Ran across this radio interview this week with Charles Barkley. Some very interesting and controversial comments. I was curious what Clutchfans thinks of these comments. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/mOIGk-xbvOM?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/mOIGk-xbvOM?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/showb...ey-russell-wilson-not-black-enough/index.html The truth and not at all controversial, IMO.
who am I to question what about a black person feels about his cultural identity, I'm not black. but I can see how in certain school or neighborhoods of poorer black communities where you are not cool if you never cut class and study all day. but I thought the whole thug thing kinda died down in recent times, even in gangster rap. I thought it's cool to wear tight dress shirts and lensless hipster glasses now.
Maybe the stuff about being successful is true, but I don't think Chucky is qualified to discuss how people respond when you "speak intelligent".
Chuckster trying to reel in republican votes for his Alabama Governor race as a republican Rocket River
A single famous black person makes a comment that the black community in general has issues and.......... BAM.... it is a topic with every conservative white male coming out of the wood work to say "See, that negro gets it!" It is just an odd thing. I hear all the time that the black community has no leaders, that there is no accountability.... but whenever a black person of stature comes forward with a criticism of their own community it becomes an "absolute" to a certain subset of the white population and is then vilified by other black Americans. Look at Bill Cosby. It has been years and his comments are still used by certain groups to justify the idea that black people as a demographic have problem only because of other black people... and then of course you have the call from others that he is an Uncle Tom. No wonder so many famous black Americans keep their mouths shut and just smile. Discuss "black issues" as a black and you end up with everyone hating you.
I get what you're saying, especially in the first paragraph, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't white people that came up with "Uncle Tom" and "acting white" as slurs. First thing I thought too when I read that line. Awesome. And I love Charles.
I didn't mean to say it was white people using the term "Uncle Tom" or "acting white". In my experience there is a strong backlash from BOTH sides... black and white. As far as "acting white", I don't know..... I have heard a lot of white people using that to describe black friends, co-workers, etc.... the difference is that they mean it usually as a compliment (which is as equally screwed up). Ultimately, I will just say that I can understand why someone that is black and famous would bite their tongue on the issue of the black community and possible problems......
I witnessed this phenomenon on Facebook during the Ferguson mess. I think every single one of my conservative friends shared some video of a random black dude blaming black people for white people being racist. It's hilarious.
http://verysmartbrothas.com/dear-bl...that-bad-blacks-are-holding-good-blacks-back/ [more at the page] Rocket River
I would add that this is the case for people of all races. Everybody (regardless of color) gets support for claiming racism is the reason blacks have had issues. Of course this is true. But where folks start to get angry is when they start to ponder if there are other factors at play beyond that. I think this is (part of) what Charles is getting at. Even discussing it as a factor gets you called a racist if your white and an Uncle Tom, sellout, or stupid if you're black.
Barkley makes pretty good points, but he's not completely on the mark. I think this is a socioeconomical issue, not a "black people" (or any other race) issue or an intelligence issue.