since last night, and I feel a need to get the shit off my chest before I head out to my nine to five plantation.
First, I heard former NFL great Jim Brown on a local sports talk radio program last night, and I am going to have to revoke Jim's field Negro card for now. The shit he said about the Rutgers basketball dust up with Don Imus wasn't cool, and although I have some respect left for Mr. Brown, I have to call him on it. Mr. Brown basically said that the Rutgers controversy was no big deal, and he thought Don Imus was basically right. He thought the women from Tennessee were pretty and the ones from Rutgers were not. Brown went on to take issue with the modern African American athlete and their apathy towards political ans social issues (we agree on that one) and was all over Tiger Woods (more on him in a minute) for the way he handled this latest...ahem ahem, little racial problem in A-merry-ca. To Brown, the Golf Chanel's host an dher lynching comment is far more serious than the Rutgers incident and should have be treated as such.
Again, I think Brown was a great player, and I love the work he did with inner city gangs in L.A. But Jim never had the greatest reputation when it comes to the treatment of women, and I think some of his previous issues might have tainted his perspective here.
Now the second thing that keeps bothering me, is this shit with Tiger and the Golf Channel. I honestly thought the shit was over. Girlfriend got suspended for two weeks, Tiger's sorry ass basically said through his agent that it was no big deal, and A-merry-ca was ready to move on.
But then some dumb ass Golf magazine chooses to put a noose on their cover, and Tiger, being Tiger, felt the need to make yet another statement saying it's no big deal ("Kelly [Tilghman]is a friend and I saw no malicious intent in her remark..."). Yeah whatever Tiger. I used to cheer for your sorry ass in all those tournaments, because I admired your skills. But fuck you! I hope you never win another tournament on the PGA Tour. And real field Negroes like Vijay Singh, out drives and out putts your sorry ass every weekend from here on out.
Oh, and another thing, can we get another spokes person besides Al Sharpton for these types of issues? I think he is becoming irrelevant.
I'm off to fight this Philly traffic.
Hey I'm from Cleveland and we love Jim Brown, but Jim is a misogynist. If it was an all boys team he'll be all over it. About Sharpton , every day he goes on Fox and gives credibility to Hannity and Oreilly, he loses his credibility. Now if i'm in trouble , I would still call him,(if I couldn't get Jesse Jackson not Peterson)
ReplyDeleteField if we want to finished strong and not tarnished our image we need to shut up.( Jim Brown )before he lose all creditable with black people.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to chose between Jesse and Al it would be Al hands down.
~
ReplyDeleteMayhap, El Tigre is a mis-educated Negroe, and does not know of the historical use of the noose with respect to the North American Negroe:
“Listen Nigger,” … “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” … “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny."
Curley's wife, John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
Jim Brown likes his black women to have 'good hair'. You know, like your girl Lark Voorhies.
`
Kid amd jbrok,what does that say about the struggle if those are our choices?
ReplyDeleteNsangoma,what exactly "good hair"as someone who has none,I thought people thought all hair was "good". Besides,can't women just buy whatever hair they want to now? How do you know that Lark doesn't wear a weave?
Field, I went to high school in Maryland and Lacrosse is BIG here. The white boys used to sweat me until I told their dumb asses that Jim Brown was all american in lax at Syracuse. Football in the fall, lax in the spring. And yeah, Morgan state had a team, too. Almost beat Hopkins once. Of course, Tiger wouldn't give a crap about that. He is an uncle tom and, like OJ, we should have never embraced him. His dad infused this into him--like so many black servicemen who've gone overseas and said hey, I'm gonna get me a nice compliant, grateful Japanese/Korean/Filipino chick ("Soul Brudduh too beaucoup!"). Jim Brown wasn't Frederick Douglass, but he was aware and tried to speak out when it was right to do so. Vijay may be a sexist, arrogant coolie-mon, but he has balls, and I respect that. I have never like Tiger, and white folks must be so damn racist that they can't embrace his cooning.
ReplyDeletePS--check out the Boondocks clip on my blog. BET has banned it, and they can kiss my ass.
Now hold on there just a minute Mr. Field. If you're going to make Vijay Singh an Indian dude from Figi a field negro, who else has a shot at it? A farm boy from WV?
ReplyDeleteAs for Sharpton. I find him to be one of the most spot on commentators I hear. I don't watch Faux News, so I don't catch him there. That is distressing that he'll take a check from them, but he still. . . awww geez, I can't help it I gotta use the word. . . "articulates" the issues as well or better than anyone. He really gets a bad rap from the main stream racist press. No sense you piling on.
Regarding the golf announcer, I feel like there's this big uproar because people want to make "lynch" a dirty word... which just makes it easier for people to deny and ignore history.
ReplyDeleteI heard the local white sports talk radio show this morning talking about how it's an "ugly word" and shouldn't be used. WTF? Lynching is an ugly act and an UGLY PART OF OUR HISTORY that we shouldn't try to deny away.
I'm not saying this announcer was trying to take a stand in favor of racial equality. I just think she got caught using an expression that embarrasses people.
Hi FN,
ReplyDeleteMr Brown is not the only one who has made a statement in support of Don Imus. Damon Wayans said basically the same thing on T he View recently and (Alleged) comedian DL Hughley made similar remarks on the Tonight Show last year.
Mysygyny runs deep in some parts of African America.
Tiger is doing what we all should be doing, ignoring these useless taunts by the media. Whether the media is racist, or not in this regard isnt in Tigers best interest as an athlete. He needs to remain focused and on top of his game. The race baiters are just a "blip" on the screen in my book. We as African Americans continue to fight the wrong fight!..I mean really... how is this issue going to enhance the quality of life in our communities. The Imus fiasco was the same thing,.."Oh my God,how can this white guy say this about our sistas,let's get him!!!!"..well he said it the same way 2-live crew said it, and how Red and Method said it!..We have to respect ourselves before anyone else will...
ReplyDeleteOpps.....Should be misogyny....
ReplyDeleteI'm going to play devil's advocate and say whatever happened to live and let live. The person who was wronged decided that it wasn't worth all the fuss. Who am I to argue with this man? Why is it my business? Especially when most of you have expressed that Tiger really isn’t a 'Brother'. Are we ever going to get away from being shook up every time somebody says some word or action that reminds us evil times. Yeah, I get that people don't think before they make some insipid comment that once said can't be taken back (at least I know not to deal with them). I didn't hear black folks condemning Janet for exposing her goodies for our little ones to view (Or have they seen them before on the same TV set), we just wrote it off as a dumb mistake which was all it really was. Am I suppose to call Al when a co-worker says to me "Hey can you fetch my print outs with yours". I don't want my white friends having to feel like they have to walk around on egg shells whenever I come around. Maybe I will write a book 'Sensitive Terms to Avoid for Dummies' so as not to offend different ethnic groups. Just trying to understand.
ReplyDeleteKodiack, I'm with you. I think we as a people are using diversionary means to avoid looking at ourselves. How many times have I turned on BET or TVone and some comedian is tearing into some white person in the audience. I am yet to see them lose their cool, because they have knowledge and love of self. We get all bent out of shape about the same things we say about each other. My next book 'Who stole the soul of black folks'. We use respect each other; you weren't my N!@@a. You were my brother or sister. We don't respect our women; we finally bought into the American ideal woman. Now they don't even respect themselves; so for every sister who does respect herself and demands respect there is a dozen who don't and will accept disrespect. I am not placing this all on the sisters because we all have black mothers. How can we disrespect what brought us here. But I will say that if all of our beautiful sisters would demand respect our men will be respectable because we have to have some of that black love. Sisters don't accept less even if you have to be alone.
ReplyDeleteThis is the SAME Jim Brown who has bragged about not knowing how many babies he has made over the years.
ReplyDeleteThe SAME Jim Brown who poses a definite threat to women, mostly black women. He BEATS women and has been doing so for years.
This is the SAME Jim Brown who threw a woman off a balcony.
What do you expect from an idiot?
What we need to have is the "Field Negro Bureau of African American Experts" . Only those folks certified by this bureau should be listened to regarding issues of race. Seriously,we have far too many irrelevant celebrities who spout ignorance. Jim Brown was a great football player but has a history of violence against women.He should stick to football.
ReplyDelete^^ co-sign, Tiffany!
ReplyDeleteI'm only sorry that someone is still giving Jim Brown a platform to speak about anything that has to do with women. His track record should be all the speaking he has to do on the subject anymore. I give him credit for being the football player he was and also for his work with gangs and troubled youth. Hopefully he can keep his comments focused on those issues in the future.
ReplyDeleteI know that Jim Brown has serious issues with women, but I call bullshit on the idea that it's inherently racist and sexist for Brown, Hughley, and Wayans to say that they don't find the women on the Rutgers basketball team attractive.
ReplyDeleteWhat, everybody must believe that all black women are beautiful? Why on earth would strong black women would need to be told that every one of them (no matter how busted) is the embodiment of physical perfection? Are they that fragile? Why should anyone care whom supposed racists, misogynists, and other assorted assholes find attractive? What happened to personal taste, different strokes, and all that jazz?
I don't even think the problem is that these men believe it; I think it's that they said it in public before a white gaze. The dirty laundry model was never as strong as people remember, but one thing is certain: it's dead nowadays.
gordon, gordon, gordon.... where to begin? with the leap from not enjoying being called a nappy-headed ho to demanding that everyone everywhere consider all of us the embodiment of physical perfection (talk about a Jim Brown physical feat of heroics!)? With the expression of surprise (and disgust) that black women, after three centuries of denigration of their bodies, beauty and sexuality, should be, yes, a little fragile? With the idea that the whole sordid Imus fuss was about who he finds attractive, and not soooooooo much more? (And I, by the way, thought the whole thing a ridiculous distraction from real and present concerns. But that's a far cry from dismissing what he said the reasons he -- perhaps subconsciously -- said it).
ReplyDeleteOh well.
Nsangoma,what is" good hair"as opposed to bad hair?And isn't hair a non-issue since everyone can buy their own.Lark might be wearing a weave for all I know.
ReplyDeleteYas segac....and chris I am going with the "coolie" over Mr.Sellout,he has game too.
And plugg,pleaase tell me why I should have a problem with Janet's breast again?
Wait. Field, when and why did you ever like Tiger? When his ass disowned us with that Cabla-whatever bs, I gave up on him then and there. Your mom is Asian and your dad was Black, Tiger. There is no Caucasian in that equation!
ReplyDeleteKodack and Plugg, I'm gone have to disagree if only for one point. While I do agree that we are phucked up in Black America, I don't think we should let white people slide to the side everytime the make a "mistake" and say the wrong thing out loud. If someone says anything negative about Jews or Gays, their career is done with no questions asked. Isaiah took his ass to rehab and still the brother can barely get a job while Imus has a brand new job with a better paycheck than he was getting at NBC. What does that say to you? Why is it okay for black people to continually be debased and devalued at the expense of others?
It's one thing to say Tennessee has better looking players, quite another to be a racist & mysogynist. Anyway, that's not how great coaches recruit. The most attractive college starting lineup probably has a record of 2-16. My team is 16-2 & is ranked 5th. Now that's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHello Janine,
ReplyDeleteSlow down. I didn't make that big leap--others did, and that's my problem. Look at the reaction to the black public figures who agreed that they found the women unattractive. They didn't say these women were "hoes" like Imus did. They're called sellouts who are "brainwashed by Eurocentric standards of beauty that yields 'white/light is right' and 'good hair'." They're called misogynists simply because they also think these women look busted.
My reaction is neither one of surprise nor disgust. I don't think black women are really that fragile as to be concerned with what these random assholes think (Do you know a single black woman who is actually concerned about Imus? If so, I'd like to meet her). Some black women perform this kind of public fragility for other black women, black men, and white people.
At least we can agree that the Imus was a pointless distraction.
I went to S.U. and Jim Brown came to speak at one of our black alum events. One sister did ask about his history of beating up women and he looked at her like he was going to kick her ass.
ReplyDeleteI agree he was an amazing player but I can't take anything he says about women seriously.
Field you know many folks still talk about "good" hair. I live in L.A. I have had brothers tell me to my face, I need to straighten my hair (I have a natural).
One said this to me after we saw each other at Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" premiere. ha
I am not going to miss living here at all.
Grown, we give them power because we disrespect ourselves. If you have a problem with what people say about black people or how we are treated, don't put any life into it (money, time, or energy) when we have more pressing issues to deal with at home. We continue to debase ourselves by continuing to pour money into Hollywood that continues to portray black folks in a negative fashion but we justify it by saying its reality. Shut em' down. I use to frequent the Oriental Chop Suey places and Oriental clothing stores in my home town of East Saint Louis; but I felt that because they didn't respect us by not providing a nice eating area, by serving us through little hole in the wall, and they would follow me around their stores, I should boycott their establishments. But then I saw that that they were justified to do these things by the actions of some of my brothers and sisters who acted like fools. Hell even the Black establishments did the same. So where was my foundation to point the accusing finger at them (I really wanted too)? We have to respect ourselves if want anyone to respect us and all the marching & grandstanding only further makes us look like hypocrites and fools.
ReplyDelete"Vijay may be a sexist, arrogant coolie-mon..."
ReplyDeleteThat he is Chris. Im glad you and Fieldie here can see past that to some of his other, better, qualities, but I just cant. I cant stand Vijay and Im sorry that Field thought he should be considered for "Field Negro" status.
L
Janine for President!!! Would you mind sharing how you actually figured out where to start when dealing with gordon gartrelle's comments. My immediate response to such an extreme lack of awareness is always overwhelming despair...Just want to sit in a dark corner and hum negro spirituals or something...
ReplyDeleteUm, Gordon ... I believe you have misrepresented completely the .....
ReplyDeleteWait. My bad. I forgot that arguing with some folks on the web is like wrestling a pig .... everyone gets dirty, only the pig likes it.
Never mind.
You all need to understand some things:
ReplyDelete(1) Tiger Woods was NOT raised as a Black Man. Therefore, his pappy failed to teach him about the incidents that Black Men face, such as being harassed by the Po-po; finding a noose in your workspace, or finding a burning cross on the lawn where you live. He's been quite insulated, and there was even a report that as a five-year old growing up in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, Tiger's school mates decided to play a real-life version of "hangman" and draped that noose around his neck.
THAT was when Earl Woods failed to do his job as a father and teach his son that a noose was not for playing with.
(2) The failure to teach Tiger thar despite his being of Black, Thai, Caucasian heritage, he does not have the complexion for the protection - his skin is NOT as white as his wife's. Therefore, when encountering the police, or racist Golf channel hosts like Kelly Tilghman, to Tiger, to joke about lynching, would not be that big a deal to him, because he has failed to learn his history. If Earl had taught his son about the meaning of lynching, it WOULD have been a very BIG DEAL, and he could have demanded Tilghman lose her job behind those remarks.
(3) Jim Brown quit being relevant when he started dating 19 year old co-eds from Howard University, and his ass was going on 40 at the time; then he started beating up on his women when they wouldn't do what he said or wanted. He's too stupid to realize that it wasn't about how attractive the Rutgers' Women's B-ball team was - it was the fact that a white man was calling them "nappy-headed Hoes". So, I guess Jim Brown goes the way of D. L. Hughley and any other Handkerchief Head trying to defend Imus' remarks - what they say about the sistas at Rutgers reflects what they basically think of all sistas not light, bright and damned near white, with keen features and "good" hair.
(4) Tiger Woods will not come out for anything relating to civil rights or affirmative action for the same reason Michael Jordan keeps his yap shut - THEY DON'T WANT TO GET THOSE CHECKS CUT OFF AND THE ENDORSEMENTS DRYING UP. Between a choice of getting paid and being Sambo, versus putting it down in the Fields and not getting paid, but standing on principle, Tiger has shown us where his loyalties lie. He has no connection to the struggle of Black people, and would probably look like Fat Albert used to do on Saturday mornings when Russell came up with a simple idea that was too complicated for Fat Albert to understand.
It's like putting lipstick on a pig regarding Tiger Woods and race; it frustrates YOU and pisses off THE PIG.
Hope you got through traffic in one piece, Field.
Anonymous, if anything, I'm hyper-aware.
ReplyDeleteJanine, Why the antagonism? I'm not trolling.
Vijay Singh is a field negro??!! He refused to play in the PGA tournament when they allowed Annika Sorenstam to play simply because she's a woman. Definitely not field negro material in my book!
ReplyDeleteI've never been a fan of Jim Brown or Tiger Woods.
ReplyDeleteWoods' reaction to the lynching comment didn't surprise me. If he made a fuss about it, he would have alienated his white fans (and endorsements).
I don't remember exactly what was said, but Vijay made some rather hostile remarks about Tiger, when he first come on the scene. I think Vijay thought that he should had been acknowledge as overcoming color on the PGA tour. There were other outright racist statements made toward him at that time. From what I understand, he was treated like a Negro by his classmate growing up in Florida. So he has been exposed and aware of racism.
ReplyDeleteHe has always reminded people of the the first blacks on the tour, and his foundation has educational programs that I think are on target. Wish I knew if the black community was leaning on him to start one here.
Vijay is a devoted family man who has been with his wife forever.
ReplyDeleteHis issues with Sorenson wasn't so much about sexism as it was about jealousy of all the attention she was getting.
But I get the concern about him being declared a FN. So let's just go ahead and put him on the patio for now :)
christ prog. I love how you put it down about our boy Tiger.
gordon, I don't think anyone here sees you as a troll.
And janine is just being passionate about her position. I respect her sharp wit and e-fighting skills :)
But you both are always welcome in the fields, and all of us reading appreciate the stuff you put down.
Never listen to Philly sports radio...ever. You will be a much happier person for doing so
ReplyDeleteKodiak said:
ReplyDelete"We as African Americans continue to fight the wrong fight!..I mean really... how is this issue going to enhance the quality of life in our communities."
Kodiak, I think it's all a part of the same fight. I know that it seems like a distration from the meat and potato issues of the day, but if we don't stand up and demand respect, the "stew" may end up a lot weaker than we want it to be.
I say fight on many fronts. The enemy is watching and will exploit any breach in our amor.
Did I mix my metaphors? Oh, What the hell!
I agree that it sounds like Jim Brown is on the side of all things for "black men" and not black women per se. The fact that he mentioned their looks as reason enough for them and a whole group of women behind them to be insulted shows his misogyny.
ReplyDeleteAs for the noose on the cover, now I honestly did not find a problem with that because the editors didn't do it to upset black people. At the very least, they can't be that daft to do that after the year we had last year. I think they did it for shock value to their readers, who I believe are mostly white, and to get readers as well as to illustrate what she said.
Be careful with Tiger , we don't wont him going to see Micheal Jacksons Doctor, I would just like to ask him which one of his parents did he get that blond hair from. I remember him on (real people) back in the day he was a 4 year old (Black) kid who hit golf balls really good. His buddy Sir.Charles talks the talk as well but he continues to recycle white women must be the good hair. Those two brothers who stood up at the 72 Olympics have been the only sport figures that ever represented ME.
ReplyDelete"Those two brothers who stood up at the 72 Olympics have been the only sport figures that ever represented ME."
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
Field, Field, Field, you got it all wrong about VJ. He is a first class dick. When Annika Sorenstam was playing in some mens events he had a huge problem with a woman playing on the PGA Tour. He put her down and women down. This guy could not have gotten on to most courses 40 years ago because of his skin color and he was all for exclusivity. Tiger feels how Tiger feels regardless of his "Caublinasian" status. He is a great role model for all and if he thinks she meant no harm whats the problem. Her quote was the young guns might "have to take him in a backalley and lynch him". I didn't know there were trees in alleys. Was she wrong, yeah, she grew up in SC and went to Duke so she knows all about lynching. But Tiger thinks she misspoke and knows her personally, so shouldn't we defer to his judgement since he personally knows the woman.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Tiger alienating whites by acting upset. As an avid golfer an a person who follows the game, Tiger is so far above the game itself that he could do or say anything he wanted without reprecussions. He is the most dominant athlete and personality in his sport ever.
Jim Brown is a hypocrite, Tiger is his own person.
Field,
ReplyDeleteDoes "that saying" (to which you refer in the Kwame Kilpatrick side bar) go something like, "Don't eat where you sh*t"? or were you being coy in reversing the words?
Anon.5:39PM. It's six of one half dozen of the other I guess :)
ReplyDeleteI actually love my job, so I consider it where I eat. (or where I make my money)Shitting in this case would be f*****g around. I guess it could be the other way around as well. But eating where you shit? That whole "eating" thing is kind of loaded eh? :)
david, I am a hacker too, and I really respect Tiger's game. But I am sorry, forgiving girlfriend is one thing, but coming out and saying she is not a racist? How the hell would he know? I really hate when people do that.
Tiger is running away from his race, just like MJ did, for financial reasons. He wants to be a race neutral figure. But would it kill him to take a stand? I think white people would still respect him (wouldn't you?) and he wouldn't lose one single endorsement.
I agree, he could take a stand, but I don't think its because he's afraid of losing endorsements. Maybe he thinks that this isn't a big enough deal, you know, pick your battles?
ReplyDeleteShes from SC and heard her pappy talking about lynching plenty I'm sure.
She probably doesn't want to go out lynching, but probably pines away for those days when the darkies knew "their place".
tommy smith and juan carlos (the mexico city track/activists) were basically mute. aside from their raising their fists, do any of us claim to know how progressive they were (are) on matters of sex and race? as for jim brown---cut the brotha some slack! sure, he looks good for his age, but remember that he has to be about 70-something by now. men that age usually have lots of sexism in them. jim was useful during his heyday. he represented an articulate, political black male voice during his time in the spotlight. not many black male (or female) athletes doing that today--and PLEASE don't say that magic johnson is! like most of us, he has his contradictions, and god knows he's made some awful missteps. we're all human.
ReplyDeleteGreat, great post.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that if a black woman publicly declared that certain black men were ugly, brothers would be all over her butt. Period. And lord, knows, there are a bunch of brothers in sports and entertainment who are viable candidates for such comments.
ReplyDeleteImus' comments were stupid but I agree with those who said it was a lot of phony outrage. I believe the whole Imus thing was revenge by black journalists who were angry over Imus' years of disrespectful comments about blacks and equally pissed that their white colleagues flocked to be on his show. The fact that he came back on the air with barely a whimper from black folks is proof.
Finally, Tiger Woods and Barack Obama are despised by some black people because they have a non white parent and were proud of ALL of their heritage. How dare them not to be ashamed and disgusted by their white/Asian mothers. They are automatically uncle toms because they are not "authentic negroes." I could barf.
If you ever wanted to know if black people still have a slave mentality, just look at the time we spend talking about this stupid shite and not about things that really matters.