that's all I needed to see. The League did an episode that highlighted the specific words used for white athletes, then Latino & black athletes and it was hilarious and true. Gritty was my personal favorite for small white players, i.e. Wes Welker essentially. You probably hear that twice per game in regards to Welker. Would Randall Cobb of the Packers get that praise after a slant route where he gets blown up? Probably not. I just wanted to go on a mini-tangent for the over-use of "thug" and how it SO thinly veils the racism behind it. I got a real kick out of my buddies post that essentially mentioned all the people who were so quick and happy to defend Phil Robertson's right to say all gay people are going to hell (very paraphrased) are so quick to jump on Sherman and his right to say whatever he feels like. What's the difference between these two men? 20" of beard hair and their skin color. Food for thought, if Sherman was a white player, how would the backlash differ? I'm glad Sherman is so intelligent and able to put perspective on everything for us. 99% of people lashing out, probably greater than that, have no clue who Richard Sherman is and what he's gone through to be where/who he is. He's from Compton, therefore... He consistently does more to help the underprivileged than anyone throwing stones at him from their glass houses do. I hope he walks away from this raising his status for the general public because no publicity is bad publicity. Hopefully getting himself out there for the wrong reasons helps promote all the things he does for all the right reasons. Rant complete, God bless.