Yesterday news broke of a blockbuster trade in the NBA that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets and sent a few new rebuilding pieces to the NBA owned Hornets. For some reason, that is still not 100% clear, NBA commissioner David Stern vetoed the trade. The consensus among sports writers is the unprecedented move was terrible and wrong. Some have even asked for him to be fired. I was interested to see what some of my favorites commentators thought, so I tuned into Around the Horn and the PTI on ESPN. I wanted to watch with an open mind, but as soon as I heard them start talking, I knew in my gut someone was going to use one of the most offensive terms I can think of. I knew it would either be Bomani Jones or Michael Wilbon, and when Around the Horn ended without Jones using it, I just had a sick feeling that it was only a matter of time before Michael Wilbon’s ignorant ass uttered the phrase “plantation owners” to refer to the group of NBA owners. Slavery was one of the, if not the, low point in our country’s history. As a white person, I am ashamed of it and I think it is sad that my race would follow in the footsteps of so many other early cultures in enslaving another group of people. That being said, I find it VERY offensive when I hear someone compare a group of whites to plantation owners, simply because they made an ill informed decision. Not only is it just a stupid thing to say, but someone like Wilbon, who covers the NBA for a living, should be above saying something that is so untrue. I have had this feeling for a while, but I believe Wilbon is a racist and should be fired for his ignorant comments. When a white person makes any comment that is even remotely racist, they are immediately asked to step down from their post, especially at ESPN. By comparing a group of white people to the most despicable group of whites in our country’s history, I believe saying something like that is just as bad as when someone who is not black drops a racial slur, such as the “N” word. Just because the majority (remember Jay-Z owns part of the Nets now and Michael Jordan owns the Bobcats) of the NBA owners are white and the majority of the players are black, does not mean it is okay for someone in a public position, like Mr. Wilbon, to make such a stupid and ill informed comparison. While whites are still the majority in the US, it does not make it okay for someone like Wilbon to say what he did. Remember, this is the same man who said he would like to take a year off just to follow Adam Scott around the country so he can heckle his caddy because he said he wanted to shove his trophy up Tiger Woods’s black ass. Hey Mike, Tiger’s ass IS black. He didn’t say he wanted to shove it up there BECAUSE it is black. There is a difference, and that difference is HUGE. If you consider that to be a racist remark and think what you said is okay, you are truly out of touch with the current state of racial affairs in our country. Even thirty minutes after your utterly ludicrous comments, I am still pissed and offended and I believe attention needs to be called to your ignorance. To quote the great Ron Paul, “
Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called 'diversity' actually perpetuate racism. Their obsession with racial group identity is inherently racist.” Michael Wilbon, you sir, are a racist and I think you should take some time off (or just do us all a favor and resign) to get your head out of your ass.
