Z-man: Furthermore, I would hardly conclude that Allen Iverson or Stephen Jackson speak for all of black america. What did Grant Hill or Shane Battier or Doc Rivers or Mike Woodson or Stu Jackson have to say? Are they not black enough to weigh in? Why aren’t they outraged? Are you insinuating that they are all Uncle Toms?

This is a laughably bad argument, Z-man. I’ll let you guess which logical fallacy you’re committing, here.

Your argument is that even if it IS racist (the dress code), it’s not racist “enough” to warrant serious discussion. To which I had this to say:

“This is a ridiculous side-stepping of the point. No one’s claiming that racial inequality is more pressing in other places. The point is that by labeling Stern’s dress-code actions as “minor” racism, you say that it’s okay because it’s not making the players ride the back of the bus, etc. If a student came to your office and said that a bully called him a “pussy,” would you say, “That’s not harsh enough for me to pay attention to. Let me know when he calls you a ‘faggot’”? Of course you wouldn’t.”

If you fail to see the cultural privileging in telling players that white fashion (i.e. suiting) is acceptable for NBA events but black fashion (i.e. Timberland boots, throwback jerseys, etc.), I don’t know what to tell you.

While this is not “as important” as, say, the right for black Americans to vote or own property, it reinforces a sense of “correctness” in behavior. And that, on the individual level, is extremely destructive for all involved.

I’m trying to imagine being a black youth in America, hearing that NBA players aren’t allowed to dress a certain way at NBA functions. What it’s replaced by is a fashion that originates in white Victorian culture and was passed through British imperialism as an “acceptable” standard for “professionalism.” I bet I’d be…

jon abbey: Many NBA and non-NBA sports figures also claim that it targets young black males and is a slap against hip-hop culture which the NBA also exploits to its benefit when it suits them”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_dress_code

and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the league that’s the most black is the only one with a dress code to date. as I said above, there’s none in MLB or the NFL.

Come on, jon, you know as well as I do that wikipedia articles are not worth the cyberink they are written with. Furthermore, I would hardly conclude that Allen Iverson or Stephen Jackson speak for all of black america. What did Grant Hill or Shane Battier or Doc Rivers or Mike Woodson or Stu Jackson have to say? Are they not black enough to weigh in? Why aren’t they outraged? Are you insinuating that they are all Uncle Toms?

Are you denying that misogynistic, criminal and violent themes are an integral part of hip-hop music and culture, just as with heavy metal and other essentially white music cultures? Is the NBA saying that dressing metalhead is OK but hip-hop is not? In other words, one manifestation of racism is holding one race to a lower standard than another. That is clearly not the case here.

Z-man:
You guys are kissing me with this discussion of racist dress code policies in the NBA, right? There are some very serious issues with residual racism in this country, most notably in access to quality education and health care for children. I just saw a clip of a black president wearing a suit, then switched channels to NBATV and am now watching Michael Redd and Dennis Scott wearing suits. To call the requiring of a corporate employee, even in sports entertainment, to wear a suit and tie racist is, well, racist. Lots of white ballplayers are very attached to informal clothes (I doubt Jorts or Bill Walton or Chris Andersen dig wearing a suit.) It is also racist to assume that wearing a suit and tie are not a “black” thing. As a middle school principal in NYC, I dress on the casual side and rarely wear a tie, much less a jacket, while many of my black colleagues wear a very corporate suit and tie every single day.

If you’re going to talk about racism, talk about real racism…the kind that results in harm, glass ceilings, shut doors, etc. The NBA has more black media personnel, coaches, GMs, and upper-level management and as much ownership as any major sport. I don’t hear any of these guys complaining about the dress code, and I would expect that they would consider some of these posts nothing more than patronizing white-speak.

I’m applauding at my laptop right now

DRed:
It’s like watching a UMass game from 1996

Yeah. He looks great.

DRed:
As predicted, the scoring burden tonight will be shouldered by Marcus Camby

Actually it’s iso-cope