I was actually trying to avoid this — mostly because, in all honesty, I have no idea who this person is or even really what sport he plays — but I’ve had enough of you email me about it that it’s clear you guys want to talk about it.
Here’s Dallas Mavericks star Josh Howard, being videotaped during the national anthem at a game. “‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is going on,” he says. “I don’t celebrate this shit. I’m black.” Then there’s some muttering about Obama.
Discuss.
I’m so confused. Black people don’t “celebrate” being American? I get it when people from other countries don’t care but if you’re from here then… I don’t know. I’m confused by his statement.
Beet, thought you would be all over this; regardless that you don’t know who he was… now u do… multi-millionaire US athlete bitching about America just because he’s black; hit the genetic lottery with skills and bitches about Obama too; mumbled something about ‘house N” i think… was on ESPN. BTW, his team will have a meeting on how to talk and not to talk.. in his case, don’t ever talk; before the season starts… what, they can’t drag his ass in now?
dude, i’m white, and i don’t “celebrate” that shit either. go figure.
Call me insane, but I still get a little teary eyed saying the pledge or singing the anthem. I’m proud to live here. I feel blessed to have been born here.
Maybe we should have him paid in pesos or something instead of the gazillions of American dollars he probably makes…JERK.
in that familiar category of :- who needs enemies when ya got …….etc etc.
yet another great asset in your corner , eh OB??
Hmm. Why would a black person in America not celebrate “America”? Maybe because they are here by virtue of their ancestors being forcibly taken from their homelands, held in the bottom of a ship and then enslaved, with women being raped by owners, children taken and sold and any semblance of family life prohibited by the threat and performance of violence. This was a massive genocide with which we have not yet reckoned. 10 to 12 million people who were enslaved, with over 2 million dying just in the trip over the sea from Africa to the Americas.
When freed in the US, they were given no compensation, material or otherwise, for their time or trouble or trauma. Instead, they were abandoned to the whims of a racist and violent public by the government of the US, who chose national consolidation over racial justice. In the hundred years after that, America was essentially an apartheid state, where lynchings and other forms of violence were used to regulate the behavior of black persons, the rights, protections and freedoms of the law were not offered to black citizens — voting & running for office were prohibited, most forms of movement were prohibited, owning land and your own labor were prohibited, just to name the most obvious and egregious ways that the US was not a welcoming place for African Americans. After the end of legalized segregation IN THE 1960s, it wasn’t exactly celebration time — we still have redlining of places where people can live, job discrimination, the worst schools and health care for black people, just to name a few of the ripple effects of racism. We see the most pernicious effects of systemic racism in our contemporary culture, though,in our prisons, where African Americans represent a disproportionate number of people in jail. There are over 4 million African Americans incarcerated in the US at the moment (we have more people in prison than that great dictatorship China even — so much for celebrating our freedom), with 1 in 9 African American men in jail, many for non-violent drug crimes under the deeply flawed and racist Rockefeller drug laws. The creation of the pipeline for African Americans from slavery to poverty to incarceration in the US is well documented history.
If this was your history, maybe you wouldn’t be so eager to yell god bless America. Kind of like Irish people don’t go around singing “Hail Britannia” and thanks for that famine, and Jews don’t sing songs of praise to Hitler. Lots of times you don’t love your oppressors, in fact, you think they’re oppressive.
re; wakeup
hey, when obama’s president are we still gonna have to listen to this stupid shit? enough already.
Let me get this straight, he admits on the radio that he smokes weed and now he admits to hating America? I guess you can say this is when keeping it real goes wrong. Josh Howard’ is hoping Obama’s Campaign for Change only involves bong water.
Hey Josh, black history month is in February and I don’t celebrate that shit. I’m American!
I know this will sound redundant, but he really is a total and complete ignorant a-hole. For the 2 minutes it takes to listen to the National Anthem, he could take just a little time to think about all of the people who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice so that he and all the rest of us could retain the freedoms that we have in this country. And that freedom includes allowing over-sized clowns like himself to make absurd salaries. If it wasn’t for those who spilled their blood over the past couple of centuries to retain a free market economy, he’d probably be sweeping the floor at Wal-Mart.
He needs to get over the black pride B.S. that’s he’s been brainwashed with and learn some respect for what really matters.
Good thing for him that receiving a high salary doesn’t require having a high IQ.
Wow, evilbeet, I get moderated for writing a factual, historically accurate post, postulating why maybe just maybe African Americans might not feel awesome about being American all of the time but you let these guys say whatever racist thing that comes to mind? Super.
“If it wasn’t for those who spilled their blood” — you gotta be kidding me with that line. Like those revolutionaries in 1776 who legislated that slaves were 3/5ths of a person? God, Black Folks should just thank their lucky stars for such thoughtful founding fathers, huh. Like the “freedom fighters” who fought the Mexican-American war of aggression to illegally thief away parts of Mexico — including California? Like the freedom fighters of the Spanish American war who invented a threat in Cuba in order to occupy and colonize a foreign territory and the “scary” brown people who lived in it (sound familiar much?)
Tell that story to the African American soldiers who served in WW I and WWII and won extraordinary amounts of medals of honor who returned home only to find Jim Crow.
It’s history, We’re still living it. Don’t forget it.
You white Americans absolutely amaze me. Are you so ignorant of your own history?
Fools with big mouths and substandard levels of intellect come in all colors and all nationalities and are welcomed in the US. Blame it on the motto they refuse to remove from the Statue of Liberty.
Tracy, I’m also confused……… by your statement because it seem like you’re generalizing the entire race of black people based off what “some” do, feel, think, etc.
For the most part we are not ignorant of our history but as you said – it’s history. If someone doesn’t like how things were back then, tough, there’s nothing that can be changed about it now. However, if they don’t like how it is NOW, they can leave. What’s so difficult about that?
re; donkey punch
i know for a fact that no member of my family ever owned a slave, although i tried to buy a midget stripper at a bar one night and couldn’t get the deal closed. it was a white midget stripper though, but i did try to buy her. i was gonna use her as a housekeeper as she could see under the couches much easier than i could. as far as the black/white thing….i think it’s way overdone and stale in most peoples eyes.
re; the national anthem and how blacks feel about it.
they should damn sure be proud they are american instead of chopping each other up with machetes in africa. josh howard wouldn’t last 5 minutes in many parts of rural africa. he’d just be another casualty.
First of all…YOU ROCK CENSORTHIS!!! Thank you for your comments and I agree…
Josh Howard…hopefully you can celebrate getting your ass beat on the football field, because many athletes both black and white will get wind of your ignorant mouth and wipe the field with your anti-celebration bullshit! Rot in hell you ignorant simple minded piece of shit!
@wake up & donkey punch… are you for real? first that was 300 years ago… it’s over…and the history, as in it’s name (though linked to God, as in His Story, have the bastard atheists try to get rid of that too) is all long ago, all history… someone please tell me now how it can be so bad for one race over the other; make your own way.
Where’s Bill Cosby when I need him; and this started with a spoiled, rich, ignorant black man slamming the country and economy that granted him the right to be spoiled, rich and ignorant… he was black all on his own… and then slammed the black man that is hoping to run the country he doesn’t care about. He can leave the country anytime, they play basketball all over the world, go for it.
re; michelle
not much chance of josh howard getting his ass kicked on a football field. he’s a professional basketball player from dallas. just, fyi. otherwise, thanks for the nice comments.
Didn’t black people really start being citizens in this country like in the late sixties, I think that counts for current history. I don’t care for america when it comes to cheesy things like pledges and other crap. I’m glad that i’m here to make loads of money and go back to my country. Thank you America!
oh yeah, one time I went to a baseball game I contiued reading my magazine through the anthem and, I swear the white folks in the crowd wanted to kill me, I swear I wanted to kill them also. I have the right to sit my ass down and ignore that crap. That’s why we have freedom of speech. black people also died for this country, but they died so that their people could be free.
I liked an email that Robin Meade from CNN got this morning in response. It was from a Vietnam veteran who said that he fought for Americans’ right to speak, and that included idiots.
You know, I am often embarrassed to be an American, annoyed at our self-centered natures, incensed that our Government thinks that they have the right to push their values on any nation, etc., but I still sing the anthem with pride. That pride isn’t necessarily of country as much as my ancestors, just a few generations of strong Americans. (If I could choose a home country, I would be Irish btw).
While Mr. Howard is certainly entitled to his opinion the manner in which he expressed it was arrogantly sad. It was an ignorant, self-centered diatribe by a spoiled, over-paid, elitist athlete who should be thankful he lives in a country that has given him the opportunity to be paid millions of dollars for running, jumping and bouncing a ball.
I think Mr. Howard should, given his feelings, leave this country and ply his trade in another that would be a better fit with his philosophy.
While there has been carping about history and history lessons given, I think the lesson that needs to be given is about class, humility and how to keep one’s pie hole shut.
Yep…That’s it…I Decided.
EO
> first that was 300 years ago… it’s over…and the history
You may think it is history but I doubt you would think that if you weren’t white.
Even though blacks fought and died in WW2 for your freedom they were still treated like slaves by whites. That was only about 62 years ago.
“Whites Only” seats on the bus, drinking fountains, restaurants, and schools weren’t that long ago.
Even today Conservatives play dirty games to keep black votes from being counted at election time.
It is easy to have a short memory when your skin is white.
I don’t believe in the anthem. I don’t believe in half of the things that this country stands for, because this country stands for nothing anymore! The patriotic act was the final straw. I got a copy of the 1,000 page piece of mess and cold not understand a single thing. We have no sense of privacey whats so ever in this country. We live in a selfish country tha consumes large amounts of food,drugs, sex, and a fake sense of tolerance for others. Americans are some of the most ill informed and just almsot stupid ideas of freedom that no longer exist. You can praise your red, white, and blue all you want to while gas prices rise, our soldiers are being killed over a sense dream, and the american dream our homes are being forclosed because of greed. Take a look at your country, it’s in a state of emergency while you panic over terrorism when we are the terrorist of the world.
i’m so pissed, I have enough typos to make my english teacher upset. Oh well!
I just want to reply to an earlier post that I missed:
> should be thankful he lives in a country that has given him the opportunity to be paid millions of dollars for running, jumping and bouncing a ball.
Yes, he should be happy bouncing balls for your entertainment. God forbid if he gets thoughts of doing something else otherwise he might get called “uppity” as Obama was.
@donkey punch… ohhh please, “uppity”, lol… Obama is well spoken, inexperienced, no accomplishments and has no defined vision; but never uppity… Now Josh Howard, definitely…and anyone can be uppity… not profiling, like you were spinning the posts.
If you want to slam America, yes, it is your right, and yes, as earlier stated, soldiers died for idiots too; love it, praise it, hate it; America is here and is the country everyone wants to be… exiting is allowed.
re; donkey punch (It is easy to have a short memory when your skin is white.)
ummm…what were we talking about?
The USA might suck, but it sucks a whole lot less than anywhere else. ‘Nuff said.
everyone is illiterate in the ‘hood anyway and i don’t think it’s a requirement to know the pledge or anthem when you’re in prison anyway. hahaha. i’m so sick of the race card. get over it.
Wow. Who knew some idiot would inspire such racism. Makes me cringe a little. You can read some of these posts and know the race problem is still alive and well in this country. As is sexism (just throwing that in there, I haven’t seen any sexist comments on this posts. It’s just something that’s still around and is illustrated in the simple fact that we still can’t get an equal pay for equal work bill passed).
It sucks “a whole let less than ANYWHERE else” Veronica? I think not. I’ll stay in Canada thanks.
Wow. I like when people bash the way blacks are treated in America. Yes. America has a past were blacks were abused and enslaved. Yes it happened. Great. Now. Can we move on? I mean really?
Where did the black slaves come from? Oh yeah. They were primarily captured and sold to the white slavers by, oh, what was it, oh yeah, *other* black tribesmen who conquered their village, and took the survivors as property. But hey, what do I know?
I know I’m part black, and I know how I get treated by other people, black, white or other. I know I get treated better than some of the people I work with, but worse than others. I have eyes to see that this “discrimination” isn’t based on what I look like, but rather, on what I do or don’t do. I accept responsibility for my behavior, as well as the fruits of my labors. I’m one of the highest paid in my division, due to a combination of tenure and hard work.
It’s this attitude of “oh we had it so bad, and no one’s made it up to us” that gets everyone else sick and tired of hearing it. Is *every* black person in America the descendant of a slave? Not bloodly likely. Quit acting like something that happened generations ago is why you’re being held down. Go to school. Stay off the drugs. Obey the law. Maybe that’ll keep some of the as yet unjailed blacks *out* of jail. Josh Howard is an idiot. If he doesn’t “celebrate that shit, because I’m black” he can choose to go live in another country. The fact that he doesn’t tells me that he likes to be able to talk shit about America, but doesn’t have the balls to go live somewhere else.
Donkey Punch …. you’re a hateful little thing aren’t you? Too much of the Rev. Wright?
in times like this, while facing the harsh reality of racial divisions, i think we should turn to the comfort of a brilliant and inspired black leader:
“Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!’ “
Hahah censorthis:
Wise words indeed. Can this argument end now? I think you’ve said it all.
Josh Howard is being oppressed by no one … let’s make that perfectly clear.
WTF CHUCK!
Wow, If you’re part black you should be beat down for that dumb ass statement you made. It has so much more to do with slavery! have you even studied post slavery laws? Do you know when black people got the right to vote, do you know when we got the right to buy homes in all white areas, do you even know when we were able to get decent jobs. Lets just say it hasn’t even touched 50 years since we got our rights, that’s current history, read a book!
I should be beat down because I refuse to blame someone else for my failures? Man. I must be a miserable human being, because I’m willing to responsibility for myself, and refuse to let the spectre of the past haunt my daily activities. Then again, it takes all kinds.
I’m so sick of this bullshit. No matter how blacks were treated in this country in the past, this place is now a fucking cakewalk compared to Africa.
You think America was the only country involved in black slavery? Take a look at your beloved “motherland”.
“It has become clear that the enslavement of black Africans did not stop with the demise of the Atlantic Slave Trade. That on this very day and hour, as you read this, black Africans are bought and sold in two North African countries. In the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, black Africans continue to be enslaved by their Arab-Berber masters.
The enslavement of black Africans has existed in Mauritania for many centuries.” – taken from raceandhistory.com
wtf chuck?! – I like you. You use logic.
WTF Chuck
Ok uncle Tom we get it! you don’t think racism exist today and you date white women. Good for you, can’t wait till you get a reality check in your color blind world, because you seem to think that color doesn’t matter in this perfect world. the only people who agree with you here are white! Good luck to that one. Always a lost soul. No one told you to not to live out your dreams, but know your history! Get over it isn’t enough! sorry!
you don’t seem to know much about American history and how those things that happened so long in your mind don’t have an impact on people today! read a book please and figure out the impact of how it felt to be a low class citizen because of your skin tone. Understand why some blacks, even the older ones will not stand up and pledge. You act like that pain doesn’t get passed on to their children and grandchildren. I know people who are 48 and a little older who remember jim crow, but I guess they are extra old since it happend so long ago. Of course white people don’t give a damn! It never happened to them! lol! common sense! I still hope you get get your tail beat down.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FTW!!!
i believe in people owning their faults and taking responsibility for their own actions, bad and good. however, if you are going to discuss the actions of a group of people, in this case American blacks, you cannot ignore the context in which these actions take place. this context was articulated very well by ‘wake up’.
it is really easy to say that the things that happened to black people in this country are history, that they should just get over it. it is also ignorant. just as we look at the accomplishments of women in the context of their historical (and current in many countries, see Saudi Arabia) oppression, we should look at the accomplishments of blacks in this country in the context of the apartheid they endured until very recently. somebody who is 50 years old is old enough to have been alive when blacks were legally prevented from having the same rights as other americans. i’m sorry, that is not history that is so old it can be ignored.
and saying that the people who sold Africans to slave traders were themselves African is completely irrelevant. that fact has nothing to do with the way those Africans and their descendants have been treated in America.
also, implying that the average person in Africa is running around killing people with machetes is incredibly racist and, more importantly, inaccurate. i think it says more about the way africa is portrayed in the american news media than anything else. we never hear about anything in africa except africans acting in ‘savage’ ways. i’m not saying there isn’t horrible violence in some places in africa, i’m saying that is not the whole picture.
I vote NO to Reparations.
that was simply ignorant…ugghh, why must these athletes continue to to make ridiculous comments that “mysteriously” appear online. WE MUST DO BETTER
As far as history goes, does anybody remember a little war we had called the CIVIL WAR? Remember, back in the 1860’s? The war with the most fatalities in American history? Seems that I recall from my AMERICAN history classes that a lot of men (white and black) gave their lives to end slavery.
Josh Howard is just young and ignorant. Someday he’ll appreciate his current situation.