>> 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 alignmen

>> 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.