Ryan no racist. . .

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Thanks to all those who responded to my query and apologies to all those
who are sick and tired of this string - I'll try to keep it short. 

For those who want to catch up on some of Ryan's comments on Walker go to:
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/102499/baskdocs/24celtics.h
tm

I concur with the consensus (WayRay, Joe Hironaka, Jim Meninno, Andy Shaw -
great point on Ryan's Irish ties BTW - and I assume Paul M., although his
highly toned sarcasm can be difficult to decipher over the net) that Ryan's
comments betray not racism but rather a "crotchety-ness (I wish I'd said
that, Ray) a zealous attachment to tradition and "how-things-used-to-be"
(or more accurately, "how-he-remembers-things-to-have-been"), an inability
or lack of desire to understand "youth culture", and an impatience with
"bratty" youths who don't "respect their elders". Of course, Ryan's own
well cultivated sense of self-importance leads him to view himself as an
elder and a "keeper of the flame" and as a consequence he takes Antoine's
at times boorish but not necessarily mean-spirited behavior as a personal
affront. 

Yet in this regard Bob Ryan does not differ but rather embodies the very
traits that are typically associated with New England folk in general.
After all, it is not unusual for a people to become hypersensitive to a
"lack of respect" and look to "tradition" and the "golden age" (not that
tradition in itself is bad, just when it's used as a crowbar to
unthinkingly force certain ideas of what is right and proper down people's
throats) when faced with perceived inadequacies in the present - such as
our general inferiority complex vis-a-vis the dynamic international
cosmopolitan metropolis that New York City has become. 

So what I would really like to know is what distinguishes Bob Ryan's
hyper-criticism from the "retards" at the Fleet center? I know, I know -
they are retards and yuppies and all the other things we hate about our
community. After all, they are a "mob" and consequently we can't point to
any redeeming counterexamples like we can in the individual case of Bob
Ryan. But seriously, what leads Joe to think that their "critique" is based
on anything other than the same crotchety, spoiled arrogance we see in
Ryan? (Which is not to say that Ryan may not, despite his blowtorch style,
be partially right). 

Are there some racists at the Fleet center? Is Boston racist? Is the US
racist? Or, for that matter, isn't the world racist? Just because the
answer to each of these questions is "yes" does not mean that the Fleet
center (and media) reaction to Antoine Walker is rooted in racism. I think
the very example with which Joe first used to exemplify his claims in this
regard - "Mercer vs Walker" - actually bolsters the "crotchety" rather than
the "racist" interpretation. Ask yourself - do you think that Mercer's
Fleet (and media) receptions were less rocky than Walker's because he was a
"step'n'fetchit"? Did Mercer really demean himself for the enjoyment of
white folk? Or was it because he projected the demeanor of a "respectful
youth"? Obviously, it was not Mercer's or Walker's *color* so much as it
was their perceived ties to a "youth culture" that flies in the face of
"tradition" (hence the "threat" posed by Master P) that has characterized
their varied experiences in Boston. Mercer was our "Pat Boone" and Walker
our "Elvis Presley" - right down to the wiggle! 

Only a masochistic "true bleeding-heart Beantown/Hahvard liberal type"
would disagree ;>)

Cheers! - Tom Murphy