Is "Thug" an overused term with racial undertones?

Superfreak said:
By all means, enlighten us as to what a white player would have been called... do tell.
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Probably a punk or a brat or something like that. McEnroe & Connors were never called thugs, even though they had similar public personas.

The thing is, I don't think Sherman's behavior was "thuggish," so the use of the word in this case does at least hint of racism. I genuinely don't think it would be used for a white Richard Sherman.
 
Darla said:
Superior seems to be your word du jour...sounds like an inferiority complex you are struggling with. Maybe you need to get your man card repunched! You know like when a married couple if feeling angsty and they have their vows renewed! You could have a repunching ceremony.
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Nope, just pointing out the trend of liberals on the board trying to show how superior they feel... which is why we end up inundated with all your nonsense.

But please, don't let me interrupt, do go on telling us what is and isn't racist/sexist etc... it is amusing.
 
Thing1 said:
Probably a punk or a brat or something like that. McEnroe & Connors were never called thugs, even though they had similar public personas.

The thing is, I don't think Sherman's behavior was "thuggish," so the use of the word in this case does at least hint of racism. I genuinely don't think it would be used for a white Richard Sherman.
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ROFLMAO...

1) you think a professional football player... if white... would be called a 'brat'??? Fucking hilarious

2) You use two tennis players as examples? Truly... your comedy is golden
 
Superfreak said:
ROFLMAO...

1) you think a professional football player... if white... would be called a 'brat'??? Fucking hilarious

2) You use two tennis players as examples? Truly... your comedy is golden
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A white football player would probably be called a punk. The tennis guys were the 1st guys I thought of, because they along w/ guys like Ali set the bar for public brashness & trash talk, imo. I tried to give you as thoughtful an answer as I could.

I was trying to think of a white guy in the NFL who has had similar public outbursts, and couldn't really think of anyone offhand. I'd probably have to go back to someone like Bill Romanowski, who actually did PLAY like a thug, in the way that I define it.

You can't deny that there has been racism in the response to Sherman - particularly w/ the "monkey" comments. Thug is just an offshoot of that in this case. Maybe not everyone using it is using it in a racist way, but I think it's at the root of it.

Do you think Sherman acted like a "thug"? In the parlance I use for sports, thuggish behavior is dirty/physical play - not brash talk.
 
Thing1 said:
Didn't read through all of the responses, but I've gotta believe that if Richard Sherman was white, "thug" wouldn't be the word people would be using. A white Richard Sherman would still get criticized, but not the same way.
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What would a racist like you know?
 
Thing1 said:
A white football player would probably be called a punk. The tennis guys were the 1st guys I thought of, because they along w/ guys like Ali set the bar for public brashness & trash talk, imo. I tried to give you as thoughtful an answer as I could.
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Fair enough... a hint though... next time think of hockey... probably find more thugs there than tennis. Just sayin'

I was trying to think of a white guy in the NFL who has had similar public outbursts, and couldn't really think of anyone offhand. I'd probably have to go back to someone like Bill Romanowski, who actually did PLAY like a thug, in the way that I define it.
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Perfect example of a thug. Richie Incognito... another.

You can't deny that there has been racism in the response to Sherman - particularly w/ the "monkey" comments.
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I never said that there wasn't racism. Hell, people dropped the n bomb on him for it.

Thug is just an offshoot of that in this case. Maybe not everyone using it is using it in a racist way, but I think it's at the root of it.
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That is nonsense. While some are certainly racist and will be regardless of whether they say thug, the n word, monkey etc..., the majority use the word thug as they have in the past. For the behavior. Not the color of skin. Even in the black community, the word thug denotes the BEHAVIOR.

Do you think Sherman acted like a "thug"? In the parlance I use for sports, thuggish behavior is dirty/physical play - not brash talk.
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No. I do not. But I do understand those who don't/haven't played sports thinking that. If you have never been amped up on adrenaline like that, you don't get it and you likely never will. He came off as over the top, in your face and he demeaned another player. In the context he went after Crabtree, I understand why that was personally satisfying to rip into him. Crabtree had been talking crap about Sherman. Sherman returned fire. Everyone saw the second shot... few, at least at the time, knew about the first.

I see both sides of it, personally I love how Sherman responded, but for people to proclaim that the word thug is now racist is moronic at best...
 
Superfreak said:
Fair enough... a hint though... next time think of hockey... probably find more thugs there than tennis. Just sayin'

Perfect example of a thug. Richie Incognito... another.
I never said that there wasn't racism. Hell, people dropped the n bomb on him for it.

That is nonsense. While some are certainly racist and will be regardless of whether they say thug, the n word, monkey etc..., the majority use the word thug as they have in the past. For the behavior. Not the color of skin. Even in the black community, the word thug denotes the BEHAVIOR.

No. I do not. But I do understand those who don't/haven't played sports thinking that. If you have never been amped up on adrenaline like that, you don't get it and you likely never will. He came off as over the top, in your face and he demeaned another player. In the context he went after Crabtree, I understand why that was personally satisfying to rip into him. Crabtree had been talking crap about Sherman. Sherman returned fire. Everyone saw the second shot... few, at least at the time, knew about the first.

I see both sides of it, personally I love how Sherman responded, but for people to proclaim that the word thug is now racist is moronic at best...
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As I said, I didn't read though the whole thread. If people are saying that "thug" in general is a racist word, that's absurd. But par for the course as far as JPP is concerned.

Personally, I do see some racism in it w/ regard to Sherman - I just don't think it would be used on a white player, though I see your point about people who aren't familiar with sports.

When I 1st saw the outburst, I was kind of mortified, but now I kind of love how he responded that way. It beat the hell out of the usual cliched response, and was extremely entertaining. I also think it reflects how he plays the game, and he was still in that "mode."

I have a huge amount of respect for the guy after reading his background. People are making too much of it.
 
Thing1 said:
As I said, I didn't read though the whole thread. If people are saying that "thug" in general is a racist word, that's absurd. But par for the course as far as JPP is concerned.

Personally, I do see some racism in it w/ regard to Sherman - I just don't think it would be used on a white player, though I see your point about people who aren't familiar with sports.

When I 1st saw the outburst, I was kind of mortified, but now I kind of love how he responded that way. It beat the hell out of the usual cliched response, and was extremely entertaining. I also think it reflects how he plays the game, and he was still in that "mode."

I have a huge amount of respect for the guy after reading his background. People are making too much of it.
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I would agree that people are making too much of it. Listen to Erin's response to people who have asked her what she thought of it... very similar to your latter opinion. it was awesome, in the moment, he spoke his mind instead of regurgitating cliches.
 
aeprga said:
Incognito is a thug. What I think would be more informative are examples of white guys who aren't thugs being slapped with that label. That's what we've got here with Sherman.
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Again... what Sherman did could easily be seen as thuggish by those that have never experienced that adrenaline rush. He was loud, abrasive and demeaned another player... Taken out of context... it is understandable.
 
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