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Racialism or Not--You Decide™: Phil Jackzen Edition

Racialism or Not? You Decide™


  • Total voters
    12
Hello and welcome to another edition of Racialism or Not--You Decide™, presented by forever yours truly, HeavenHarris. In our last edition, we disccussed the intriguing case of RGIII and the JFC votes determined it to, indeed, be a case of racialism. In this edition, we look at comments from Phil Jackson's 1975 classic: Maverick: More Than a Game.

Excerpt from aforementioned book:
"Throughout the years the black players on the Knicks have possessed much better physical ability than the white players, being generally faster and better jumpers. I also think that they have always had superior one-on-one talent."

"White players are more often willing to run patterns and to work collectively."

"Because of the predominance of blacks in pro basketball, the sport is rapidly disintegrating into a one-on-one sport. There are only five or six NBA teams who play with more than a superficial degree of team unity."

On the Knicks: "The starting front court played white basketball while guards played black basketball."

"Black kids growing up want to be the superstar of their neighborhood. They want to be the toughest kids on the block, the richest or, once they get to the playground, the best one-on-one basketball players. White kids, on the other hand, usually are raised in a more homogeneous environment which provides other outlets for personal expression. They're also constantly being taught the principle of subordinating their own personal glory for the good of the group."

"The average player's career is a very short period of his life, and the minute he's through nobody knows who is. Twenty-five years from now the only people who will remember me will be a few trivia experts, and that's exactly how it should be. A lot of black players look at their careers differently. Many blacks have let themselves believe that being in the NBA is one of the greatest things a person can accomplish. I believe this type of feeling is ultimately very destructive, because the only way you can live with it is to get into a heavy fantasy trip. I've seen the process develop many times, and very few players ever find happiness that way."
 
Clearly any mention of the differences between white people and black people in their physical and/or mental abilities is racism.
 
"Because of the predominance of blacks in pro basketball, the sport is rapidly disintegrating into a one-on-one sport. There are only five or six NBA teams who play with more than a superficial degree of team unity."

....personally, I just think HIP HOP killed the NBA....along with not calling palming on Earl "the Pearl" Monroe" when he introduced it to the sport!
 
Anytime you make sweeping generalizations due to race, it's racist. That being said, this tends to be fairly accurate racialism. I play with white people who want to shoot contested, off-the-dribble 3's and I play with black people who are actually incredible passers and mentally far superior than most players. I find most of the players who play intelligently are usually far more intelligent off the court too.
 
Clearly any mention of the differences between white people and black people in their physical and/or mental abilities is racism.

technically true but i think when people say racism or racialism i think it's not per that textbook definition which is pretty broad and can be applied to anything, and is not generally inflammatory, etc. But I think the term is usually used with a much more negative connotation, or a perceived slight, or unfair/bigoted view, etc.. You know what i mean bro? i think that's truly what Racialism or Not? You Decide™ is questioning, not the obvious or 'clear' textbook definition of it. but please feel free to answer as you see fit. thank you. please remember to vote, the JFC values your opinion.
 
I play with black people who are actually incredible passers and mentally far superior than most players. I find most of the players who play intelligently are usually far more intelligent off the court too.

...true dat! And when I would find them, I would recruit them for my team! But most were more interested in being "Dr. J" or "George McGinnis" or "World Be Free!"
 
It's not racialism, it's positivism, and he forgot to mention that the black athletes always are ten step ahead of the white ones because of their genes.
 
I voted racialism, whever the heck that means.

when I was growing up I called my brother "n........" trying to make him mad. Today &&&&&&&s do that trying to tell a brother they love them. We also fed the drunks who slept in the barn on the block next to the city park. I'd milk the cow in that barn, haul the milk to the house to let mom screen it, and take it back to the "hobos". Nobody ever scared me, or hurt me, except my brother, who'd beat the crap out of me on general principles.

political correctness is a complete failure. All it has done is create a generation of snobs who pretend to be good.

I voted "racialism" on this question because I think it's good to be making generalizations about classifications of people that are actually useful. Vive la difference.

and oh ya. .. .. Phil Jackson would be calling me "black" by his standards. I hated the team aspects of basketball. For me, it was all about being the kid on the street who couldn't be beat. And I could beat any three kids who ever took me on.

I can shoot, I tell ya. I can shoot.
 
I voted racialism, whever the heck that means.

when I was growing up I called my brother "n........" trying to make him mad. Today &&&&&&&s do that trying to tell a brother they love them. We also fed the drunks who slept in the barn on the block next to the city park. I'd milk the cow in that barn, haul the milk to the house to let mom screen it, and take it back to the "hobos". Nobody ever scared me, or hurt me, except my brother, who'd beat the crap out of me on general principles.

political correctness is a complete failure. All it has done is create a generation of snobs who pretend to be good.

I voted "racialism" on this question because I think it's good to be making generalizations about classifications of people that are actually useful. Vive la difference.

and oh ya. .. .. Phil Jackson would be calling me "black" by his standards. I hated the team aspects of basketball. For me, it was all about being the kid on the street who couldn't be beat. And I could beat any three kids who ever took me on.

I can shoot, I tell ya. I can shoot.

This sounds like the most sense-making thought I have ever heard for a long long time during the phase of beating the crap out of the concept of racialism.
 
Anytime you make sweeping generalizations due to race, it's racist. That being said, this tends to be fairly accurate racialism. I play with white people who want to shoot contested, off-the-dribble 3's and I play with black people who are actually incredible passers and mentally far superior than most players. I find most of the players who play intelligently are usually far more intelligent off the court too.

The only sweeping generalizations I saw were in regards to cultural & community dynamics within the US. It's no more racist to discuss predictable, measurable characteristics within a culture than it is to discuss predictable, measurable characteristics between separate cultures (i.e. collectivism Chinese culture vs. individualism western society).

He's also speaking of what he has personally experienced as a professional within the sport for many years, and presents it without any malice.
 
There are so many fallacies, confusions, and stereotypes in that passage that it seems unfair to just pick the racist elements from it, especially since Jackson would probably denounce that passage if asked about it today.

Welcome to the human race. Almost anything we can say about ourselves generally will have a whole boatload of stereotypes in the mix, considering the variable ways we do picture ourselves and others, and put diverse spins on the words as we process them.

The only thing worse than having an actually human sort of concept about ourselves, or others, is thinking oneself qualified to declare what others may or may not say, or try to say, as the case may be.
 
The only sweeping generalizations I saw were in regards to cultural & community dynamics within the US. It's no more racist to discuss predictable, measurable characteristics within a culture than it is to discuss predictable, measurable characteristics between separate cultures (i.e. collectivism Chinese culture vs. individualism western society).

He's also speaking of what he has personally experienced as a professional within the sport for many years, and presents it without any malice.

Yeah, you really need to be an NBA ballplayer and coach to pick up on that and really give credence to it.
 
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