Well, watermelon is not associated with Nigeria or Liberia, it’s associated with African-Americans, so by your logic, watermelon jokes are not racist.
I think what Shaq said was stupid, offensive and racist. I also agree that black celebrities do not seem to get busted on this kind of crap at anything near the level that white ones do. Shaq should be held accountable by the league for this, but of course, he won’t be. I just wish that the sports media wasn’t so damn hypocritical on this. I think that guys like Tony Bruno are just afraid to say anything that might piss off Shaq and cost them their accessibility to a superstar.
I read this right before I left work and said “that’s a good point- it’s racist allright”. But the more I thought about it on the drive home I’m not so sure if the anaology is a good one. Although these are kind of silly examples, would “Poutine Night” for Steve Nash be racist? “Clog Night” for a dutch player? I don’t think “watermelon and fried chicken” in itself is racist as much as there’s a very sordid history in the US of that being associated with racism, so that at this point, if you were to hear someone mouthing off about that, you’d (rightly) assume that it was racist.
After rewading my last post I don’t think I did a very good job of explaining myself. I think of a racist of being a Matt Hale/David Duke type (I realize IRL it’s more of a sliding scale than an is/is not thing) and kind of think of these statments as “would this be the kind of thing that Matt Hale would say?” With the ‘ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh’ I think it’s borderline, with the bicycles I’m not as sure.
At this point I’m not so sure where the line is drawn between a racist statement, an offensive generalization, and a dig at someone’s culture/background.
Minty, Diogenes, I think we are in dire danger of splitting hairs here. What’s the difference between race and culture? Are Chinese a “race” or are Asians a “race”? I believe we can both agree, no matter how you slice it, Shaq’s comment was bigoted.
Shaq’s an idiot. (people aren’t exactly breaking down his door for public speaking engagements or on-air analysis.) He seems to want to be Barkley. It’s sad, really sad. I’d rather see him act. Kazaam II would be better than this half assed Sir Charles impression he’s been doing recently. Maybe it’s overcompensation because the Lakers suck, I don’t know.
Now that ESPN has corrobarated, I withdraw my doubts as to whether Shaq actually said it. But I have a theory as to why we haven’t heard more of it: The media has already had stories about racially insensetive athletes. We had fuzzy, we had Rocker, this shit just ain’t news anymore.
It isn’t non-sensetivity to Asians, it’s just athletes. Been there, heard it. We’re jaded <shrug>.
Is this really a brainteaser? Have you ever heard him in interviews? Shaq is a good athlete, but he’s not all that bright conversationally. It’s not a crime to be a doofus if you’re 7 feet tall, weigh 315 and can grab rebounds before other people do.
Having listened to Shaq pontificate at length a time or two in interviews, I am of the opinion that Shaq has the overall wit and conversational agility of an epileptic hippo on ‘shrooms, and his sense of humor is stuck somewhere around the Jr. High level. But hey, that’s Shaq. The DC DJ’s Don and Mike do a riff on Shaq and Dennis Rodman having a conversation that is just masterful.
Well, the Chinese themselves make a huge distinction between being Han, and being anything else, even if it still falls under what foriegners would call “Chinese.” A lot of accepted public rhetoric in China these days is disturbingly racialist, if not racist, as the underlying theme of Han racial superiority is sort of part of the whole “manifest destiny” nationalism that’s becoming increasingly popular in that country.
Intra-Asian racism is actually still disturbingly accepted in Asia as a whole, with major antagonisms Japan v Korea, China v Japan, and Japan v the Burakumin: a minority “race” in Japan that’s virutally indistinguishable to outsiders.
For the rest of you, what if Yao Yang gives a press conference and throws out some psuedo-Ebonics babble back out? Then that would be considered racist but psuedo-Chinese “wang wing ching chong chinaman” shit is okay? Bad taste at best, racist at worst.
I sure as hell am not. He’s an Idiot. I believe we are all agreed on that.
What’s happening is a kneejerk “racism!” cry over nomenclature. I may be wrong, but I almost feel as if it is directed at me. Allow me to explain myself. Pre-Judgement is evil. That judgement can be based on race, culture, or ethnicity. I’ve mentioned hair splitting, does it really matter what that prejudice is based on? Let’s just agree whatever Shaq meant is bigoted and bad. OK? If someone says “well I think it’s more of a culture bias than a race bias” that does not mean the poster is a racist.
Upon further, further review there is one other thing I must address.
I do NOT like what you are insinuating. Read my post again.
And damnit, by using that willfull misinterpretation, you just unwittingly proved the off topic point anyway. One of my friends hates African immigrants … and he’s black! He’s never been to that continent, has no relatives there, and despises the term “African American” (“I’m black damnit! I have nothing in common with those convenience store assholes!”) There’s a culture thing some of the immigrants do where they turn there back to you and be silent when they don’t want to deal with you. Devron hates that. Bitches more about them than I do. But you know what? He’s still wrong to hate them. I’ve worked with a few of 'em. They’re fine. Just grew up in a different culture.
Anyway, Minty, Diogenes, be carefull what you imply with the rolleyes smilies and such. I sure as hell don’t appreciate it.
Me too. I was thinking, why not?. It’s not like you have to share every interest.
Having read the report in the OP, I don’t think that “Shaq”, whoever he is, can be considered racist on the strength of this. I find it hard to believe that anyone would genuinely be offended by his comments.
It’s not that I think black people can’t be racist, or that it’s only possible to be racist against black people. I just think that his comments are far too mild to get worked up about.
The rolleyes were an indicator of sarcasm, not a shot at you. Can’t very well put a at the end of those racist jokes, can I? Nothing personal intended, Beeb.
[QUOTE[Let’s not beat around the bush. If a white player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese and Asians are fair game. For evidence, watch TV for a couple of hours.[/QUOTE]
Not to run to the defense of ignorance and insensitivity (i.e. Shaq), but the author’s analogy is far off the mark. Associating monkey sounds with black people is racist quite frankly because black folks don’t talk monkeynese and have nothing to do with monkeys except only to the minds of racists. Associating stereotypical Chinese sounds (ching-chow-chong) with Chinese people is not racist quite frankly because Chinese people do speak Chinese. And to ignorant ears, the Chinese language often sounds like a string of ching and chongs.
If Yao Ming was French instead, and Shaq said “Tell him, oui oui oui (in stereotypical fashion) vous l’est vous my motherfucking dunk shot ce soi.” Would anyone see this as being racist against French folks? I don’t. Perhaps, in my hypothetical, had he called him Froggy or implied that he had body odor related to his being French, racism would be an appropriate descriptor for Shaq’s behavior. But if it’s just language being made fun of, then I’m hesitant to call it racism, especially akin to calling black folks monkeys.
As an aside, yesterday the MJ radio morning show made fun of a French lady (that they only knew from speaking to on the phone), and the first things they decide to ascribe to this perfect stranger is terrible BO and excessive body hair. They may have also called her dumb. The tone of their humor was rather mean-spirited and self-superior. It made feel uncomfortable, to say the least. Regardless of it’s officially racist or not, their behavior was probably offensive to a lot of French folks who heard the broadcast.
Well, in the end, Shaq apologized. He says he was just joking and didn’t mean to offend anyone. Yao Ming has said he believes him and made an attempt at diffusing the situation with a remarkable amount of grace and maturity, given that he is in the NBA, where those qualities are not generally allowed.
In the end, I don’t think Shaq is a racist. I think he’s immature, dense and about as sharp as bowling ball at times. This was just one more example of it.
"I said it jokingly, so this guy was just trying to stir something up that’s not there. He’s just somebody who doesn’t have a sense of humor, like I do. I don’t have to have a response to that (the charges of racism) because the people who know me know I’m not,’’ O’Neal said Friday before Los Angeles’ game against Cleveland.
Trent Lott couldn’t have done a better job at “apologizing.” When Shaq says “people who know me know I’m not a racist” he means “people who know me know I don’t hate black people - I mean come on, I am one!” Like most blacks (yes, I did say most blacks), “racism” means a bigoted action or attitude by a white person towards a black. The same action or attitude by a black towards, say, an asian, is not “racism.”
at the end of those racist jokes, can I? Nothing personal intended, Beeb.