I am just going to start by saying this…I am so damn tired of writing about race. I absolutely, positively hate writing about race. I know that some that have read my blogs are shocked to read this. None the less, it’s true as sure that water is wet. I HATE TALKING ABOUT RACE! Its never a real talk anyway. Its what is used to promote everything except racial understanding. But here I go again…
ESPN released a documentary about the Fab Five of Michigan…
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neumann/110311_fab_five_documentary&sportCat=ncb
Juwan Howard. Jimmy King. Ray Jackson. Chris Webber. Jalen Rose.
There is little debate in the college basketball world that those five players, who joined the Michigan Wolverines as freshmen in the fall of 1991, represent the greatest class ever recruited.
Perhaps the most misunderstood, too.
Eventually known worldwide as the "Fab Five," each member of the quintet was rated in the top 100 of national recruits in the Class of '91. Four of them -- Webber, Howard, Rose and King -- were rated in the top 10.
In their heyday, the Fab Five were widely portrayed as the root of all evil in college sports. They wore baggy shorts and black socks. They blasted hip-hop music in the locker room. They talked trash. A lot.
Those types of uniforms and behavior might be commonplace today, but 20 years ago it was revolutionary, polarizing and heavily influential to a generation of young athletes. Although the Fab Five never got into serious trouble off the court, the players symbolized to many people a clear shift in the sports world and youth culture. Fans of all races and demographics spent millions of dollars on Michigan jerseys, shorts and the like, trying to capture a tiny slice of the group's mystique. By the end of their second year together, the Fab Five were routinely battered in the national media for the way they carried themselves. Articles and television reports painted them as brash villains or worse -- as thugs.
Now bear in mind it took a lot to find an unbiased article pertaining to the documentary. I found this one before it was released. The sports world is frowning on the man who spoke for MILLIONS of black men. Yes, he spoke for MILLIONS! He may not have known it when he said it but he did. What is funny about it is a poor black kid like me that played sports didn’t know Jalen had said something wrong…until the white media started asking black reporters, black players, and anyone that would speak their language about it…I'm saddened how they said Jalen was wrong.
I was going to analyze what was wrong, but the only wrong I saw was the interpretation of others. Let’s be honest, black men, regardless of his status cannot talk about race. Even our president has to be race neutral. And he has been bashed because of his race since he announced his candidacy. That’s what ESPN told Jalen when they ignored a great documentary and kept the focus on one damn sentence. It went from hey this was awesome to disingenuous fodder. Jalen Rose Used the “U” word! OMG! He said..."uncle tom"! HE spoke about race! Don’t be “black” Jalen. It makes the advertisers and our viewers uncomfortable. Don’t call successful black men that go to private, snobbish, and exclusive universities “uncle toms”. It makes them feel as if they have to choose between their racial identity and their success. Really?
http://newsone.com/entertainment/sports-entertainment/associatedpress4/jalen-roses-uncle-tom-remark-exposes-pain-in-black-community/
Jalen Rose grew up poor in Detroit, the son of single mom and an NBA player he never met. He helped transform basketball culture as a member of Michigan’s iconic Fab Five team, then earned more than $100 million as a pro baller.
Grant Hill came up wealthy in the D.C. suburbs, the child of an NFL running back married to a corporate consultant. He helped establish Duke University as a paragon of success and virtue in college basketball, then overcame terrible injuries to enjoy a long NBA career.
So which one is the “authentic” black man?
The question may seem irrelevant. But when Rose said that he considered black Duke players like Hill “Uncle Toms” when he was a teenager, he exposed a sensitive and longstanding issue for many African-Americans: If blacks succeed in a white man’s world, and do not conform to certain assumptions of how blacks should act, are they less black?
Ok let’s move from race for a moment and look at this from a different view. If a nerd can call out snobs and jocks, why can’t a black man say what Jalen said? Exactly, a nerd CAN get a movie and numerous sequels about how they are excluded, oppressed, and belittled.
You see, what Jalen said wasn’t just about race; it’s about class and acceptance. To be honest, if you asked him, race is happenstance. The point is to be poor or unrefined isn’t ever going to get you into places like Duke. The game is designed for the elite to stay…elitist.
Why can’t Jalen make a documentary about five freshmen in college that were called “naturally talented” and “athletic”, while Duke Players are “skilled” and “well-disciplined” by the media and bring up race?
No one wants to admit that “street” or “black” is not accepted in the “real world”. For many young poor or unrefined athletes watching the backlash Jalen is getting…they are learning that assimilation is the only way they can be successful. Now imagine if you are black…assimilation is never enough. If that were true Grant Hill could have come out and said Duke is a private university that frowns on ANYTHING that doesn’t look like the cookie cutter image they have created.
The “uncle tom” comment was so insignificant that the media’s need to brand Grant Hill with the title was insulting to Grant. He wasn’t an “uncle tom” to Jalen. If anything Jalen wanted what Grant had...security and acceptance.
For Grant to have come out to defend himself, Duke, and the unfair media scrutiny speaks volumes about the fiction that Grant made fact.
The “Uncle Tom” came out and only made many like myself ask…are you an “Uncle Tom”?
I would love to go further…but I need to keep the rest to defend myself…Jalen doesn’t need a defense…we need to get over the truth that Jalen said.
One last thing…I thought Duke was bitches, too. Am I wrong? Then give me a time out.
