Wow dude. Uneducated "Brother" Careful you are beginning to make a mockery of your own argument. BTW Shaq has a degree, remember? I don't know many laborers with a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a minor in political science. He was dead wrong, but two wrongs... S'up B-off
OK, I see that we have strayed away from the basketball related topic to ASian Americans. I'm not trying to get sympathy because I'm proud of who I am and where we came from. My parent immigrated to this great nation 20 years ago with about 600 bucks to their name. They both worked graveyard shifts at Stop 'N Go and we used to dive into dumpsters to collect cans. Twenty years later, my parents assets are well into high seven figures. My brothers are foreign investment banker and a stockbroker. I'm the odd one. I served my country in the United States Marine Corps (Oooh Rah!!) and got a degree in art. I teach inner city kids. We did all this without a cent from the government and without the benefits of affirmative action. My point is ( i know i babbled on) I've heard ching-chong, chink, slope, Gook, you name it. It didn't change ****. I'm who I am and stronger for it. Unless you physically assault me (or try to) or hurt my family, sticks and stones WON"T break my bones and neither will your ignorant commemts... Shaq is a dumb jock. granted kids will hear him, the NAACP award receipient, but guess what They'll hear it from elsewhere. We just gotta push through that crap and come out stronger. I don't agree that all Asianas get good SAT. My score was 1000. Average. I can put an M16 round through a target from 500 meters away without a scope, so what? My family had no money, and we don't own any Beamers or Benzes. We are just plain hard-working Americans.
Romey said at the beginning of his show today that he would again address the Shaq issue, specifically Shaq's "weak apology" (in Rome's words), later in his show. Again, I'm in the office and cannot listen. If anyone would be so kind as to provide a recap, then that would be grrrreeeeeeeat, mmmmkay.
The BIG problem that I'm having with Rome and his peers in the media is Where was the outrage 6 months ago?! I mean, would anybody be raising Hell about Shaq's past comments if Ming had fallen flat on his face instead of proving himself to be a future NBA superstar? As far as I'm concerned, I'm STILL disappointed in Shaq for making those comments, I was disappointed 6 months ago. As for Rome and the Media, F Off! Don't try to make a story out of it now!
He said exactly what we've all been saying. Shaq is not a racist, his apology wasn't sincere. He compared it to Fuzzy Zoeller and the immediate media reaction to his statements and the fact that Zoeller lost money. Nothing new. And of course he did it in his r****ded Romey way... "Ahhhh.... (pause 15 seconds so you think the AM signal is lost) Shaq's apology was not sincere.... Ahhhh (wait an hour and shuffle some papers around)" man I hate Rome.
Hilarious. This is so true. I think sports BBS's will be the end of call-in sports radio. Rome is tedious either way now.
Making a weak apology about the topic is a worse move than the comments he made in the first place. If he doesn't think he did anything wrong with his original comments, fine he should just keep his mouth shut and let it gradually blow over. But if he has remorse for what he said, he should then apologise and admit his mistake. That comes back to the role model thing also, you probably don't want to show kids that an apology is something you make just to get people off your back, even if you are not genuinely remorseful about the situation. And while Shaq's in an apologetic mood, he damn well better say sorry to the kids who paid to see Kazaam.
People have to understand that there are 2 sides to any racist joke. Sometimes it is meant to be funny and the other side its not. When you see people say "ching chang blah blah" ignorantly in the public and saying it seriously you know with the mean looking face or expression, or even if you're someone other than Chinese then that's insulting to Chinese. But on the other hand, if they used the same remark and say it while in a funny way or in a joking way, or imitate another's language as saying "hey i am trying to speak your language help me out here", then it's ok. Say if you're at a party and your white friend imitate your Chinese and say "chi chi cha hi", is that insulting? NOOO way! It's meant to be funny and i bet everyone will be laughing. I think that's what Shaq is doing the same thing imitate the language, trying to be funny only this time he's not talking to a Chinese. It's like you shouldn't be using the "N" word if you're not black. You have to be with an Asian person to pull this joke off just as Tucker has to be with Jackie Chan to pull his joke off or it will be very offended to a lot of people. What about comdians doing it on the stage making jokes about other cultures with black and white audience looking up, how do you feel about that? Offended? Hell YeAA!! To me this is like a double egde sword thing...hurting others at the benefit of making the audience laugh is NEVER acceptable. That's why i find it insulting to see comdians doing it on the stage. It's like they run out of jokes to make and have rely on making jokes about some other cultures in order to make the audience laugh. Did you watch Star Search last Thurs where comedian Jeff Garcia make all the racist remarks about every race he can think of and get the audience to laugh about it? What makes his jokes any different from Shaq's joke? And he's not being labeled as racist, in fact he's the winner in the competition. To me this country is drowning in its own poison when it comes to racism. They're sort of confused and lost. They educate and in fact encourage people to make funny jokes about other races such as what the comdians did on the stage. It's a sad thing if you think about it and think about what the white did to the black.
I wish people could just lighten up. Either you find someones joke funny or you don't, move on. But, what do I know, I thought the same thing about Fuzzy's comments and he lost millions in endorsements. I guess BK, Pepsi, and Reebok will be calling Shaq to end his contracts........right
Did anyone hear Bill Walton's commentary on this issue on the Dan Patrick show today? I think Walton was reading an essay/opinion column/commentary that he wrote over the weekend, and in it he was veeeeeerry upset with Shaq and had some pointed, stinging criticism of same. If anyone can find a transcript of this, please post it here.
I understand what you're trying to say but again it is important to try to understand that one's experience with racial taunts will make it hard for one to "lighten up" as you say. I don't really know what it feels like but imagine this. As an Asian, you grew up and heard mean, nasty racist remarks directed at you and often times it includes mockery of your looks and also your language. Now you hear that Shaq, a high profile celebrity is also doing this (at least with the mockery of the language). Now perhaps Shaq is doing it in jest and is not doing it in that mean, nasty, demeaning way that you as an Asian experienced in the past. Still that experience will make it very difficult, IMHO, to "lighten up" when you hear these kinds of remarks in the future, even if in so-called "jest".
My post is less about the racial slurs and their effects on others, but more about the double standard in the backlash that is received.
