[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
Whiteboy is always said with malicious intent, today. Even when it’s used by black people watching Travis Pastrana jump his dirtbike off a building in Vegas saying “that crazy white boy is going to kill himself”. It’s still meant as a term to elevate themselves. I can easily understand how the people using the term don’t feel that way when they use it but it is what it is. It is a completely useless term. Well not exactly, it’s useful at causing tension. [/quote]
This has to be a joke. It is a STEREOTYPE. White people get labeled as the type to do ridiculous shit…like jam a lightbulb up their ass on Jackass or glide down 3 flights of stairs right down the railing. That doesn’t mean no other races do the same, but it is a stereotpye, and frankly, you guys seem to have no problem at all stereotyping everyone else.
I mean, didn’t you use “crackspot” or some term in relation to basketball players in this thread?
Why?
If someone does say “that crazy white boy is going to kill himself”, how the fuck is that any different than what everyone else deals with?
Are you above stereotypes while the rest of us are cursed by them?
Hell, are any of you actually even fucking offended or are you just bullshitting so you can claim to be victims?
When the hell has “white boy” ever been used to truly subjugate the entire white race?
When did it match the power it had against blacks or its wide spread use even in professional settings just 40 years ago?
It didn’t. Why the hell are you complaining like it has ever held any of you back at all in any way whatsoever?[/quote]
First of all. Not all racist terms subjugate entire races. Don’t make more of this than it is. Not all racist terms hold people back from whatever. I never said ‘whiteboy’ has as much of an impact as the n-word has. That’s stupid. But whiteboy is obviously a race based insult.
OBVIOUSLY
I do not think that every person who uses racist language is a through and through racist. But I do think that people using certain racist terms are doing so with direct knowledge of the word’s implication.
I don’t care if it’s a sterotype in the particular case I gave. The example I gave was to show how the word can be used in a very non-confrontational way and STILL be way to express race based differences in a situation where race has nothing to do with anything. ‘Whiteboy’ is hardly “just a stereotype” when a group of black men are trying to instigate a conflict with a white guy. The same way it wouldn’t be “just a stereotype” if a group of white guys tried to start a fight with a black guy and called him a ‘watermelon eater’ as they approached.
In certain cases, stereotypes can be used maliciously (nothing groundbreaking there). Usually stereotypes are harmless. The term ‘whiteboy’ is far from “just a stereotype”. That’s my point.
I used ‘crackspot’ not to exemplify a racial stereotype, but to exemplify a cultural stereotype; that culture being the hip hop culture. I explained that in a later post, if it wasn’t clear right off the bat. Yes I realize that the majority of crack dealers in the inner city are black and the majority of rappers are black. I claimed that David Stern wanted to distance the NBA from the Hip Hop image. I did not use the term ‘crackspot’ to imply that all black people are crack dealers. That is not a stereotype I would ever endorse. I guess you’ll just have to take my word on that because there’s no way I can actually prove that I meant one thing and not another. [/quote]
I don’t argue the reason that Stern had for the dress code, however, it’s funny to me given that statistically, 70% of rap and hip hop music is bought by middle class whites between the ages of 16-30, which is pretty much the target demographic for ever TV broadcast due to advertiser interests. I believe more than anything, with a sudden rise in NBA violence (including more than one player/fan incident), Stern tried to steer the game in a more professional direction. There’s nothing wrong with that. Roger Goodell has done that with the NFL… and yes, both leagues are dominated by black athletes, but both are also prospering as a result. As was pointed out already, hockey is 3rd rate and in rapid decline. Perhaps if the homeless look of “playoff” beards were banned, and some of those guys took a little less pride in their missing teeth, hockey would be more accepted as well. As for the jeans and boots argument, look at the UFC. There’s no dress code (minus certain business rivals’ gear) and those guys dress from suits (GSP, Rashad Evans) to jeans and tees (Rich Franklin, Randy Couture). You can point a finger at clothes and say it promotes a certain lifestyle in most cases. That said, most “sportswear” for NFL, MLB and NBA teams IS actually made with a gang influence in mind by the designers. Hats with logos on the corresponding side have become popular, not to mention shoes and their logos and tees with writing up one side or the other depending on color of the garment. Again, since most marketing is directed and the white male, everyone can take a share of the blame for the gang culture being so pervasive in our society.