Tad Queasy wrote:
veganfan21 wrote:
Tad Queasy wrote:
Earlier today (around 9:15-ish) Goff was saying how he used to love to watch the NHL Draft and some Norwegian guy would get drafted and his family would be all excited because he just cashed in and they'd all be taking Slovenian.
Spiegel pointed out that Norwegian and Slovenian are two very different things and Goff laughed it off with a "whatever" or something.
Phil Jackson is racially insensitive, though.
Obviously what animates racial sensitivities here is slave history and then post-slave discrimination. Theoretically someone concerned with not inflaming racial tensions would extend that concern to all races, but the truth is not all races here have experienced what African Americans have, so the context is dramatically different when language targets African Americans or when African American stereotypes or whatever are invoked as opposed to the same thing happening to other people. Being a racial minority also adds some difference. If one is in the majority of whatever category, be it gender, race, religion, all of the above, etc., I think it's useful to think of yourself being placed in a nation where you're in the minority. Given your precarious situation numbers-wise, I think your language antenna would shoot through the roof if someone were to engage in racially coded language that targets your race, sort of like how some minorities react (whether justified or not) over here.
I understand what you're saying, but the word posse doesn't have a negative connotation and when it was frequently used in the 80s and 90s it wasn't in a negative sense. I don't think Jackson meant it that way.
I also happened to think it was insulting maybe but not racist, so I was surprised when I read about the reaction. Then again, I'm not black. Again you're going to hear things differently depending on context - being called "boy" is going to sound different coming from your best friend from high school as opposed to a millionaire executive with whom you have no personal relationship, for example.
This isn't really germane to the discussion, but while I think political correctness goes too far at times I also think critics of PC culture sometimes fail to have some basic empathy. For example, you have every right to use the word "retard" to describe my mentally disabled daughter/brother/whatever instead of saying "person with a disability," but you're coming off as a fucking douchebag to that person and his/her family while doing it.
Edit: Haven't listened to Goff so I'm not in any position to defend him. He's an idiot anyway.