4 ms·

"Magic (Johnson) made white people feel comfortable. With themselves." As a child being bullied by black people, seeing Magic Johnson made me believe what my m

by pcunite 10y ago

"Magic (Johnson) made white people feel comfortable. With themselves." As a child being bullied by black people, seeing Magic Johnson made me believe what my mother taught me, "There is good in all races". Magic proved to me that we could all get along. Some of Kareem's comments in the article I find offensive. However, I forgive you Kareem. I wished you could forgive the white man and see him for what he is ... simply a man. Any man of any color or race has the potential to do great harm to anyone.

rhizome 10y ago
Kareem started college in the Jim Crow era, Magic in the mid-70s. Somewhat different frames of reference.
3131s 10y ago
What offended you? I read the whole article and could only find one even mildly controversial comment: "He was certain that racism wouldn’t die until the racists did, and so was I. What I didn’t tell him was that I hoped it would be soon and that if I could help them along, I would be delighted. I wasn’t quite ready to pick up the gun, but I was intimate with the impulse." But that strikes me more as someone being honest about the hateful impulses that were instilled in him through repeated mistreatment. I see no evidence from the article that Kareem thinks anything negative about white men in general.
- mistermann 10y ago
  I got the impression that he has quite a chip on his shoulder regarding race. I think maybe it's a good thing some people are like this, but maybe not.
  - rhizome 10y ago
    When I think someone's got "a chip on [their] shoulder," I try to step back and check my assumptions. If my rationale includes that many weasel words, I hope to realize that it may not be a thing that actually exists.
- pcunite 10y ago
  >> What offended you? I'm not the perfect example of race issues for everyone and their experiences. But the comment I've quoted below was way out of alignment with my experience during Magic's prime. White people knew full well what black folks had gone through. They were very proud of what Magic was doing and saying. That is why he was liked. He was healing the nation. We could all come together. Later, and maybe because Magic made black guys look nice, white kids wanted to wear Jordan high-top shoes. I said, white kids. In fact, Michael Jackson was the coolest guy in the world at my school. That was my memory of the 80s and I find it offensive to hear something that put down a lot of my friends during this time period. My 2nd grade teacher was black and she made the white kids and black kids feel special. She also gave me a much deserved spanking! A white kid wanted to be black so he did not have to get a tan! But hey, we all have our feelings about the past. I'm just not sure how a much celebrated guy like Kareem can still feel this way. Kareem's comment: "I understood why people liked him," Abdul-Jabbar told me. "He had that great smile, so white people thought his life was O.K. They thought that racism had not affected him. They were wrong, of course." No, we thought Magic was cool because he could forgive others.

by pcunite 10y ago

rhizome 10y ago

Kareem started college in the Jim Crow era, Magic in the mid-70s. Somewhat different frames of reference.

3131s 10y ago

What offended you? I read the whole article and could only find one even mildly controversial comment: "He was certain that racism wouldn’t die until the racists did, and so was I. What I didn’t tell him was that I hoped it would be soon and that if I could help them along, I would be delighted. I wasn’t quite ready to pick up the gun, but I was intimate with the impulse." But that strikes me more as someone being honest about the hateful impulses that were instilled in him through repeated mistreatment. I see no evidence from the article that Kareem thinks anything negative about white men in general.

mistermann 10y ago
I got the impression that he has quite a chip on his shoulder regarding race. I think maybe it's a good thing some people are like this, but maybe not.
- rhizome 10y ago
  When I think someone's got "a chip on [their] shoulder," I try to step back and check my assumptions. If my rationale includes that many weasel words, I hope to realize that it may not be a thing that actually exists.
pcunite 10y ago
>> What offended you? I'm not the perfect example of race issues for everyone and their experiences. But the comment I've quoted below was way out of alignment with my experience during Magic's prime. White people knew full well what black folks had gone through. They were very proud of what Magic was doing and saying. That is why he was liked. He was healing the nation. We could all come together. Later, and maybe because Magic made black guys look nice, white kids wanted to wear Jordan high-top shoes. I said, white kids. In fact, Michael Jackson was the coolest guy in the world at my school. That was my memory of the 80s and I find it offensive to hear something that put down a lot of my friends during this time period. My 2nd grade teacher was black and she made the white kids and black kids feel special. She also gave me a much deserved spanking! A white kid wanted to be black so he did not have to get a tan! But hey, we all have our feelings about the past. I'm just not sure how a much celebrated guy like Kareem can still feel this way. Kareem's comment: "I understood why people liked him," Abdul-Jabbar told me. "He had that great smile, so white people thought his life was O.K. They thought that racism had not affected him. They were wrong, of course." No, we thought Magic was cool because he could forgive others.