There are probably going to be two or three folks at work wondering why I became so heated with a co-worker today during what appeared to be an innocent conversation about sports. This co-worker said something that I believe wholeheartedly shows some true colors to this person's beliefs.
Talking about Josh Howard's idiotic statement on film, I mentioned to, let's call him gerg, that Howard attended gerg's beloved Wake Forest University. His reply was that all those NBA players are piss-pots. Alarm one in my head goes off as I ask what he means by that. Being an NBA fan, I am quick to defend the league as I believe they get the worse rub from the public and media in any matters concerning image.
His reply? They are all assholes. Now I am standing up. Walking to his cube. I've already mentioned that I think I may be offended but I ask him to explain that. His bullshit response? He first states that they are overpaid. I ask him are football players overpaid. He states yes. I ask him so why do you dislike certain overpaid athletes versus other overpaid athletes? His Second bullshit response: I have a right to my opinion.
Can't argue with that. But when someone asks you to explain your opinion and you can only name call followed by 'I have a right to my opinion', your opinion has lost all credibility and displays an ignorance. If you can't simply tell me how all NBA players are assholes then there is obviously not a single factor, rather it's something about the group. After all, gerg has now identified a group of over 400 persons roughly as ass-holes. And when you hide behind (or perhaps try to avoid the topic at hand?) having a right to an opinion, it shows me that you're scared to say what you really think.
My personal explanation for his sweeping statement. Let's take a step by step approach. He likes football and baseball and college basketball. What is different about the NBA when compared to these other sports? Not much. The pro athletes of each sport are paid astronomical amounts compared to their relatively trivial importance to society. Each sport has had its share of DUI's, embarassing moments, etc and so on. Baseball's clean cut image has taken a hit recently with all the steroid talk. The NFL's image is status quo -- some players considered too flashy, some too mouthy, but all in all still America's favorite game. The NBA, on the other hand, gets labeled as too hip hop. Questions about all the tattooed players abound. And let's not forget the overused, in fact overused incorrectly, term de rigueur -- thug. All NBA players are thugs has been typed and spoken so often that the sheer use of the term brings to mind idiocy to me.
In fact, there is a large disconnect between who the players are as people and the fans that cheer for them particularly in the NBA. It's no coincidence that the majority of NBA players -- by a large margin -- are black. So I know what you're thinking, "Here we go again, the race card! Every time someone dislikes something that is done primarily by black people, some black person pulls the race card!" If that's your train of thought, so be it. But please tell me the difference between a football player and a basketball player to the point where you tolerate one but not the other. The silliest idea is that the ability to tolerate is due largely to the gear of each sport. Bear with me.
Suppose you're sitting in the mall and a bald black male sits next to you wearing a button down shirt and decent jeans. ON the other side, a black male sits with a wife beater on, tattoos screaming for attention. The difference between the two is only what you can see. My point is that the heavily geared black football players lose some of their thugness, some of their hip hop, when covered with those pads. From a distance, they look like everyone else on the field. Not so for basketball players. A good portion of their arms and legs are exposed, and heavily tattooed. Their braids, cornrows, and dreads are basking in the limelight of professional sports.
The combination image of tattoos, cornrows, braids, and dreads has somehow evolved into a characteristic of hip hop though all have existed long before hip hop mesmerized mainstream America. So now we have this scenario -- a fan base of young to middle age white men watching young, vocal, and strongly independent black men in a very public arena. Disconnect? The fan base can cheer for their favorite team but have a hard time falling in fandom for a person that they would typically avoid in any number of other situations.
But I fear I digress. My point is this. My coworkers condemnation of a group of adults to whom which I closely identify leads me to wonder at his true reason for his distaste. Since his only explanation is more namecalling, my guess is that he has some prejudices that he cannot divulge (or may not even recognize consciously) so he avoids answering any questions for further explanation. Hence the title -- Hidden Prejudice...
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