I find it funny that someone would even say this because when I first heard about the "knock out game" the picture in my head was of a bunch of white kids that watched Jackass too many times doing it.
The Media definitely can affect the lives of people. They've done it since the dawn of human history.
If I'm walking down a dark alley and I see a little girl in a ballet uniform I'm running the other way. And I'm a black guy.
I know rocket fans love to bring up the past and also use it as a learning tool... With that said if we say that a certain group of people has a bad reputation of doing certain actions, is that racism?
This whole thing is a farce. Cuban did nothing wrong at all outside of bothering to apologize for anything. There is nothing at all racist about what he said. The fact that it generated such a s$itstorm just goes to show how impossible it is to have an honest debate about racial issues today.
This would depend on one's life experience. Let's assume someone had been to war for this great country. Let's say he fought in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. Let's say he sees a couple of middle eastern men on his flight and he get's flashbacks or becomes anxious. Would you consider him to be a racist?
I do have to confess -- once I was in fact scared out of my mind when I saw a black guy in a hoodie. See below Spoiler
I think its alright to be prejudice of people because of their appearance. Prejudice and racism are two different things. If a man decided to get a nose ring and tatoos like birdman, then he wanted to portray himself as tough. It's not racism to be overly biased of that man, because that's what he wanted his image to be. That has nothing to do with race. Cuban messed up when he mentioned color. That didn't serve his point at all. But I see what he's trying to say and I agree.
Sweater vests, turtlenecks, sportcoats and umbrellas, there's a Burlington and JC Penney in every city.
Black musicians with no vocal or instrumental skills, and unimaginative black screenwriters with narrow life experiences contributed more it in the last thirty years than whites.
My mom just sent me a text regarding their dog... Benny is so prejudice I am in the car with him in the HEB parking lot. He is watching everyone go by but barks at black families !!! It is what it is and I see nothing wrong with it.
I don't think Cuban did anything wrong but what he said was racist because he is making a negative judgement on race. That said I will put myself in the odd position of defending Cuban for being honest about it and admitting that it is irrational and is something he doesn't want to teach his kids. I will agree with you that it is very difficult to have an honest debate on racial issues but I think your defense of Cuban shows why. While there is oftentimes a very quick judgement to call someone racist there also is a very quick counter reaction to call someone not. The unfortunate truth is that racial issues permeate our society and even good people often make opinions based on race.
You do realize that he also said he would do the same if he saw a white guy with his head shaved and tattoos right?
No, he was making a judgement more on lifestyle than anything else. A bunch of young people hanging out on a street corner wearing hoodies are FAR more likely to be a security problem for you no matter what race they are. And if they happen to the of the particular race that tends to commit murder at a much higher clip than the rest of society, then the judgment is even more apt. Young people are relatively stupid, violent, and more prone to wearing hoodies. So why would you go near a group of them if you can simply cross the street and avoid them? No. The fact that anyone has to defend what he said in the first place is what makes the discussion toxic. When you start the conversation by attributing racist motives to simple statements of common sense, then the discussion of racial motives is thrown out to the sh!tter from the bat. Cuban was trying to talk about biases that we ALL have - you, me, and everyone else on God's green earth. His mistake appears to have been that he was honest about his biases. Nevermind the obvious biases of his detractors in this episode, but what he said was CORRECT. It was right. It was accurate. We ALL have our biases, and you all need to get off of your damned high horses and come down to earth and ADMIT IT if you ever want to have a real conversation about race relations. It's probably been pointed out here already, but what Cuban said is almost exactly the same as something Jesse Jackson said a while back. Jackson is a pathetic gold-digging race-baiter, but he occasionally says things that makes sense. Why exactly is it OK for Jackson to say that he's cross the street, but it's not OK for Cuban to do so?
Wearing a hoody though isn't quite as extreme as shaving your head and having tattoos. A lot of kids of all races wear hoodies.
Except that point is was that he explicitly cited the race in regard for a rather common and in vast vast majority of cases a rather innocuous fashion choice. Again he didn't say "young people" he said "black" so he made race an issue right there. Further I doubt there is any sort of relation to wearing a hoodie and committing crime. Lots of people were hoodies and in the vast vast majority of cases they aren't committing crime. Your point of saying it was "CORRECT" is displaying your own bias that you believe that a black youth wearing a hoody is somehow prone to commit crimes. And Jesse Jackson should be called out for racist things the says. My point is that to the extent that you are going to defend Cuban makes it difficult to have the conversation since you are so insistent that his comments are actually valid when you admit to them being based on bias.
