Dana White is an Arsonist

This post was inspired by a facebook conversation I had yesterday. Last night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ca. College Wrestling Champ, Former WWE Superstar, College Wrestling Champion and one(short) time Minnesota Viking and now UFC fighter Brock Lesnar defended his UFC Championship against challenger Cain Velasquez. The Challenger won decisively in a suprising upset first round KO. The fight was enjoyable to watch because like most americans I love to see the triumph of the underdog. But you know what the fight taught me? That UFC president Dana White is an asshole. That dude has earned himself a permanent spot on my fecal roster and here's why.
In pretty much all of the promotional media for this fight, much was made of Velasquez' ethnicity; of the fact that "Througout fighting history, there has never been a Mexican champion". In the little pre-fight special, there was a segment showing Velasquez enjoying a burrito, proclaiming "This is the food I grew up on!" And of course after his victory one of his first quotes was "Todos Latinos, hey we did it!"......and with the exception of the words "todos latinos" he spoke in perfectly articulated totally unaccented english. and this is my point.
This kid was raised in Salinas California, and Went to college in Arizona and Iowa. His parents were immigrants, but he was born HERE. He grew up, got his education, and sought his fortune HERE, as an American Citizen! He is no less American than me, or Brock Lesnar or Pat Boone. Wow, he eats burritos, that makes him about as Mexican as most of california(wait a minute, lol...). Guess what? If there's never been a Mexican Champion, There still hasn't been one. There probably will be one eventually, but Cain Velasquez isn't him. There's a Mexican-American Champion, and his name is Cain.
I'd like to think that we're a little better of a people than being suseptible to buying into this "great white hope" crap being foisted upon us again. I blame Dana White. This fight was going to be a great fight, and could've been marketed in any way. I guess it was just easier go for "the cheap pop"; say the obvious thing to get a reaction. Here's the thing though. Doing this with race, what with all the societal issues and sensitivities we have, and doing it simply to make a buck, is terribly irresponsible and immature. "Hmmm, less people pre-ordering the pay-per view. Of course, why would they? Everyone knows Lesnar's going to win. How can I get more people to give me their money? Hey let's create unnecessary racial acrimony for profit!" Lame.
Turning people against each other to benefit yourself is some 4th grade playground bullshit, and Dana White should be ashamed of himself. We are long past the point in time where we can afford this kind of racial arson. It has no place in our society (with the obvious exception of politics; gotta love election season!).
Now you might say, "but hey, that's who Velasquez is! He Himself makes a big deal out of his Mexican heritage!" So what? Granted, that's his place to do so. But we all know that's not the reason Dana White Built the hype for this fight around his Latino roots, Despite the the tattoo the new Champion wears on his chest, the marketing of this fight wasn't about fostering Brown Pride, it was about Green Greed.