Today's blog is about another reason I love my boyz. While I consider myself of average intelligence and street sensible, sometimes I need my eyes opened by others to see a different point of view about some things.
I got a special request from one of my crew to talk about Wednesday's incident with Clippers "enforcer" Matt Barnes. In their game against the Thunder, he got into it with Thunder big Serge Ibaka coming to the aid of teammate Blake Griffin. As a result, Barnes gets tossed from the game. In the third quarter, Barnes sends out a "tweet" in which he lashes out:
"I love my teammates like family, but I'm DONE standing up for these n---as! All this s--- does is cost me money."
This is the clean version. He did use the N--word. Cost him $25,000. Now before you think I'm going to talk about Richie Incognito, nope. I want to talk about the use of the N-word.
This is where my boyz come in. He had a issue with the fine administered by the league. For a black guy saying that word. My point of view off the top is that the fine was appropriate; he did violate league rules by "tweeting" during the game, even though he was tossed earlier. What am I missing?
My eyes were opened wider watching one of my favorite shows, Pardon The Interruption. One of my favorite reporters Michael Wilbon, who I have been reading since his days writing for the Washington Post (and one of the reasons I got into writing), gave me more perspective. He said not only does he use the word frequently (in his personal life--probably with his boyz), he also had a problem with the league decision. His problem was the framing the use of the word (by white people) as well as the "plantation" mentality that comes with it.
I get it. While Barnes shouldn't have used the word publicly (yes, tweeting is public), like Hancock said, I do feel some kind of way about this. While I personally don't use the word (too much), I understand where it comes from and it's use. Hear it all time. There are some rap songs in which I hear it's use in a positive light, although this is back in the 80's. I hope that someday in my lifetime the outrage from use of this word (by anybody) will minimize it's use.
But then again, I'm still looking for my 40 acres and mule.
