And I could counter by saying that Jalen should have kept that comment to himself. But he could not do that, and since he said it, he needs to apologize for it. Once again, just because Grant Hill was lucky and fortunate enough to have a better life and upbringing than Jalen Rose does not mean he "sold out his race". Question for pgabriel and all other black posters - do you guys feel that anybody who is black but had a middle class or above upbringing is selling out their race? What about President Obama, Colin Powell, Greg Gumbel, etc.?
LOL, Jalen is trying to look hard at age 38 he said it because that's the way he felt as a kid, people, including Hill, are making way too much of this. if i were grant, i would have directed my efforts at the black kids who still unfortunately realize too late that getting an education doesn't make you an uncle tom
Obviously, I did not know that. So, why is there such an uproar from Grant Hill about this? Why did he (Grant Hill) not mention that in his letter? That's pretty sh!tty on his part to lead people to think that. Kudos to Jalen Rose for doing that.
i'm not getting into this stupid discussion because i'm not a 17 year old kid coming out of the ghetto not being recruited by Duke. you're making way too much of the way this guy felt as a kid and so is grant
You responded before I could add that I didn't mean anything offensive by asking the question - it is one out of genuine curiosity as mentioned before, I had a friend that was personally affected by what I feel is immaturity and jealousy over things he had no control over. That's cool about you not wanting to respond and I respect that. As mentioned in my last post that was a response to Shaud, I did not know that Jalen Rose had already apologized to Grant Hill. I gave him kudos for doing that and I am critical of Grant Hill for not mentioning that in his letter. We all make mistakes and it is good to see that Jalen felt that what he said was a mistake. Just disappointed but not surprised that the media is blowing this thing out of proportion and of course, I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.
Grant did acknowledge the apology in his letter but Jalen never explained why he was apologizing. I kind of equate it to when someone says "no offense but"...almost always is followed by something offensive. An apology is nice but it sounds like Jalen was apologizing for blasting him in his doc not for the comments he made.
Yea, I went back to the previous page and saw where Hill acknowledges the apology via twitter but mentions that something seemed suspicious that he would get an apology before the documentary aired. And you are exactly right, Hill does acknowledge it but he really hammers Rose and you get the impression that the apology that Rose gave him was one that Hill didn't think was good enough.
I think Rose knew what was coming, his comments stereotyped a ton of people at Duke and he had to of known a storm would come his way. I think Grant handled it well, classy response but got his message across in a VERY strong manner. Rose had a documentary tell his stance while Grant had a one page article, both made their points.
Does anyone know where I can actually watch this without flipping onto ESPN? I could always just wait for when it's on, but it annoys me that ESPN doesn't have this on their site...
I need to chime in here: 1. If you haven't watched the segment.....if you haven't watched the documentary itself and are stomping your feet about this - GTFO and watch it. Not a snippet. Watch it. 2. I think there are a lot of things people are losing in context: a. This was circa 91, not today. I don't know which posters were and weren't alive and old enough back then, but I remember those days. In the first few years of the 90s you definitely had a "Black and Proud" surge, the "It's a Black Thing" trend, the "Black and Proud" subculture, etc. The unofficial kick off may have been Do the Right Thing/Fight the Power in '89, but the point is, the issue of black identity and fighting "the man" was prominent then, and that was the heart of the Uncle Tom comment. b. Everything Rose said was past tense and also clearly worded to rely his feelings/opinions. He has a right to them. 3. A lot of people, Grant included, seem to be running with the notion that Rose called Hill an Uncle Tom for having a two-parent, well off family and getting an education. That's flatly false and if you watch the doc, you'd never come away with that idea. What Rose said: a) He felt Duke didn't recruit poor blacks from rough areas/backgrounds b) He hinted that if it weren't for basketball, Duke wouldn't bring in blacks at all c) He mentioned that Duke's selection of establishment blacks felt like a rejection of blacks like himself d) He felt Grant Hill was an Uncle Tom for choosing to play at Duke e) He resented Hill because it hurt him to see someone representing all the things he didn't have in his life. f) He went out of his way to say that he respected Hill, especially as time went on He never called Hill an Uncle Tom on account of his family, upbringing, or education. That label was clearly aimed at Hill choosing to go to a (still notoriously) school for well off whites. That Hill was allowed in as a "house negro." I'm not saying that to agree with Rose or judge Hill. I'm saying that to clarify what Rose's position is/was on the subject. Regarding the apology, I don't think it was one where Rose realized he was wrong for saying what he did...I think it was more that he realized it was going to be a low punch to the gut of a colleague that he's come to respect as a friend over the past 15 years.
great post emjohn, especially on the resurgence of the black power movement this documentary also coincides with another great "real" documentary every college bball fan needs to see. Hoop Dreams. if you want to know where the Jalen Rose is coming from, that can probably give you a better perspective
Does it matter where he made the apology? An apology is an apology. No different than if he apologized to Grant Hill through a text message.
Only black people feel the way you do about it, frankly. Everybody else looks at the comment for what it really is, a racist, uncalled for, ignorant, incendiary, plantation type logic. If this is the way black people feel, no wonder why people of other ethnic origins see you all as what they see you all as. The johnny Cochran forked tongue rhetoric that is so played out. Jalen is ignorant plain and simple.
I don't think the issue is/was that Jalen thought that when he was 18/19, that is understandable. I think the issue is whether he feels that way TODAY and I know he has come out and said that the doc was from the perspective of back then not today but I think a lot of folks aren't buying he has changed his mind even at his age. From his responses and interview on 1st take, I tend to think he still has major resentment towards Duke but won't come out and say it, after all his employer is Duke's #1 propaganda machine. This doc might have been his way of expressing himself without getting in trouble but actually getting praise for bringing something to light.
ugghhh who said that? i don't think anyone said that the term uncle tom was called for. second of all i didn't say only blacks or all blacks felt that way.
No, I said it. But let me clarify. If you ask anyone other ethnic group if they agreed with Jalen's assessment that going to duke means you are an uncle tom, the only group that wouldn't call him ignorance and be outraged by the comment is black people. Everybody else would be. The fact that there will be no backlash from the black community against Jalen's comments makes it a sad day. They all run and hide because this IS black thought at its finest.
What is black thought? Can guarantee you that if you announced that some local guy in a urban area was going to Duke most black people would not come up with hmmm he mus be an Uncle Tom. I'm black and my first thought would be he must be very smart. This black girl at my church is headed to Notre Dame. My first thoughts was she is smart like I thought she was. No clue why there seems to be some kind of theory that black people think it's cool to not make good grades.(This last part was just from reading around different places on this debate and that has popped up).
