Federal Baseball: Chigliak: The Elijah Dukes “Story” Won’t Go Away

If I cement over my mail slot...will the mailman send my ESPN Magazine back?

What Dukes seems to be finding comfort in, the friendships, guidance and support provided to him by the Nationals, Mr. Jones sees, as he writes in the follow-up article, “Behind the Story: Elijah Dukes”, as, “All of these walls (that) have gone up around Dukes...the PR guy standing there...” during interviews, the “Supernanny” and the counseling, (which Mr. Jones claims, is, “...a subject so sensitive, no one on the Nats will talk about exactly what it entails,") which has left Mr. Jones feeling even more troubled, because:

“...here’s the strange thing: Some small part of me still feels sorry for him. Not for what he’s done—his mistakes are his and his alone—and not for his lost childhood—although it was almost unimaginably tragic, I don’t believe you’re bound by the sins of your father—but for how he’s being treated today.”

But, finally, I’m afraid that after having read the original article and the follow-up, and recognized, in my opinion, the intentional perpetuation of the portrayal, both in writing and visually, of Dukes as, “...The Most Menacing Player in Baseball,” and “...the awful stereotype of the angry black man,” I’m left with the impression that Mr. Jones ends up once again presenting Dukes in this manner because of the lack of access he was granted to Dukes due of the “walls” that Washington has placed around the outfielder, and I can’t help but wondering why Mr. Jones is so displeased with the franchises actions on Dukes’ behalf? Is it simply because it limited his desire for unfettered access to the subject of his story?