Rockets GREAT Photographer Bill Baptist slurs Kamala on Facebook

I guess photographing a

We went to Hobby Airport Holiday Inn every New Year's Eve; our divorced parents would hit the lobby party while we dined on store bought shrimp trays, Christmas cookies, 2-liter bottles of Sprite and watched Super Dave, Garry Shandling's Show, Brothers and movie previews (like Wild Orchid and Pacific Heights) 15 minutes at a time.

 

That's the problem -- that it was bound to happen. I don't need to name the specific people who did it, or would eventually do it, to point out that it is a problem.

 

Or maybe they just figured since they're the most progressive league, whose power structure is largely built on a foundation of African American players .. they could maybe hire photographers who are not racist old turds on Facebook

People who use the term cancel culture a lot tell you a lot more about themselves than any mythical cancel culture. You know what's actually cancel culture? William Tecumseh Sherman. He canceled Atlanta. Some guy being a racist clown on social media is not. cancel culture. It just was, and now it's not. Good.

 

There is nothing mythical about cancel culture.

You sound daft denying it.

 

As I have posted, it was specifically in my company's guidelines that we would most likely be terminated if we put the company in a negative light. I assume most companies have a similar policy.

 

No it has existed for thousands of years for most of society, it just gets called cancel culture when people who think they're owed something by virtue of birth experience it on the other end for the first time

 

It's not only policy it's common sense.

it's amazing how many don't seem to have a clue of how easy it is to get fired for stuff like this or how common it is.

 

So you want to factor in digital social media?

Not gonna get into a semantics debate with you since you don't want to acknowledge how things have changed in the last 10 years.

 

Good. It's almost not worth the trouble of holding old dumb racists to account when it comes saddled with pedantic lectures but thanks for skipping that part!

 

Did the NBA give into a mob demanding he be fired? If that's what happened than absolutely that's messed up. Or was it someone just reacting to something that they found highly distasteful? It's one thing to campaign and pressure to get someone fired, it's another to just criticize and when all that noise gets the attention of the NBA, they have to act.

The idea that the NBA is just now reacting to "cancel culture" is a bit of a stretch though. People have been getting fired for social media posts since 2009 when social media first hit mainstream. It's important to realize that "cancel culture" has the same birthday pretty much as social media. They go hand in hand and my point is that what is being described as a cultural phenomenon is really a technological one.

 

The racist hypocrisy is always evident - maybe he was a fan of rap music?

What about when Jay Z and Kanye said it about every female ever to help them make millions? No apologies issued from them. When will we ever have equality when black males are not held accountable by anyone, most noticeably, by those around them?

 

How is the NBA propping him up just for keeping him?

This is my point. You're assuming that not terminating him means that some how the NBA supports his post. His post has nothing to do with the NBA. It wasn't even about sports. Again this is a lack of perspective. I don't think what a contractor for the NBA posts reflects the view of Adam Silver. For that matter I didn't think what Morey posted had anything to do with Silver or Tilman. The NBA is an organization but it's made up of individuals like any other business and its a lack of perspective to believe that it is just a monolith and that everyone thinks the same way.

And I'm not singling out the NBA. As I said they didn't create, they aren't leading it, but they certainly aren't doing anything about it. They are just going along to cover their ass.

Also I did say the post was offensive and said that it should be called out but I also don't believe that it reflects upon the NBA, or has anything to do with the NBA, and also that there should be room for forgiveness.

 

They can be held accountable by music buyers. Jay Z and Kanye are their own bosses. This guy worked for a league that is 80%+ black. An employer has the right not to employ him. False Equivalence.

I know it is HARD for you to see Black men get over on the system. Your Bigotry is obvious.

 

My understanding of the situation is that Sheryl Swoopes saw the post and brought it to wider attention. I don't know if she specifically called for Baptist's termination or who else did. As other posters noted any corporation would do the same. That again goes to my point. This is a cover your ass strategy. This isn't some brave noble stand by the NBA. It's just what any corporation would do in this environment and that's why I say it's a problem with our culture not just the NBA.

 

I agree "cancel culture" has existed for thousands of years. If you bad mouthed the Tang Emperor you could lose your head. I don't think that was a good thing and just falling back on historical precedent isn't a valid argument. Consider that "cancel culture" enforced societal norms so if you were a black person historically not that long ago and you said something bad about a white person you were likely to find yourself cancelled..

As I said I agree what he said was offensive. There's no argument there. Let me ask you this though. If the NBA didn't terminate Baptists would you personally have felt that meant that the Adam Silver and the NBA organization actually believed that Harris is a hoe?

 

Right but are you criticizing the NBA for its decision or Swoopes? You refer to our culture but I am not understanding what specifically you want to change in terms of how someone should respond?

Do you want companies to be more tolerant? They have 0 incentive to keep the guy. Do you want Swoopes and others not to bring these things to attention? Is a celebrity responsible for not communicating with an average person or criticizing them for fear of negative consequences that come out of it?

That's why I am not sure this is a cultural problem as much as a technological one.

 

You are being disingenuous with the argument that the NBA can disassociate itself from that post.

You are talking hypotheticals and not real world.

Yess the NBA is covering there ass as would any public facing company, why should the NBA affect its bottom line for forgiveness of at least a tremendous act of stupidity?

Just because you don't think it reflects the NBA means what exactly, that's your opinion and Swoops disagrees, the fact that you keep harping on the NBA shows that it has everything to do with the NBA.

It's not the job of the NBA to forgive this example of extreme stupidity. How about you direct some of that ire with Bill for starting this foolishness.

 

https://www.nba.com/resources/static/team/v2/rockets/1920MediaGuide.pdf

Baptist is on Page 71 of the link above...he most certainly is not the guy in the picture in the OP.

Also, I've noticed that reports have generally said that the NBA was no longer going to work with Baptist , who was working as a freelancer in the bubble...nowhere can I find that Baptist has been let go by the Rockets.

 

Who has said that it is a brave noble stand by the NBA?

 

Your victimizing is obvious, pathetic and indicative of how much you hate merit. Successful and capable black people agree with me, infact, many of their opinions are seen as "racist" just because losers like you don't want to address reality. It's this lack of accountability that holds back black Americans. Absolutely nobody cares about the color of people in the system, America is about capability as immigrants from all over the world, many with no education, prove on a daily basis. I think you'd like Soviet Russia a lot more.

Rap culture promotes violence, misogyny and hate. These guys capitalized on that and you won't hear a word about it. What the photographer did was nothing compared to rich people with brands that an entire community worships. It's easy to bully the guys at the very bottom who have no influence whatsoever, but the second you have to hold someone with money and influence accountable, it's a blind eye.