Interesting article on Black Players In Utah

[Ballerhogger]

I've been to Utah and honestly other than there very strict alcohol rules and weed laws (I smoke) I'd like to live there. It has all the things any big city has just not as much. What do you need 1000 nightclubs and different restaurants for? As long as it has the basics your good restaurants, some good bars, id be good. I wouldn't need to live in a zoo like how New York and LA are. Utah is very clean, safe, beautiful in nature and has a true 4 seasons.
Maybe not salt lake but I'd way rather live in a place like Portland or Denver over LA.
I'm from Southern California and for the life of me I don't understand why so many people love LA
It's dirty, crime rate is high, over populated, has the worst traffic of any US city, and is overpriced
I mean look at this picture and how dirty the air looks in LA would you wanna live there?

You can escape LA to a point. Just have to have the will to drive. For hours.

Transportation in LA is a disgrace. Totally trashing the planet. They need to bring back the streetcars.

Idk man people like thier cars , trucks etc in LA. Then you have to find way to get people vote for it , ,Subway works good enough..

[HeartBreakKid]

Los Angeles has Subways?

[EAS Law]

That's totally not what the player was saying. He was saying if you're not black how can you speak on the feelings of a black man not wanting to play in Utah? You don't know how it is to be black in Utah so maybe you should listen to what they're saying instead of dismissing them.

Incorrect.

Look at the quote.

"What I don't like, especially from white people, is when they say they don't understand why black players don't want to come here... they have NO RIGHT TO SPEAK ON THAT."

This is probably one of the most ignorant quotes I've ever seen in print and it's upsetting that so many people praise it.

This player is saying that people do not have the right to discuss an issue that maybe they don't understand.

It says nothing about how black players are wrong or in any way mistaken--it says "I don't understand why...". This is an invitation to explain all of these alleged reasons people segregate by choice whole also claiming to be in favor of inclusion, equality, and understanding.

In my opinion, this player is quite bigoted, and this position is extremely hostile and destructive.

He didn't say you can't ask him why not. He was saying you can't criticize those players and your last 2 paragraphs shows why he feels that way. See how you're trying to say "black players are wrong" which is really your main point? You're not wanting to hear why black players feel that way you're trying to tell them they're wrong.

I think I'm perfectly capable of stating what I'm trying to state independently.

In no way have I said "black players are wrong". That's all you.

I'm saying that I see a bigoted message that "white people have no RIGHT to SPEAK on this or have an opinion.

I see in the quote in question that people say to this anonymous player, "I don't understand..." which is an invitation to communicate and at least express both sides. These "white people" are actually hopeful and eager to have black players embrace culture in Utah and maybe share or establish their own culture. The response appears to be one of resentment and reluctance.

Logically, you cannot shout from the rooftops about oppression, appropriation, and segregation while simultaneously rejecting everyone that wishes to understand you better an include you.

I'm positive that you'd agree on that, no?

And I'm not saying anyone is "wrong", just that I think it's ridiculous that in today's world, equality, unity, and understanding are allegedly so important, yet people of Utah in this case are chastised and rejected for being white and having a different culture. It's crazy to me. You can't have both.

[E-Balla]

Incorrect.

Look at the quote.

"What I don't like, especially from white people, is when they say they don't understand why black players don't want to come here... they have NO RIGHT TO SPEAK ON THAT."

This is probably one of the most ignorant quotes I've ever seen in print and it's upsetting that so many people praise it.

This player is saying that people do not have the right to discuss an issue that maybe they don't understand.

It says nothing about how black players are wrong or in any way mistaken--it says "I don't understand why...". This is an invitation to explain all of these alleged reasons people segregate by choice whole also claiming to be in favor of inclusion, equality, and understanding.

In my opinion, this player is quite bigoted, and this position is extremely hostile and destructive.

He didn't say you can't ask him why not. He was saying you can't criticize those players and your last 2 paragraphs shows why he feels that way. See how you're trying to say "black players are wrong" which is really your main point? You're not wanting to hear why black players feel that way you're trying to tell them they're wrong.

I think I'm perfectly capable of stating what I'm trying to state independently.

In no way have I said "black players are wrong". That's all you.

I'm saying that I see a bigoted message that "white people have no RIGHT to SPEAK on this or have an opinion.

I see in the quote in question that people say to this anonymous player, "I don't understand..." which is an invitation to communicate and at least express both sides. These "white people" are actually hopeful and eager to have black players embrace culture in Utah and maybe share or establish their own culture. The response appears to be one of resentment and reluctance.

Logically, you cannot shout from the rooftops about oppression, appropriation, and segregation while simultaneously rejecting everyone that wishes to understand you better an include you.

I'm positive that you'd agree on that, no?

And I'm not saying anyone is "wrong", just that I think it's ridiculous that in today's world, equality, unity, and understanding are allegedly so important, yet people of Utah in this case are chastised and rejected for being white and having a different culture. It's crazy to me. You can't have both.

I think I caught the difference in our understanding of that quote. I think when he was saying they're saying "I don't understand" he didn't really mean that they're saying that in a "I genuinely want to understand you" way but in a "how can this be there's nothing wrong with Utah, get over it" way. Obviously its open to interpretation but given the context of his statement I find it hard to think he was saying he doesn't like people asking questions especially since he said "especially white people" meaning he's also saying he has an issue when people that aren't white say it.

[NZB2323]

Pau Gasol said he went to Chicago partially because he liked opera and art museums, was that wrong of him?

It always amazes me that people can't conceptualize that other people value different qualities than they do, and that people make decisions and have preferences based on multiple factors.

It's like people getting angry if you don't think a woman they like is attractive. People have different preferences, and for many NBA players, they prefer other cities to Utah.

Probably because Salt Lake seems to get more crap than other cities about it. I've never heard cities like Milwaukee get any crap for not being culturally amazing, even though it's nothing to write home about.

Milwaukee is the beer capitol of the world. Utah just made the legal limit .05, and beer off base has to be 3%.

Utah gets horrible smog; Milwaukee has none.

Utah drivers are much worse than Milwaukee drivers. Why do so many Utah drivers get in the fast lane and then drive slow? You have super timid drivers and super aggressive drivers. I've been rear ended twice in Utah and no times anywhere else.

Milwaukee is culturally diverse; Utah is not.

Utah has the worst smelling lake I have ever been around; Milwaukee has Lake Michigan.

Utah is a super dry dessert that somehow gets a lot of snow, but the atmosphere is so thin you could get a sunburn and frostbite at the same time. Yeah, Milwaukee's winters are harsh but so are Utah winters.

Milwaukee's zoo is much better than the SLC zoo.

The children are more badly behaved in Utah than any other state I have ever lived in. There's always a mom out with 14 kids running around. I've had 2 knee surgeries and live in constant fear of a child in this state running into my left knee.

The motorcycle and electric guitar were invented in Milwaukee. Milwaukee has Harleyfest.

Milwaukee has summerfest; Utah doesn't have a musical festival that comes close.

I've lived in both Milwaukee and Utah and I like Milwaukee a lot better. It's also only 2 hours away from Chicago!

[babyjax13]

I mentioned states rights because its something that left the lexicon of American politics for a long time for good reason but Reagan brought it back. States' rights first emerged as a phrase in American politics in the 40s as a push back against the budding Civil Rights Movement. By the 60s Strom Thurmond (probably the most famous segregationist) started a political party called States' Rights with the specific goal of keeping segregation legal. They started to rewrite history at this time to get people on their side saying things like "the Civil War was fought over states' rights" and it worked. I can say for a fact that in school that's what we learned (and this is 8th grade I'm thinking of so as recently as 2007 this is what kids learned in major parts of the country).

Now States' rights is meant to mean a ton of things like ending the Department of Education (what you referred to a little with No Child Left Behind) or in the case of places like Indiana allowing people to discriminate against homosexuals. It's used as a buffer against legitimate criticism. "No I don't want to discriminate against homosexuals I just care about states' rights."

States rights as they are invoked now are more a Roger B. Taney creation in order to justify slavery and limit federal power to stop slavery from spreading to the territories. The fact that it is invoked throughout history to justify racist policies isn't surprising, then. Excellent post BTW, just wanted to point out that this particular 'tradition' extends further [also to the constitutional convention and pre-revolution, and you probably know all of this, but I hate Taney so...].

[Ballerhogger]

Los Angeles has Subways?

Its called metro , but they have one true subway line as its called the Red line. From union station to northhollywood.

[Cyrusman122000]

You can escape LA to a point. Just have to have the will to drive. For hours.

Transportation in LA is a disgrace. Totally trashing the planet. They need to bring back the streetcars.

Idk man people like thier cars , trucks etc in LA. Then you have to find way to get people vote for it , ,Subway works good enough..

The subway in la is a joke it's hardly a subway. It's crazy that the second biggest city in the United States has such **** public transportion compared to some other cities

[Ballerhogger]

Transportation in LA is a disgrace. Totally trashing the planet. They need to bring back the streetcars.

Idk man people like thier cars , trucks etc in LA. Then you have to find way to get people vote for it , ,Subway works good enough..

The subway in la is a joke it's hardly a subway. It's crazy that the second biggest city in the United States has such **** public transportion compared to some other cities

People like LA lifestyle and Driving. They go all out from all walks of life in LA. Not everyone can or will , but you can make covertiable look good out here.

[Pinkyring]

There are issues in every city, i live in a suburb in dallas and guess what, i drive 45 minutes every week to the barbershop to get a good haircut, with black people barbershops are like churches, once you find a good one, you stick with it, it's also an inconvenience trying to get good soul food without driving 30-45 minutes but hey you adjust

[Roy The Natural]

Most of LA is really gross, there's some really nice areas towards the coast but San Diego crushes LA in terms of almost everything, and is a much nicer and cleaner city. I'm actually not even sure that San Diego doesn't have just as vibrant a nightlife too.

[jazzfan1971]

Milwaukee's zoo is much better than the SLC zoo.

Really? I've always thought Hogle Zoo was pretty awesome. Can't say I've ever been to the zoo in Milwaukee to compare though.

[AdagioPace]

Many of our fans are sensitive about this and the reputation does haunt us a little bit.

For example: Dwight Howard told his mom this offseason that he had decided to go to Utah and she started crying.

Every player who comes here talks about how well they are treated and how nice everyone is to them. I think the local people go over the top to try to welcome our players.

I have lived in several states. The fact is that Salt Lake City is a BEAUTIFUL, family-friendly place to live.

PROS:
It is clean. The outdoors recreational opportunities are second to none. The economy and business environment is robust with many high paying tech jobs and a business-friendly legislature. We have some of the best looking women outside of California, IMO (seriously). Utah is consistently ranked as one of the healthiest states. Most people here can still afford to buy a home with some elbow room. Some of the lowest crime rates in the nation. Higher education costs are low in comparison with similar quality state schools (U. of Utah medical program, BYU business and law, USU school of education and environmental sciences are all ranked amongst the top in the nation)

CONS:
Very strict alcohol and club laws. The Mormon church flexes its political muscle way too much (Mormons see this as a pro, of course). There can be confusion amongst sexually active people who date a Mormon that expects celibacy until marriage (not to be understated as a reason young NBA players often don't like it here).

Basically the married and attached guys LOVE it here and the single guys looking to party often have to look a little harder in Utah to find those opportunities than in other states.

all them german/scandinavian blondes

[Rasho is god]

Cadillac Seville... classic

[Ballerhogger]

Most of LA is really gross, there's some really nice areas towards the coast but San Diego crushes LA in terms of almost everything, and is a much nicer and cleaner city. I'm actually not even sure that San Diego doesn't have just as vibrant a nightlife too.

From my understanding thier job market is not very good right now.

[Ballerhogger]

Milwaukee's zoo is much better than the SLC zoo.

Really? I've always thought Hogle Zoo was pretty awesome. Can't say I've ever been to the zoo in Milwaukee to compare though.

Can you buy beer at these zoos? You can at LA zoo and panada express. Real panadas are not inclulded.

[NZB2323]

Milwaukee's zoo is much better than the SLC zoo.

Really? I've always thought Hogle Zoo was pretty awesome. Can't say I've ever been to the zoo in Milwaukee to compare though.

It's not a bad zoo, it's just really small and doesn't have the best indoor exhibits for when the weather isn't the best. I'm hoping to take my girlfriend and her daughter to the zoo tomorrow for her birthday, but the weather is supposed to be bad. If that happened in Milwaukee we could go to the ape house, the reptile house, the small mammal house, and the bird house. Also, most exhibits in Milwaukee have an indoor place where the animals go when the weather is bad and you can view them from indoors.

[KDBG]

Okay, let's discuss Cultural Appropriation... As a bi-racial person, I go, "Utah Pride!" with this. But I also go, "This **** is kinda racist". I'm a walking contradiction.

Discuss Realgm.

Watch on YouTube

[jazzfan1971]

Ok. I'll stick my nose in, so I can get whacked with the newspaper once again.

I fail to see racism there. 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.' To me, and my world views, racism is when you have contempt for someone due to their race or for the race as a whole. This is not that, but, almost the opposite.

[NZB2323]

Okay, let's discuss Cultural Appropriation... As a bi-racial person, I go, "Utah Pride!" with this. But I also go, "This **** is kinda racist". I'm a walking contradiction.

Discuss Realgm.

Watch on YouTube

I fail to see what is racist about doing a dance that is popular as part of a social media trend.