callmened wrote:

martin wrote:

callmened wrote:wow! when my wife and I first heard the quote we were offended - but keep in mind the CONTEXT of things.

I don't get why you would feel offended. Here is the context:

to answer your question...its because we were/are sad, sensitive and skeptical now (due to recent events). i know people dont get that...or they say we should get over it - but thats the reality... many folks like this are EXTREMELY sensitive right now

after re-reading the comments and getting the WHOLE story, i explained that i dont think phil is a racist. it was simply a poor choice of words given the recent climate.

i hope these recents events gives people the opportunity to raise their Emotional Intelligence Quotient (Martin im not just referring to you). right now if a middle aged white dude answers on the Family Feud "we think italy has the most beuatiful people in the world", black people will look at them with a side eye - like my wife and i did when watching the show. of course thats foolish, but its an EMOTIONAL response that requires empathy right now - it will pass. once we clear our heads, we will realize whats actually right or wrong...but right now we're super sensitive. #empathy we dont trust our fellow citizens based on the election results.

itll pass though - there's just a lot of tension right now

So just so I get this right. Phil used a very banal and generally accepted term for group of friends or people that hang out.

And yet, he did something wrong and should choose his words more carefully?

I get that people are overly sensitive right now but why aren't we asking why LeBron and his crew - or does crew make people cringe right now? - made this into a lot more than it should be?

martin wrote:

callmened wrote:i think its understandable for lebron and his friends to be offended but i think its wrong to imply that phil is a racist

when did the word posse become offensive? I just don't get that. There are a LOT of references and articles before this week that used the word Posse while referring to LeBron and his friends and never a word.

Playing devil's advocate here, Lebron and his team feel they have achieved a measure of success that Phil isnt giving the proper deference. Posse is more for kids, young men. Not someone of LeBron's age and resume.

martin wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

martin wrote:

callmened wrote:i think its understandable for lebron and his friends to be offended but i think its wrong to imply that phil is a racist

when did the word posse become offensive? I just don't get that. There are a LOT of references and articles before this week that used the word Posse while referring to LeBron and his friends and never a word.

Playing devil's advocate here, Lebron and his team feel they have achieved a measure of success that Phil isnt giving the proper deference. Posse is more for kids, young men. Not someone of LeBron's age and resume.

You know what, if LeBron and company came out and said exactly that, I'd be understanding of that take. But that's not really what happened.

"To use that label, and if you go and read the definition of what the word 'posse' is, it's not what I've built over my career. It's not what I stand for," James said. "It's not what my family stands for. And I believe the only reason he used that word is because it's young African-Americans trying to make a difference."

"I don't care that he talks about LeBron," Maverick Carter told ESPN.com. "He could say he's not that good or the greatest in the world as a basketball player. I wouldn't care. It's the word 'posse' and the characterization I take offense to. If he would have said LeBron and his agent, LeBron and his business partners or LeBron and his friends, that's one thing. Yet because you're young and black, he can use that word. We're grown men.

Insofar as I can tell, it is LeBron and Maverick who are injecting race into the term posse.

But maybe this is outside of my scope and understanding of the phrase posse. I've never heard it in the terms of trying to demean anyone or referring to specific race. That's new to me.

I hear LeBron and Maverick saying that they're grown men. Which is in keeping with what Im saying about them being too old for that expression to be used to describe them. I doubt that 19 year old LeBron James would have objected to having Phil refer to his team that way, they were kids. That seems to be the over-arching theme in all this. LeBron is no kid. He's a grown man, successful business man, MVP, World Champion. Referring to him that way infantilizes him and his team, which is what white people have historically tried to do in descibing black people with certain language.

knicks1248 wrote:

holfresh wrote:If Tom Brady had a group of friends he grew up with and they formed a business group and were successful as LeBron's group, they would never be referred to as a posse...Never..That's the difference..

so your definition of posse, is a bunch of thugged out black men...lol

So do you think Phil would refer to a group led by Tom Brady as a posse?

knicks1248 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

holfresh wrote:If Tom Brady had a group of friends he grew up with and they formed a business group and were successful as LeBron's group, they would never be referred to as a posse...Never..That's the difference..

so your definition of posse, is a bunch of thugged out black men...lol

So do you think Phil would refer to a group led by Tom Brady as a posse?

If Tom traveled with 10 to 15 ppl every where he went

And if he had two business partners that negotiated a billion dollar deal with Nike?..One actually lives in LA and the other lives in Cleveland..

martin wrote:Insofar as I can tell, it is LeBron and Maverick who are injecting race into the term posse.

But maybe this is outside of my scope and understanding of the phrase posse. I've never heard it in the terms of trying to demean anyone or referring to specific race. That's new to me.

and thats where i disagree! i dont think racism is taking place so no need to inject race.

but then again, i understand WHY a black person would react like that right now! right now several (not all) black people are scared, pissed and sensitive and think everyone is trying to destroy us. that doesnt mean its correct or even rational but thats the reality right now

holfresh wrote:If Tom Brady had a group of friends he grew up with and they formed a business group and were successful as LeBron's group, they would never be referred to as a posse...Never..That's the difference..

Saturday is the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, the biggest day in racing. Many folks who would never go to a horse track put on their finest clothes, find just the right hat, drink that awful tasting mint julep, and become a racing fan for the day.

And no one has embraced Derby Day more than Tom Brady.

I love the pictures of Brady and his posse getting ready to board their private plane and head to Churchill Downs. I look to see who’s with TB12, and what Patriots and hangers-on are traveling in style with their quarterback.

I missed Brady calling everyone a racist

# think before you speak

egend has it that one day at the height of his powers in the early 1960s, pro golfer Arnold Palmer was at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills, Colorado for one reason or another. Reportedly, Palmer asked one of the bartenders to mix him a special drink, the ingredients of which must have been so gauche that the Tom Cruise-wannabe behind the bar initially refused to sully his Boston shaker with the likes. At this, Palmer allegedly became so incensed with the mixologist’s cheek that he flew into a mild rage, threatened to get snooty, and, if his request was further denied, promised to get downright snotty.

Blanching at the prospects of facing down a murderously thirsty PGA Master and his posse, the barman wisely caved and quickly built Palmer’s beverage: a tall glass of ice, filled halfway with lemonade, and topped off with iced tea.

The drink has since earned the reputation of being the black-and-tan of the country club, the virgin Queen of 19th hole quaffers, and to this day, such a mixture is still known colloquially as an “Arnold Palmer.” Most barkeeps will know what you want when you order one by name, although some restaurant waitstaff may fix you with a funny look, since it is kind of a fusty old drink; something for teetotalers or closet lushes who want to keep their vice on the down-low. And while it hasn’t stopped marketers from pushing pre-packaged versions onto the masses, at least it comes with a readymade practical joke: