The Issue of Racism in America

Wonderful, Mrs Sects, couldn't have said it better.

EDIT: Oh, it's gone. :(

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Not a big basketball fan, but this topic has been bouncing around the sports shows all day long today:

"Civil rights activists" are complaining that the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team is "too white" and resembles the "1955 Lakers" team. Apparently, of 15 guys on the T'Wolves roster, only 5 are black. Civil rights pimps have said the roster is pushing back the calendar by "decades" and erasing all the diversity gains that the black community has made.

The league players are 78% black. Blacks are only 12% of the entire country. A more realistic representation of the "diversity" of America, then, would be to have the teams be 75% white, 13% Latino, and 12% black.

I mean, who declared that black people get to have a statistical majority in the NBA? There is no constitutional right to have a predominantly black basketball league. And so what if the T'Wolves are intentionally trying to get white fans interested in the game? That's where the money is at anyway. Who do these civil rights activists think owns these teams and stadiums and pays for these multi-million dollar contracts? Wealthy white and Jewish businessmen; not charity workers at Our Lady of the Blessed Heart.

I've been reading similar criticism against the New England Patriots this year, saying they are "too white". Certain people are "offended" that most of the offensive unit of the Patriots is white, including the running backs and wide receivers (two positions that have been almost exclusively black for 20-30 years), in a league where the players are 70% black.

The story below is interesting because it lays out a narrative that I see all the time but is quietly not spoken about, namely that: white athletes, particularly quarterbacks, are described as "intelligent" while black athletes are considered "athletic". That's why you see all of the "elite quarterbacks" in the NFL are white: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan....and it's also why you see ESPN trying so hard to push Robert Griffin III down all of our throats right now when he hasn't done anything to deserve the massive amount of coverage he's been getting.

Timberwolves: Pale in comparison to the rest of the NBA

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/176071391.html?refer=y

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Largo's Shark wrote:

Gravity's Silhoutte wrote:

[Only mods are allowed to see this link]

Not this again...

I don't know what to say....I wasn't in favor of moving this topic into this section to begin with.

The busy-bodies cited in the article are clueless. No contemporary big-leauge sports-team puts affirmative action ahead of fielding the best players. Winning is paramount. Winning drives everything.

Good response from the owner, ie "Get a clue"

"Patently false,'' said David Kahn, Wolves president of basketball operations. He and other Timberwolves executives instead call it a coincidence of circumstance and a purposeful plan to scour the globe for the best players they can possibly obtain. They will start the season with players from Russia, Montenegro, Spain and Puerto Rico, a total of five international players among a group that also includes five white American-born players.

"Regarding the concerns voiced by some in the black community, Kahn said: "Well, I can say everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I don't think they're entitled to their own set of facts. There's absolutely no fact that matches that statement. ... The last thing I'm going to do is become defensive about it. In this case, I have nothing to be defensive about."

tiffanywint wrote:

The busy-bodies cited in the article are clueless. No contemporary big-leauge sports-team puts affirmative action ahead of fielding the best players. Winning is paramount. Winning drives everything.

I agree. However, it's possible that some pro-sports owners are looking for players with both talent and character (i.e. morals, honor, value, etc...), the implication being that a lot of the black players lack character.

There is a lot of subtle bigotry in sports that goes in multiple directions. For example, do the networks desperately try to promote black quarterbacks in the NFL because there hasn't been a successful, winning Superbowl quarterback since Doug Williams? Ever notice how the 3 current black quarterbacks in the NFL all fit the same type: run first, throw second. Vick, Newton, and RG3 are all labeled as "athletic", amazingly gifted, hard scrabblers, but quarterbacks like Brady, Brees, Manning (Eli and Petyon), and Rodgers are considered "articulate" and "intelligent"?

There is stereotype by position. Just ask Danny Woodhead or Peyton Hillis. They were ignored early on in their career because no one wanted to consider anyone but a black player to be a running back.

As for the Timberwolves....I'm sure there are a lot of owners out there looking around for players that are talented, that can win, and won't embarrass the franchise like Ron Artest, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Pac Man Jones, etc.....the owner of the Atlanta Falcons at one time made Michael Vick the highest paid quarterback in the league. A 10 year contract for $130 million dollars which was, at the time, more than any other quarterback was getting. And what did Vick do? Threw it all away so that his friends could run some nickel-and-dime dog fighting scandal out of the basement of Vick's house. :roll:

Yes players can get slotted into roles, based on race, especially in football. I guess they grab the best opportunities available coming up. Coaches probably have their ingrained biases as to who fits best where.

If the black players get in more trouble, which they do, you only have to look to their background - the less than advantageous cultural milieu, which many of them come from. I can see your point though. Yes it is possible that some teams might skew a little less black, if management is more wary of the potential for another Artest, Moss, Owens, Vik, Pac Man etc. Unfortunately a disproportionate number of black players do seem to bring that baggage, but the no bad-boy approach can be part of finding a winning formula too. If a player is going to be a headcase badass, he's often not worth the hassle, no matter what the talent. But still teams are open to great players of any race, as long as they "behave" and don't offset their talent with behaviour destructive to the team. They have to be. You got to compete.

Media can get real stupid when it comes to race. The very liberal Toronto Star several years ago, did a big expose on the "White Jays." They actually printed a feature article screaming the headline "White Jays", like they had a big racial scoop. Some genius in their editorial department noticed that the Jays seemed to have a disproportionate number of white players. But it blew up in their face. The backlash from baseball fans was fierce. The fans that actually followed the team, knew full well why each player was on the roster and who they beat to get the job, and it had nothing to do with race. The paper's embarassed baseball writers tried to quietly distance themselves from the piece.They really weren't complicit. They knew better. It was the editorial board that drove the piece. The Star had to issue a weasal retraction/explanation amidst the backlash and subscription cancellations. It was great. A huge victory for the forces of sanity over the fraudulent legions of political correctness. Sports fans know their teams. If there is actual racism, they'll figure it out when the wrong guys get cut or passed over. They won't be lectured to, by morons at some newspaper trying to advance a broader agenda.

You mention Vik. Probably the biggest moron to ever pull on a football jersey. Even his mea culpa after he did his jailtime reeked of "he still didn't get it." He's probably the only professional athlete I openly root against (ok maybe a few others). Too bad he's still hanging around. Maybe he'll get attacked by a dog some day. Poetic justice. If the Destroyer novels were still being written when he got in trouble, the authors would have had Remo Williams do just that - toss him into a cage of cranky pitbulls.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274948/Black-family-accuses-Disneylands-White-Rabbit-racism-refused-touch-kids.html#axzz2KFEr29nx

The first thing that I thought of when reading this report and seeing it on the television is that the kids were too old to be held by the rabbit, and particularly the 12 year old girl, and that the kids probably didn't want to be in the picture and didn't want to be held/touched by a rabbit, and therefore based upon that vibe, the mascot altered his/her interaction with them. Amusement park mascots and Santa Clauses are damned if they touch a child and damned if they don't. Based upon Disney's very rigorous screening process and training program, it's virtually inconceivable to me that they'd hire a "racist", much less that a person who either hates kids or hates black kids would bother to put on one of these costumes, earn minimum wage, and be forced to do this job in all manners of stifling heat while wearing a costume. You really have to be a people person to want to do this job.

I'm still waiting for the rest of the story to come out. Would be hilarious if the person in the costume turned out to be black.

Can't blame them for that, it's a great way to make money out of nothing.

Python wrote:

Please tell me that video is edited to make it look like the guy was thinking WOF would be dumb enough to have him say CLAM *IGGER". Please tell me that it was fake and that this guy isn't that stupid.

Stupidity is the race-pushing indistry's stock and trade. It's also the core of the West's contemporary zeitgeist.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Stupidity is the race-pushing indistry's stock and trade. It's also the core of the West's contemporary zeitgeist.

I may pick up Greg Gutfeld's THE JOY OF HATE, because it touches upon the big business that is manufactured outrage. Every day I am bombarded with stories about some person or group of people (mostly male, mostly white) allegedly being "insensitive" or "racist"; it's to the point where one can no longer be legitimately outraged; you have to force yourself to give a damn, and it's mostly because these allegations and tactics are so over-used that the people using them have become the boy who cried wolf.l

Even if whitey is "insensitive," I don't give a toss. The West has become contemptibly weak-minded and hypersensitive when it comes to the precious self esteem of preferred groups. Whereas once toughness and a thick skin were admired, now we fawn over those who make a career out of being outraged victims. To hell with 'em. If their feelings get hurt, tough shit. Deal with it and get on with with what serves you for a life.

I bet a lot of them aren't really hurt anyway, just money smart. They see an opportunity to scream "racial inequality" and everyone takes their side and they get something out of it. Awhile ago I listened to this radio program with black people talking about the word "nigger" and how too many African-Americans have given it way more power than it should, that it comes to the point many won't dare utter it as a word itself but instead "the n-word". One even feels if he is called a "nigger" by some hater, he'll just brush it off as being a very outdated term.

In the end, whether it's that, "whitey", "honky" or ect, they are just words and if thick-skinned enough you can brush them off and not give the aggressor the satisfaction of showing such vulnerability over the utter of a word.

Python wrote:

I bet a lot of them aren't really hurt anyway, just money smart. They see an opportunity to scream "racial inequality" and everyone takes their side and they get something out of it. Awhile ago I listened to this radio program with black people talking about the word "nigger" and how too many African-Americans have given it way more power than it should, that it comes to the point many won't dare utter it as a word itself but instead "the n-word". One even feels if he is called a "nigger" by some hater, he'll just brush it off as being a very outdated term.

In the end, whether it's that, "whitey", "honky" or ect, they are just words and if thick-skinned enough you can brush them off and not give the aggressor the satisfaction of showing such vulnerability over the utter of a word.

No doubt. My fambly once knew a Mexican couple--good folks, on the whole; we liked 'em--the female of which worked for the city government. They were talking about her job one day, and she was contemplating doing something that was "against the rules" but was concerned about the possible repercussions. The man said, "Don't worry. They won't fire you. You're Mexican." So minorities in America know the score. They're savvy about racial politics and cynically use them to their advantage, even if it's unethical. They will cry "discrimination" and "racism" at the drop of a hat, even when they know dam' well it's a pack of lies.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Python wrote:

I bet a lot of them aren't really hurt anyway, just money smart. They see an opportunity to scream "racial inequality" and everyone takes their side and they get something out of it. Awhile ago I listened to this radio program with black people talking about the word "nigger" and how too many African-Americans have given it way more power than it should, that it comes to the point many won't dare utter it as a word itself but instead "the n-word". One even feels if he is called a "nigger" by some hater, he'll just brush it off as being a very outdated term.

In the end, whether it's that, "whitey", "honky" or ect, they are just words and if thick-skinned enough you can brush them off and not give the aggressor the satisfaction of showing such vulnerability over the utter of a word.

No doubt. My fambly once knew a Mexican couple--good folks, on the whole; we liked 'em--the female of which worked for the city government. They were talking about her job one day, and she was contemplating doing something that was "against the rules" but was concerned about the possible repercussions. The man said, "Don't worry. They won't fire you. You're Mexican." So minorities in America know the score. They're savvy about racial politics and cynically use them to their advantage, even if it's unethical. They will cry "discrimination" and "racism" at the drop of a hat, even when they know dam' well it's a pack of lies.

At work a few weeks ago a male employee complained to HR that a female on the bathroom cleaning crew simply walked into the bathroom to clean it without knocking first and announcing herself and waiting to see whether anyone was in the bathroom or not. I believe him because it's happened to me before, but I didn't bother going to HR, and I figured if she's bold enough to walk into a men's room without knocking first she deserves what she's likely to see. The whole scene unfolded right in front of my work area; the HR rep went to the bathroom area to talk to the woman (the rest of the crew are men; I happen to be situated near the bathrooms, so I saw it all go down) and the first response out of the woman's mouth was : "Is this because I'm Mexican?".

Now mind you, the rep from HR was a woman....and bi-racial, so pulling the gender/race card on her is especially tricky, because if the HR rep isn't sympathetic to the scam you're trying to pull, it will likely backfire even more spectacularly.

No one got fired, and it's almost pointless to fire this crew, because they're getting paid minimum wage (which is about 50 cents less than what the previous company was making to clean the toilets when their contract was not renewed several years ago, and that crew was an all-black cleaning crew). The company can't go any less than minimum-wage. But yeah, the illegals...the Mexican-Americans...the Latinos.....they're learning their lessons well that all you have to do to try and shut down a conversation that isn't going your way is to bring up the discrimination card.

New Outrage:NY Assemblyman walks back defense of blackface, apology called 'feeble'

After initially defending his use of blackface at a costume party, Brooklyn lawmaker Dov Hikind apologized Monday, saying his "intentions were pure."

Incidentally, nowhere in this article, or in similar articles I've looked through, do they mention what his party political affiliation is. Therefore, he clearly must be a Democrat.

And I'm not sure what he was dressing up as, so I can't out-of-hand dismiss what he did. And since he is an ethnic Jew, should't he be allowed to pull out his minority card and get a free pass from other minorities who don't appreciate what he did? It couldn't be all that bad, could it? An Afro wig, an orange vest, and some grills on his teef. That's it? Looks like he might've used some tanning spray as well to make himself a bit more ....orange?

Read more: http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/26/NY-Assemblyman-walks-back-defense-of-blackface-apology-called-feeble/4351361884510/#ixzz2M30TeTdz

Reading it without a photo, I assumed they were talking about this:



But since he looks more like Snoop Dogg, I'm really not seeing the outrage, unless white men can't costume as a black character ever.

So what about Fred Armisen playing Barack Obama? Or reverse it with the Wayan brothers playing stereotypical blonde white chicks. Where's the outrage on that? Stupid.

PLEASE READ

Due to an inbox full of complaints and possibly the partial cause of recent forum inactivity, I'm sadly having to repeat warnings which I'd hoped had been made crystal clear time and again on these forums, especially in this and other politically-sensitive topics:

GROSS GENERALISATIONS, be them racist, cultural, sexual (or of any other kind which common sense dictates could lead to offending others) will NOT be tolerated here. By all means speak your minds, but for God's sakes please just check how you've worded your posts (or how those posts could be interpreted) before submitting them.

If j7 can be banned, suspended or ganged up on for proveable intolerance, idiocy, racism or other insensitive behaviour, then those same intolerances of such behaviour must apply to every other member here.

Thank you,


M

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I recently revisited the Black Bond thread and was shocked to see the amount of racism that went unpunished. For whatever reason I didn't pay much attention to the thread back then but with nine other mods it's a wonder it got a pass... I regret not paying closer attention and doing something about it, I'll try not to let that slip by again. In the case I do miss something again, I too would like to be notified of any foul activity.

M wrote:

PLEASE READ

Due to an inbox full of complaints and possibly the partial cause of recent forum inactivity, I'm sadly having to repeat warnings which I'd hoped had been made crystal clear time and again on these forums, especially in this and other politically-sensitive topics:

GROSS GENERALISATIONS, be them racist, cultural, sexual (or of any other kind which common sense dictates could lead to offending others) will NOT be tolerated here. By all means speak your minds, but for God's sakes please just check how you've worded your posts (or how those posts could be interpreted) before submitting them.

If j7 can be banned, suspended or ganged up on for proveable intolerance, idiocy, racism or other insensitive behaviour, then those same intolerances of such behaviour must apply to every other member here.

Thank you,


M

First of all, this is nothing personal against you M. You're doing what you have to as the Administrator.

I'm leaving. This is my last post. It's not reactionary or made in haste. It's simply seeing the writing on the wall and choosing to bow out gracefully rather than force you to make a call you probably don't want to have to make. I'm sure I'm at least one of the people being complained about. The truth is you'd have no choice but to delete my account eventually because I will not change. I will not make any further adjustments in what I say or how I say it just to appease a few people who feel like they have the right to live their life free of any controversy, offense, or contrary opinion. The Internet is the great equalizer. It's about getting out facts and opinions that other older, more "mainstream" sources try to block. Once that avenue to speak your mind and speak freely is gone, there's nothing left to do but move on.

You assume that people haven't checked how they've worded their posts, but the truth is many people have. Many have actually held back. If people still have a problem with that then there is simply nothing else that can be done; someone has to go.

I doubt that forum inactivity is due to "racism". I'd expect that sort of fall-back argument from someone like Jack Wade. The inactivity is due to much simpler reasons.

The fact that we have to have a topic about racism (which is a daily topic in the news, whether it's warranted or not) in a private thread only for select people speaks volumes about how ridiculously sensitive people are. I can't live my life worrying about what a few people think. I won't.

I'd rather post in a forum with only 300 members (of which only a 1/6th actually contribute anything) than 10,000 politically correct, sensitive, New-Age pussies.

Anyway...that's all I've got.

Good luck to everyone.