Kinja reply list

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StenchofaburnerHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:29am
Oh this is going to go down so well!

I am not black but I am not white either and you know I also get upset when I see fellow people of color not taking a stand but fuck this "coward" nonsense. Being "brave" and taking a stand publicly is also a privilege. Not everyone can risk jobs, social connections, friendships, etc just to be righteous. I tend to be the vocal, burn bridges type but that's because I can afford to do so (my bills are paid, I have a good job and a [white] partner that earns way above average). My Turkish neighbor with four children barely making ends meet? Yeah, he gets to be a "coward" when he sees racist shit at work and he doesn't speak up. It's called surviving and trying to make the best out of one's life not just for oneself but also for those around us we care about.
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  badussy2point0Stenchofaburner
  4/28/14 11:39am
  Worth noting...and this is in no way a defense of Sterling...he can't just "step down." Not even if he wanted to, and I doubt very much that he does. He's not an employee. He can't just say "I don't want to own the team anymore now that I've been humiliated." There has to be a buyer. (Preferably someone who will move the team to Seattle and solve two of the NBA's biggest problems in one stroke.)
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  GiveMeMyCountryBackStenchofaburner
  4/28/14 11:40am
  "If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary." Malcolm X.
  
  "It’s almost as if people have forgotten that struggle includes struggling. " Homeboy Sandman
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GregoireHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:24am
For those of you who don't want to step it up, do me a favor and at least unfriend me.

I want to friend you so that I can then get the rush of pleasure at un-friending you.
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  JoshinGregoire
  4/28/14 11:36am
  A culture that has been programmed to resent education and pride themselves on incarceration is doomed.
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  Bitch PuddingGregoire
  4/28/14 11:49am
  I love, love, love those lengthy self-righteous FB statuses that put me on trial for having the misfortune of both knowing the person and not agreeing with them about a topic of their choice.
  
  The last line is always the same: "do me a favor/go ahead and unfriend me." Always. It's like a form letter of asshole and always makes my day.
  
  It's usually something about puppy mills or the self-assigned bravery of someone that can "no longer stand by and be quiet" about something like others eating meat, racism, or unfunded Kickstarter project. Regardless, the outrage is always at the same level.
  
  The last one I can remember was either people not donating during the Philippines typhoon or people daring to defend Colbert during that #CancelColbert slow newsweek.
  
  Ah, Facebook.
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EnglefjamsHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:26am
We ALL have asshole bosses. We can't just quit. You fucking are delusional. "Everybody should quit every bank job, and every Wallmart job, every law firm, every bar and restaurant, every police force"

Rethink this, man
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  ww1383Englefjams
  4/28/14 11:31am
  It's easy when you are a rapper who no one knows.
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  BurningTheBurnsReturnsAgainEnglefjams
  4/28/14 11:31am
  When has ground up change ever worked when the people on the ground weren't willing to bite the bullet to get the powerful to blink?
  
  It hasn't. Sure, we all shouldn't quit our jobs, but if people want to see social change, it's time to stop waiting for politicians who don't have a strong enough political mandate to do much of anything to save us and make it happen ourselves.
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MizJenkinsHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 12:16pm
Hmmmm...

Homeboy, I feel your militance and I too am hyped up with the desire for us as a people to damn well DO something after this most recent bout of nonsense.

But...

You took it a little far bruh. First and foremost what needs to be acknowledged is how much courage it takes just to BE black in America every day. To wake up and put your game face on and go out into society/the mainstream community/your job committed to being a decent person and doing your best knowing full well that there are Donald Sterlings all around you: judging you, sneering at you, avoiding you, trying to erase you, wishing you weren't there and/or actively trying to make your life harder.

As much as I agree that the original integrity of rap/hip hop have been compromised and that the glorification of "that thug life" has gone too far, it should be recognized that those art forms and their attendant culture came about in part as expressions of civil disobedience specifically protesting the kind of modern day slavery you highlighted. And it takes courage to outwardly, unambiguously pay homage to that culture, to defiantly uphold and embody the principle of FUCK THE POLICE knowing that it will put a target on your back. It takes courage to not just hide out in a pair of flat front Dockers/perm your hair/alter your speech patterns and sign on to White America's convenient demonization of a people that it has intentionally (relentlessly!) burdened with ignorance and poverty through centuries of carefully targeted public policy.

To be Black in America with all your flaws - the real ones PLUS all the ones that are unfairly projected onto you - and still show up with your head held high takes courage.

All that said, I sincerely wish every Black player in the NBA would walk off the court until this asshole is summarily stripped of any vestige of ownership or authority over a Black man. Fuck the playoffs entirely. Fuck the finals. If you want professional basketball (and all the lucrative side hustles that come with it) to exist then you'd better make it clear that you value Black men OFF the court as much as you value them on it.

We don't lack courage, what we lack is strategy. We have unprecedented leverage here and we should use it.
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  ShekeepsitrealerMizJenkins
  4/28/14 1:15pm
  Ashay, Amen, Right ON! I have been saying what you eloquently summarized and deciphered in your INTELLIGENT article-essay for the longest time! Finally proof that intelligent life is out there! By the way, you are on point about such double speak words as "gentrification". I have always said that about the term "white flight" too in terms of mass displacement and land theft by socalled whites of our people. Flight = flee. You flee something that is a threat or dangerous or evil. And we never called these beasts out on such terms. But semantics aside for a moment, our people have become too nonchalant and complacent with a memory-attention span of a flea. Kill one black on Monday....protest on Tuesday then club and church the following weekend. Clearly this has the makings of new slavery. Our people react and do not act en mass. This applies to every facet of life (business, race, politics, education, etc). Reactionaries no more! This is my vow to self and if others choose to be so too, then so be it! Thank you.
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  euwiehwuiwhMizJenkins
  4/28/14 2:30pm
  Why hasn't Gawker hired you yet? A little ways back (looong time lurker here), you were one of the best commenters at Jez. Now you are ALWAYS one of the most thoughtful commenters at Gawker. I've seen MorningGloria and Burt and others get hired from the commentariat, but why not you? Get your head out of your ass, Gawker. MizJenkins would contribute MUCH more to your sites than half the new idiots at Jezebel (is anyone there other than Lindy and Dodai not worthless? I'm talking you, MoGlo, Madeleine, Callie, etc...)
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Flm3454Homeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:31am
But, wouldn't it be a stronger showing of character that these men, who are mostly composed of African Americans playing for a heavy African American audience, would stand up to some asshole's blatant racism by rising above that? By making a statement similar to "We're here, we're queer, get used to it?" By saying "I'm not going to stop following my dreams and strengthening my career by letting some asshat blowhard stop me from playing the game I love"? To me a stronger boycott message would be done by the fans buying tickets, by refusing to buy tickets until the owner is removed. Because, as we all know, money talks and bullshit walks. Players refusing to play basketball, their jobs, would be more hurt by that, I think, than standing up in the face of prejudice, giving a big middle finger to Sterling before a game. I think it's much more mature and I respect it fully.

For the record I am not an African American, and in the end I think their opinion on how to handle this situation is much more relevant and important than mine. Just some thoughts.
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  GiveMeMyCountryBackFlm3454
  4/28/14 11:41am
  "But, wouldn't it be a stronger showing of character that these men, who are mostly composed of African Americans playing for a heavy African American audience, would stand up to some asshole's blatant racism by rising above that?"
  
  No.
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  TheMilkyOneFlm3454
  4/28/14 11:49am
  Muhammad Ali became The Greatest by refusing to go to Vietnam, being stripped of the heavyweight title, and being convicted for draft dodging. He lost 4 years if his prime, from the ages of 25-29 years old, but is now remembered as one of the most impactful athletes of all-time. If he would have never spoken out against the war in Vietnam and African American rights, he would be just another really good boxer, like Joe Louis or Sonny Liston. He wouldn't be "The Greatest".
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mattinacannHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:25am
i don't know. i agree that the clipper protest was pathetic last night - but I don't think these guys should have to forfeit their hard earned money because of the asshole owner. i am torn.
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  Nunna Yorzmattinacann
  4/28/14 12:17pm
  I think they should have refused to play. They should have disbanded the team. The players are talented, and the season is just about over, minus the playoffs, so they could have gotten themselves signed to other teams next season. After the comments he made, I wouldn't want to be associated with anything that has that guy's name on it.
  
  Instead, because of that pathetic response from the staff and players, the NBA is just going to make the racist apologize and nothing's going to change.
  
  What to know something else pretty fucked up? This guy is actually up for a NAACP award this year. Just, just... FTW...
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  mattinacannNunna Yorz
  4/28/14 2:40pm
  No offense but that is kind of easy for you to say, these guys have hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on the line. The playoffs are not an easy place to get to, and not everyone on the team would be guaranteed to be signed elsewhere. Also, the NAACP has already rescinded his award. I don't think the players should take a hit in their wallets and in their careers over the owners beliefs.
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thisisamazonmanHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:38am
Lots of rage, and I get why. That said...

"If every NBA player who wanted to stand up against racism vowed not to play until the Clippers' owner resigned"

You realize, as the owner, he can't just "resign" right? He OWNS the damn thing, someone has to buy him out. I agree that the players just shouldn't play, but remember that to get him off the Clippers, someone is going to have to pony up a few hundred million dollars, if not more (some teams have gone for a billion recently, haven't they?).

Also,

Next time you're complaining about how this country was built on us, take a second to think about the fact that it still is. If we want to, we can shut this whole place down.

First, it wasn't just built on black people. My Chinese friends would like to remind you that the railroads were kind of them. Nevermind that no one group can claim to have built this country.

Second, there is what, 7%-8% unemployment? Not to mention the unemployed not counted due to "discouraged" status? The heads of the white male patriarchy would LOVE IT if black people were to just voluntarily leave their jobs.
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teaforthreeHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:30am
But...by this logic, aren't all Americans cowards? Why aren't we all rioting in the streets right now over lack of decent access to healthcare, shitty public education, BS tax laws, BS voting laws and the general injustices we swallow everyday from our elected leaders? Why should black people, with arguably the most to lose, be in the vanguard of the next revolution?
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  MattyWollyteaforthree
  4/28/14 11:33am
  Exactly what Sandman argues. Read the whole article.
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  pdxwhyteaforthree
  4/28/14 11:37am
  THIS. He is kinda making that point but he is focusing on the Afro-American community—you have to preach truth and righteaous to your own.
  
  But you are right- I watch White people every day swallow the latest dog s*** from this conservative commentator or another and I am all "OMG- These people are doing nothing but pissing on you!"
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shewhomustnotbenamedHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 11:38am

Let's step it up and take off from work and stay home with our kids until these preposterous tenure rules are revoked from public schools and it's the kids that can't be fired, not the teachers.

Yeah okay then. Now you know this isn't realistic. Especially in a society where people are struggling to make ends meet.

How about encouraging people to get more involved in changing the system instead of boycotting it?
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  Bull Mooseshewhomustnotbenamed
  4/28/14 11:43am
  Why exactly are "tenure rules" preposterous? They protect educators from being silenced politically ie. academic freedom. Why is that a bad thing?
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  shewhomustnotbenamedBull Moose
  4/28/14 11:59am
  I was addressing the take time off work and stay home with our kids part.....
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bruunoHomeboy Sandman
4/28/14 5:20pm
Well, I have a lot of problems with your argument but many have already addressed these issues. Might I make a suggestion though? You wouldn't come across as such a nut bag if you didn't make comments like you did about how Greenland appears on maps. Seriously, are you really that crazy and ignorant?
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  SayItAgainbruuno
  4/28/14 5:41pm
  Seriously. Mercator projection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_…
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  bruunoSayItAgain
  4/28/14 5:52pm
  Little did we know the whole Mercator projection was a giant plot by the Inuit people and penguins to proclaim their supremacy. I bet the Polar Bears were involved too somehow. White Devils!
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