Posted by BlueSeats:
Killa, I always feel cordial toward you. The passage I replied to insinuated that white people would never genuinely care about black women or children. I found the assersion offensive enough to warrant a sarcastic and caustic reply.
I don know what to tell you Blue. When I start arguing with a bunch of white people about the impact that something has on my community, and the source of said thing is a black person, it raises eyebrows. To be fair, I am hard on people who are doing damage to my community, regardless of color. But I don't see that from society at large. I see a very big spotlight on things that black people do to themselves and I see these same people refuse to acknowledge that this society, and this gov't and its many institutions have wreaked havoc upon my people and community. There is no honest way to look at the black experience in this country and not see the predominant role of society and its institutions in oppressing black people, so this is the point I was trying to make. And this is an elaboration of my point in the post above.
I said I wouldn't expect you to want change. But lets be honest, you were pretty pro Isiah and Marbury at one point in time, as was I. That they have fallen from grace, even in your eyes, speaks to the same troublesome qualities that bothers many others here, including Blacks, Whites, Christians, Jews, Asians, etc.
Why does it always have to be about race?
I've never been as pro anybody as I have been characterized. I liked Marbury alot. Isiah, i was mainly indifferent, but optimistic that he could do some positive things here. I really had no attachment to him one way or the other. In terms of management the person I was most excited about was Larry Brown, because he came here with a track record of success and I had high hopes about what he could accomplish.
But back to Isiah, I went through this move and that with him and graded him on them. I mainly agreed with the trades. I thought JJfat was a risk worth taking, I liked Maurice Taylor as a player before we traded for him, I didn't like crawford as a player, but accepted him as a necessary evil because H20 was crumbling. The moves I disliked the most were the trade to get rid of Nazr mohammed, and the trade that brought Francis. I thought both were bad, although Nazr turned into Nate and D. Lee, and Francis turned into Z-Bo and Fred Jones. I though injuries hurt us last year as we were turning a corner and I have high hopes for this year but if we dont succeed, I think Isiah should be gone. Why?
1. He has had enough time to turn the team around.
2. He has been embroiled into too much off the court foolishness for him to stay if we are not winning.
This isn't emotional with me. Things are what they are. That LB season changed alot for me as a fan, I was hurt very badly by that, and can't go there again. I see how phrases so often get twisted and things get blown out of proportion by the media nd by posters here. Stephon Loves dog fighting and says Michael Vick is a saint. Isiah says black women are hos, but white men better not look at them wrong. It all gets so crazy, so often, and so much venom is spewed.
there is a certain defensive reaction that many black people have, when they feel a black person is being unfairly criticized or overly criticized. I have had that with regards to Steph and Isiah. But I look at all angles. Steph isn't articulate, and he is obviously in need of help in terms of his public persona, because white people dont 'get' him. And they dont because they have no frame of reference. I do. Hes a poor kid from a big family in a really rough part of town who has made millions because hes good with a basketball. I know a million people like him, except they never made millions. I understand his limitations, I know where they come from.
Likewise, as dumb as I think MV was to be involved in the dogfighting thing, I understand the pressures he was dealing with that lead him down that path. It seems so easy to outsiders to say, why didn't he just do the right thing. When you come from a certain environment with a certain set of values, things aren't always that black and white. So I am not willing to just throw them under the bus the way so many others are. These are MY people, I claim them, flaws and all. When they make mistakes, I feel my community needs to be there to pick them up and help them get it right. I dont think MV should be murdered because he mistreated and possibly killed some dogs. I'm not going to make him Hitler for that. He does need to own up and pay a price for it though, and he is.
Smae with Isiah, althoug I dont know his whole situation, i believe he was doing some things he shouldn't have been. But this is only the big discussion it is, because some Lets be real, a woman in a sports franchise being sexually harassed in a sports atmosphere has to be the most common thing ever (although its obviously wrong). So why is this such a big deal? First its NY. White people are offended by 2 remarks he made, particularly the double standard one. And every time I write it I have to laugh. White people are upset about double standards. It is so ironic.
None of this stuff is the deal it is being made to be.
10/30/2007 12:25 AM