RealGM

I waffled between posting this in the Not-so-random page, all-star page, black hole politics page, or digging up a wilbon-bashing thread...

http://us.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/18/nb ... tml?hpt=C1

apparently David Aldridge, citing Wilbon, is calling the NBA all-star weekend "black thanksgiving" due to the powerful and cultural influences the weekend has on the black community. really!? maybe millionaire black community... but the entire black population in general? i fail to identify.

sorry, but i find this profoundly racist: even the "good" stereotype that black people appreciate rhythm, and basketball is an extension of that rhythm. black. jazz. hoops. yeah, jazz and hoops are awesome, so we'll take that kind of stereotyping. watermelon, chicken, cotton? those are bad. how DARE you. chinese? computers, math, and prodigy child violinists. awesome. chop sticks, rice paddies, communism... not ok?

i just really don't understand the idea of this article, or the point aldridge is trying to make. really it sounds like him saying "hot damn, black people are awesome at basketball. i'm going to write an article highlighting that, for no real reason. what am i celebrating? what am i trying to convey? nothing except for the fact that i'm black and i enjoy this 4-day fun-stravaganza. i have nothing real to write about so i'll just pull a racial rabbit out of a hat, and hope nobody notices".

et tu david aldridge?

with each passing day, the truly unique and SUBSTANTIAL voice of ralph wiley is missed more and more.

The article's multiple jazz-basketball metaphors are a bit strained and somewhat undermine the point (and any article that cites Wilbon shoots itself in the foot), but the academic cited (Boyd) gives context that seems to support the NBA all-star weekend being far more important to the African American community than it is to the broader American community.

When the All-Star game was in DC in 2001, I took my team to the All-Star Slamboree at the Convention Center, to participate in an event involving Michael Finley and Ray Allen. We were there most of the first day, moving about the Convention Center and seeing much of what was going. In the racial makeup of the audience, the participants, the promoters, and the professionals and schmoozers behind the scenes, I saw a lot that would support the premise of the article.

In theory and in fact, people of all colors can dance, sing blues, play basketball, do anything really. In this country, more African Americans tend to play basketball better, and much of the African American community celebrates basketball accomplishment. I don't think of it as racist to celebrate accomplishment, and all of us on this board occasionally have reason to celebrate basketball accomplishment too. I know, not much lately, but...

Ralph Wiley was a fine writer. Period.

i've got nothing against celebrating accomplishment. i've not nothing against the all-star game. i've got nothing against black people taking pride in the all star game. I'm just offended by how big a deal DA makes about the all-star weekend. He calls it the social event of the year for black people. He calls the athletes black royalty (with OBAMA sitting in office!) and that the event is somehow a shining triumph of the civil rights movement. I mean, the bollocks to make such an assertion? talk about lack of perspective.

So, it's basically the equivalent of an annual sci fi convention for sci fi geeks?

I'm a big Aldridge fan, but it's a goofy article by him.

Don't know quite how to take this column. (Although it was nice to see a mention of John Coltrane whose photo you see every time I post.)

It is true that the column is full of stereotypes...even racist ones. But it's also true that many NBA ballers are adored by the black community and that ASW is a special event for a lot of black folks, especially those who can afford to attend it. However, ASW is far from a black "cultural" experience, imo.

I admit that my view of the article is tainted by my opinion of Aldridge. I've met DA on a couple of occasions and I don't think much of him as a person---and especially as a purveyor/critic of black culture or the black experience. In fact, DA, unlike Wilbon, would probably be a fish out of water at a party where the majority of the people were black.