Re: Sam Smith: Sprewell's Attack=Root of NBA Strife

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

Without getting into any of this, I think Smith's column rings very
true.  I notice, though, that this thread discusses whether the story
is racist or not without discussing whether it is true.  It sure
sounds true to me.  That I happen to agree with the owners has little
to do with Smith's accuracy.




---Sherry & Hart <hartleyo@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
> j.hironaka@unesco.org wrote:
> > 
> > In fairness, I think the reason Sam Smith's article is so
nauseating can
> > be attributed to his lack of aptitude or training to think
logically,
> > rather than any uglier motive.
> > 
> > To blithely link the NBA lockout to Latrell Sprewell (e.g.. "it
became
> > as clear as the scratch marks on Carlesimo's throat that the NBA was
> > being strangled by greed, selfishness and a lack of ethics and
> > morality.")  without offering any shred of evidence or a single
measly
> > quote from an owner is IMO the crudest form of uppity-"n"-word,
> > race-baiting.  It's akin to the fabulously successful strategy of
James
> > Baker (George Bush's 1988 presidential campaign manager) to link
Michael
> > Dukakis with Willie Horton (a black man who was "furlowed" from a
> > Massachusetts jail and subsequently raped a white girl).
> The fact is that this story was originally used by that great
> environmentalist Veep Al Gore  when he was running for the nomination
> against the Duke and was subsequently used by the Bush campaign. It
> probably wasn't politically correct(can't you just puke) by Baker &
Bush
> but they're not stupid. 
> > 
> > I'm not necessarily on the players side any longer, and  I certainly
> > don't mind if they lose the billion+ dollar wages they were
contracted
> > to earn this year by their dumb-ass owners. Unless some of these NBA
> > players grow up and clearly suffer a little (lost wages) and gain
> > perspective, they will never win back the full sympathy of fans
(who,
> > after all, have historically been working class white men and
women).
> Why must everything, always be Black & White, whoever likes to see
games
> and/or can afford to go, are the Fans they have to win back, both
black
> and white.
> > 
> > But to even implicitly hint that the
"Modern-Day-Basketball-Pro=Latrell
> > Sprewell" suggests to me questionable logic and motives. I wish to
> > goodness that the Sprewell incident had never freaking happened.
It's
> > true enough that the incident put a lot of black athletes in an
> > uncomfortable spot, when asked to choose sides. Nevertheless, I
happen
> > to believe this was an entirely isolated incident in pro
basketball's
> > noble history. The NBA and its fans have surely played a genuine
role in
> > the process of bringing America together. And the sport has made
many
> > millions of young people "color blind" as if it were the most
natural
> > thing in the world. Why can't we just leave it at that?
> > 
> > IMHO, it's America's job as primo cultural and military superpower
to
> > try hard to live up to its heretofore phony-baloney ideals ("All
men are
> > created equal" etc.despite a longer history of legal Apartheid than
> > South Africa's). Were you all taught in school that lynching was
not a
> > federal crime until a full decade after World War II, when America
was
> > pridefully "making the world safe for democracy" and nuking
civilians?
> > Were you all taught that according to shipping company logs more
> > Africans died aboard slave ships during the trans-Atlantic crossing
> > (nearly 10 million) than Jews died during the Holocaust? That's a
long,
> > slow way to die. We surely wouldn't be forgiving about it if it had
> > happened to one of our ancestors.
> What the hell is all this crap have to do with the BB strike. It is
also
> my understanding that there is still slave trading going on in Black
run
> countries such as the Sudan,etc. What are you doing about that? Stop
it
> already about the US and its past problems. We got enough problems
with
> Clinton and don't need any more guilt trips.
> > 
> > Boy, am I a smug Euro-influenced bastard. Sorry.
> Yep, I agree
> > 
> > ****
> 

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