He's done well in life concentrating on his work, developing his skills, working to avoid negative situations that could bring him down, and generally being a good guy that is willing to help out the community. You may not accept that as a form of being socially conscious and promoting success, but it is. Going way back in history...being simply socially conscious didn't cause Booker T Washington to build Tuskegee from nothing. He certainly had that aspect to him, but focus on work, skill development, personal development, and community building was paramount. I'm not comparing the social accomplishments of James Harden to Booker T Washington, but his form of social consciousness is hardly discussed today and for the most part it is looked down upon and shunned by the outraged social media activist types trying to bring James down and calling him racist names for this mask. As a white man that has taken time to study things I can plainly see that black social consciousness doesn't and shouldn't take one form. Frederick Douglass, Booker T Washington, T Thomas Fortune, HT Kealing (I live on property he owned), WEB Dubois, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Dick Gregory, Chuck D, etc all had different viewpoints. For me the loudest activists of today that portray to represent black interests seem to have largely homogeneous viewpoints and happily attack anyone of any race (even the ones they say they represent) that might do something mildly conflicting with their ideology. I feel condemnation of Harden for not jumping on the trend of bold seemingly socially conscious stances doesn't mean he is ignorant and not using his platform to help people. It can be said that people that take these bold stances without deep introspective exploration of them are the ignorant ones....especially the ones who call Harden various derogatory names aka Trey Songz. I hesitated to make this post but I did want to defend Harden and let's go Rockets!
doesn't mean you don't asscociate that specific punisher mask to blue lives matter doesn't mean you're not a "socially conscious person" the rockets media guy didn't know, more than half of this board didn't know
Ok there’s a lot to unpack here: 1) Harden has done a good job of avoiding the major negative pit falls and that’s admirable. His charity work is nice. Personally, I’d like to see a man with his skill set and platform do a lot more but he doesn’t strike me as the type that really wants to be involved. James is capable of much more. Given his childhood, and his associations to two men who have done more (Russ and Nipsey) it’s somewhat surprising he hasn’t done more. I won’t lie, I find that extremely disappointing. It may have to do with his introverted nature, but it’s still disappointing. 2) At no point did I state or even suggest “social consciousness” was the only thing needed. As a community we need quite a few things to be brought to the table to get the changes we want. So I have no idea how Booker T factors into this conversation. But since you brought him up. As black military officer, I appreciate what he did to help COL Young (the first black Colonel in the Army). 3) I hope you aren’t suggesting that I feel there is only one way to achieve our goals. While I’m sure you’ve researched black history, I’m willing to bet my understanding of it is superior to yours. Please don’t lecture me on the viewpoints of black activists/civil rights leaders. I’ve spent almost half my life studying various African Diaspora topics. And for the record, Harden has absolutely no business in the same discussion as these people (the vast majority of people do not). 4) “For me the loudest activists of today that portray to represent black interests seem to have largely homogeneous viewpoints and happily attack anyone of any race (even the ones they say they represent) that might do something mildly conflicting with their ideology. “ That’s not surprising. As an outsider you probably get most of your news from mainstream media outlets. These outlets have a vested interest in simplifying complex topics into easy to digest narratives. The loud, hypersensitive activists gets the most air time because sensational stories sell. 5) “ . I feel condemnation of Harden for not jumping on the trend of bold seemingly socially conscious stances doesn't mean he is ignorant and not using his platform to help people.” I don’t give a damn if Harden goes out and marches. We don’t need people to just march, we need action. Harden has the platform and skill set to make people listen. He just doesn’t seem to have an interest in that. James strikes me as a guy who doesn’t like controversy and advocating for black people can be controversial in today’s society. Harden could easily do something along the lines of LBJ’s “I Promise” school but that doesn’t seem to be his focus. 6) “ It can be said that people that take these bold stances without deep introspective exploration of them are the ignorant ones....especially the ones who call Harden various derogatory names aka Trey Songz.“ Do yourself a favor and consider the source. I wouldn’t consider Trey Songz an authority on anything besides mediocre R&B songs. Of course his takes are going to be ignorant.
We can agree to disagree. I don’t doubt Harden had no idea what the image meant. But as a black man, I think he should have...especially considering some of the company he keeps/kept.
I like how many assume Harden is ignorant just because he doesn't have much to say outside of basketball. Some people just prefer not to speak out. Some people don't like getting involved in back and forth conversation. Some people are private. The other part, a ton of people do not follow the issues. Hell, I do my best to follow everything I can and I always find myself learning something new everyday. There is a ton of people that dont keep with social and political issues because they prefer not to dive into that world. I feel like we know very little about Harden to be judging him. I'd venture to say that the majority of us know Harden as only a hooper and that's all you ever see about Harden. The guy just wants to hoop. What he does in his private life, most don't know, besides his fascination with chilling at strip bars. Even when he has donated to charity, I doubt everything has been publicized, James isn't about the recognition outside of basketball.
and it doesn't mean he was not able to associate this specific mask to the blue thin line it doesn't necessarily mean he's not aware of the blue thin line like me I learned the blue thin line just a month ago in this board and when I saw this mask I wasn't able to associate this with it
It's not just black and white between ignorant and hyper aware. There's the in between that most of us belong to. Harden's a simple guy. He knows and follows what's cool and mainstream. This blue line symbol thing was neither cool nor mainstream. Only cops, people around cops and big time activists were able to recognize that a blue punisher mask was somehow connected to police. I dunno if your own circle made you think it was more recognized than it is but this is definetely not in the main stream consciousness and I don't think we should expect anyone, especially someone like Harden, to know about such niche things.
Antifa stands for anti fascism.... not everyone believing that is a vandal, I also believe in anti fascism.
