LeBron James talks like a racist

Giordano said:
You might notice that I was very careful to indicate the USA specifically in my posts. I don't see abandoning one's country just to have a job as a trivial option to the NBA. But aren't we discussing the NFL now? And citing the CFL as an option vs the NFL is just silly. They are truly completely different leagues.
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I guess I'm unclear what the problem is. If you want to make money in the basketball profesion and you have the talent sign with an NBA team.. Or don't. Go to a foreign league, play for the globetrotters, play for Ice Cube's league (BIG3), start your own rival league, or get into coaching. If you want to make the argument that too many old white dudes own too much, doesn't that apply, like, to everything?
 
I like LaBron James, for a number of reasons. Hyperbole, yes. Racism? No.
 
An easy way to determine if the statement was racist would be to switch "white" to "black" and see if it holds up.

In this case I would say it doesn't. The reference is to a small group of white men, not all white people, there is not generalization about white people in the statement. The second thing to note is, are NFL teams pretty much all owned by Old White Guys? If so then it's an accurate description, not racism.

Racism is where you use a, usually negative, generalization about a racism to describe a person or group. For instance saying that a black person is a drug dealer because all blacks are drug dealers.

Had he said that the old white men in charge of the NFL had a slave owner mentality like all whites, that would have been racist. What he said wasn't.
 
PhantomWolf said:
An easy way to determine if the statement was racist would be to switch "white" to "black" and see if it holds up.

In this case I would say it doesn't. The reference is to a small group of white men, not all white people, there is not generalization about white people in the statement. The second thing to note is, are NFL teams pretty much all owned by Old White Guys? If so then it's an accurate description, not racism.

Racism is where you use a, usually negative, generalization about a racism to describe a person or group. For instance saying that a black person is a drug dealer because all blacks are drug dealers.

Had he said that the old white men in charge of the NFL had a slave owner mentality like all whites, that would have been racist. What he said wasn't.
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Complaining that a bunch of old black men own something would be highly inflammatory. It would be about like someone complaining that Jews control the entertainment industry and that's gotten many people fired. Ie Rick Sanchez.

Eta: what James said isn't exactly racsist in of itself, its our reaction to it that is.
 
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William Parcher said:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...white-men-with-slave-mentality-toward-players

To me this sounds like a racist statement. Does this represent acceptable everyday racism against white people? I don't know how society will react to what James just said, but I can imagine that if a white person said a comparable thing about black people there would be widespread outrage at the discovery of yet another white racist. I can also imagine serious consequences if something like that happened.

Racism should not be acceptable coming from anyone regardless of their race or who they are and that includes LeBron James. I post this here rather than the Sports Forum because this is a Social Issue.
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I don't find the comment to be racist, with the caveat that I would likely not find your "comparable comment" racist either.
 
Giordano said:
True, but those are not playing basketball, which, from my limited interactions with athletes, is what many athletes live and die for.
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Again, quite true. But how many of us get to do exactly what we live and die for, and receives a king's ransom as a bonus? Really finding it hard to work up any sympathy here. Professional athletes have notoriously short careers in their fields, the occasional George Foremans excepted. The coin made during their 20's is often exponentially more than what others will earn in their entire lifetimes. Perhaps, like others, they could do something else career-wise afterwards? Not too unreasonable, I would think.

Giordano said:
And rich CEOs complain about the thread count in the sheets in their $10,000 a night luxury hotel rooms. That is just how people are. At least I can see LeBron James complaints as relating to, and potentially helping other, less well off players.

I also doubt that playing professional basketball is as unrelenting "fun" as you appear to be suggesting. It is brutal mentally and physically with the real prospect of a career-ending injury during any game or even any practice. And with near constant physical conditioning, intense practice sessions, and the over-reaching "are you scoring enough to keep on the team" question overhanging much of their day to day life (at least during the sports season and to some extent beyond).

Pure "fun" is a pick up game on Saturday with your buddies when your very job is not on the line, you can quit any time you wish, you are not being judged by a million people including your boss, and you can get a beer later. I am certain that professional basketball players have fun at their work (as do I). But it is a much more complex and unalloyed form of fun than just enjoying a game, just as my fun at my work is offset by the inevitable unpleasant obligations, worries, concerns, and exhausting efforts.
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Agreed, not just all fun. There are pressures and relentless conditioning. Still, I think most are more than willing to make those sacrifices to do what they do.

Again,I am not crying for James: multiple millions of dollar salaries must help a lot. But as I posted, many do not achieve his level of success and I can see the complexities. I do not demean him or his right to put forward the problems as he sees them. He is paid to play basketball, not hush money.
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I think the issue here is whether or not there is an actual problem, or if James is being obnoxiously entitled. Yes, the NFL team owners are highly demanding in a competitive game. Shouldn't they be? Does James expect the players to dictate how things will be, and the owners just cut the checks and shut up? The slaveowners comment is not just hyperbole; it is over the top entitlement. And yes, pretty damned racist.
 
William Parcher said:
Racism should not be acceptable coming from anyone regardless of their race or who they are and that includes LeBron James.
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This place reminds me of an aging priest who has begun to doubt his faith. He is depressed because he thinks he dedicated his life to a lie.

The same is true for white boomer "skeptics." He has invested much of his life thinking the world would eventually be "color blind" and "not care about race." He thought if he could just get the 7.5 billion non-whites to think like him, mankind humankind peoplekind would be saved. The white boomer skeptic is realizing he has dedicated his life to a lie.
 
William Parcher said:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...white-men-with-slave-mentality-toward-players

To me this sounds like a racist statement. Does this represent acceptable everyday racism against white people? I don't know how society will react to what James just said, but I can imagine that if a white person said a comparable thing about black people there would be widespread outrage at the discovery of yet another white racist. I can also imagine serious consequences if something like that happened.

Racism should not be acceptable coming from anyone regardless of their race or who they are and that includes LeBron James. I post this here rather than the Sports Forum because this is a Social Issue.
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NFL team owning old white men is not a race so no.
 
lobosrul5 said:
Complaining that a bunch of old black men own something would be highly inflammatory.
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Not if it's actually true.

It would be about like someone complaining that Jews control the entertainment industry and that's gotten many people fired. Ie Rick Sanchez.
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That's because it's not actually true, so it becomes an attack on Jews rather than an expression of truth.
 
Haven't read the whole thread, not going to, but....

Professional athlete says something stupid. In other news, water is wet and the sun rose in the east this morning.
 
Trebuchet said:
Haven't read the whole thread, not going to, but....

Professional athlete says something stupid. In other news, water is wet and the sun rose in the east this morning.
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When you’re a Trump-era conservative, you have to grasp at whatever straws you can.
 
autumn1971 said:
Oh won’t somebody think of the poor owners making hundreds of millions a year.

Pearls must be clutched when the ******* get uppity
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This is exactly my reaction. Seeing players earning big money really upsets some people, whereas seeing the owners, or the CEOs of failing companies, etc., doing so does not cause nearly such a reaction.

Such salaries for players are portrayed by these folks as "undeserved." I guess seeing players make out well causes even dyed-in-the-wool conservatives to forget completely their commitment to the free market. Why do the top players earn multi-million of dollars during the (often brief) years they can play? Because the top players bring in more than enough money in turn to make substantial profits for the owners. Because they are worth it in a simple economic sense! People pay to see them. That's the American way, right? You can't be earning too much if that is what you are worth in a competitive market to the organization paying you!

Even more so - why would anyone earning a substantial of money upset others? Especially people who did not come from a life of privilege and family wealth. Good for them! And no skin off my teeth, unless it results in me being priced out of tickets. Is that the problem? Frankly I doubt ticket prices would drop much if we undercut play salaries. And aren't most of us watching on TV? So is it jealousy or a feeling that the common people (perhaps certain common people in particular) need to be "kept in their places?" I wonder...
 
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baron said:
The comparison is slaves vs non-slaves, not players vs owners. With that in mind, relax those fingers.
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Ironic advice considering how bent out of shape you got over a comparison that Lebron didn't actually make.
 
johnny karate said:
Ironic advice considering how bent out of shape you got over a comparison that Lebron didn't actually make.
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"Bent out of shape" = "offended me with your different opinions." I only wish I could offer you a safe space to recover from my traumatic words.
 
Giordano said:
This is exactly my reaction. Seeing players earning big money really upsets some people, whereas seeing the owners, or the CEOs of failing companies, etc., doing so does not cause nearly such a reaction.
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But the CEOs aren't complaining that they are slaves.

What surprises me is that any criticism of certain sports people receives, from some quarters, an outraged defence, as if the very act of not treating these individuals as the gods they believe themselves to be is a kind of blasphemy.
 
baron said:
"Bent out of shape" = "offended me with your different opinions." I only wish I could offer you a safe space to recover from my traumatic words.
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The only thing to which your words are traumatic is the concept of reading comprehension.
 
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