The man "doth protest too much".

OK Grant and Jalen, enough already. Grant, did you really have to write a response (in the New York Times of all places) to Jalen's comments? Come on brother, methinks you are a bit too sensitive.

"..it was a sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events, therefore, to see friends narrating this interesting documentary about their moment in time and calling me a bitch and worse, calling all black players at Duke “Uncle Toms” and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me. I should have guessed there was something regrettable in the documentary when I received a Twitter apology from Jalen before its premiere. I am aware Jalen has gone to some length to explain his remarks about my family in numerous interviews, so I believe he has some admiration for them.

In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only “black players that were ‘Uncle Toms,’ ” Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today.

I am beyond fortunate to have two parents who are still working well into their 60s. They received great educations and use them every day. My parents taught me a personal ethic I try to live by and pass on to my children.

I come from a strong legacy of black Americans. My namesake, Henry Hill, my father’s father, was a day laborer in Baltimore. He could not read or write until he was taught to do so by my grandmother. His first present to my dad was a set of encyclopedias, which I now have. He wanted his only child, my father, to have a good education, so he made numerous sacrifices to see that he got an education, including attending Yale.

This is part of our great tradition as black Americans. We aspire for the best or better for our children and work hard to make that happen for them. Jalen’s mother is part of our great black tradition and made the same sacrifices for him.

My teammates at Duke — all of them, black and white — were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court.

It is insulting and ignorant to suggest that men like Johnny Dawkins (coach at Stanford), Tommy Amaker (coach at Harvard), Billy King (general manager of the Nets), Tony Lang (coach of the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins in Japan), Thomas Hill (small-business owner in Texas), Jeff Capel (former coach at Oklahoma and Virginia Commonwealth), Kenny Blakeney (assistant coach at Harvard), Jay Williams (ESPN analyst), Shane Battier (Memphis Grizzlies) and Chris Duhon (Orlando Magic) ever sold out their race." [Article]

Grant, I am going to have to disagree with one person on your list: Billy King. I will leave it at that. But those of you from Philly will know what I am talking about... Still, we get it, you had to defend your family's honor. You also had to defend yourself against accusations of jigging your way through Duke. I defended you last night, (BTW, in that article I referred to Hubert Davis as a Dukie. To all of you Tar heel fans out there, I offer my sincerest apology.) but I cannot defend your response. The whole New York Times thing kind of feels like overkill. I sure hope Coach K didn't give you a call and asked you to pen something. After all, it's not good for recruiting to have even well "polished" young men thinking twice about your school because other folks in their community view it in a negative light.

Finally, I see that a republiclown up in New York has a great idea about how to get you Negroes working again:

"BUFFALO – Jack Davis a congressional candidate caused controversy by saying that Latinos should be deported and African Americans should be bused to farms to pick crops.

Buffalo News reports:

Several sources who were in the Feb. 20 endorsement interview with Davis confirmed his comments, which echo those he made to the Tonawanda News in 2008, when he said: “We have a huge unemployment problem with black youth in our cities. Put them on buses, take them out there [to the farms] and pay them a decent wage; they will work.”' [Source]

Of course they will Mr. Davis. It's not like we aren't going to pay them this time.

Duke's "Uncle Tom" problem.

It's "March Madness" time so this next post is timely.

Let me start by saying that I cannot stand Duke basketball. I hate Coach K and that weasel look he gives the refs when he doesn't get a call. I hate the way they slap their hands on the court before they go into defensive position. I hate those obnoxious fans known as the "Cameron Crazies", I can't stand the way they get their pick of McDonald's All Americans every year, and I hate seeing those four letters on their chests which reminds me of a certain racist I destroyed in a debate once. Having said that; I have to disagree with my man, Jalen Rose.

In case you have been on a different planet, or you don't happen to be a sports fan, Rose ripped the African American kids who go to Duke and called them "Uncle Toms", while he was promoting his excellent documentary about the "Fab Five" on ESPN.

“For me, Duke was personal. I hated Duke. And I hated everything I felt Duke stood for. Schools like Duke didn’t recruit players like me. I felt like they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms.”

He later tried to clarify his position. Kind of.

“Well, certain schools recruit a typical kind of player whether the world admits it or not. And Duke is one of those schools,” he said. “They recruit black players from polished families, accomplished families. And that’s fine. That’s okay. But when you’re an inner-city kid playing in a public school league, you know that certain schools aren’t going to recruit you. That’s one. And I’m okay with it. That’s how I felt as an 18-year-old kid.” [Source]

I love the fact that Jalen is speaking his mind, and the fact that he is addressing the R word in a public forum here in A-merry-ca. (Nothing drives A-merry-cans crazy like the dreaded R word. Watch how some folks go a litte nutty over his comments. ) I just hope he gets to keep his job. Having said that, he really needs to read my Field Negro 101 post. The fact that a kid happens to be from an "accomplished" or "polished" family does not make him an Uncle Tom or a House Negro. Being a House Negro or a Tom has nothing to do with your level of education or your wealth. It's a state of mind. Some of the poorest and most uneducated Negroes have a serious Tom and House mentality. I happen to like Grant Hill. The same goes for guys like Elton Brand, (who has a wonderful wife and does great work with charities here in Philly.) Chris Duhon, Hubert Davis, and Tommy Amaker. They are all "Dukies", but they are cool with me. Nothing about those guys say Tom or House. The truth is, I grew up with more cats like Grant Hill than Jalen Rose, and I am always in a field state of mind. The same is true for quite a few people that I know, and their station in life has nothing to do with it.

Still, in a way, -like some other people- I understand the context in which Rose was making his statement, but we have to be careful not to reinforce ignorant stereotypes when we speak. ---especially when we are public figures like Jalen Rose. Some will take what Rose said this way: To be really black and have your black card, you have to come from a broken home, make poor grades, and grow up in an impoverished environment. That is wrong.

It sure would have been cool if Duke had recruited Rose and he turned them down to go to Michigan. Because that would have meant that he passed all the academic requirements to get into Duke but simply chose not to go. This sounds like sour grapes because he didn't make the grades in the first place.

In the days to come Rose will be vilified by some in certain quarters, (Read some of the comments after the links I gave you.) and that is unfortunate. He simply spoke his mind and said how he felt. I disagree with him, but I am glad he was honest.

I just hope that in the days to come we will be able to say the same of his critics.

Finally, sticking to the sports theme; congrats to the Philly Youth polo team (featured on my side-bar) and their coach, Lezlie Hiner, for wining the USPA Championship down in Virginia this past weekend. That is serious field Negro behavior. Oh, and it gets better: one of the players on the team will be heading to Cornell in the fall.

Leave him alone Jalen. It's Cornell, not Duke.