Yao Ming
YaoMingYaoMing
Yao Ming
Yao Ming
Aaacchhhh.... It's a maddening little ditty that I CANNOT get out of my head. All day long, people have been talking about the Lakers-Rockets game tonight. Actually, you'd think it was a game of one-on-one. Yao Ming against Shaquille O'Neal. The Shanghai Sensation against the Big Aristotle. Now, if I could just get that damn song out of my head....
I've never been a big Shaquille O'Neal fan, perhaps because I admire finesse more than brute strength when it comes to basketball. Now, I have yet another reason- the man is a bigot.
SHAQUILLE O'Neal's explanation is that he's "an idiot prankster."
That, of course, makes him half right.
There was a time when maybe most of mainstream America would have laughed, or at least snickered, at O'Neal's comments to an Asian reporter about Yao Ming.
There was also a time when Amos 'N' Andy was broadcast on national TV.
Times change. It's about time Shaq did, too.
Most of those who have come to O'Neal's defense bang away at the notion he is simply an overgrown kid.
No. He is a 30-year-old married man, the father of two, with another child on the way.
"Tell Yao Ming, `Ching chong yang wah ah so,' " Shaq said.
No one is suggesting he is a racist, but ignorance is an attribute that also needs light shined upon it if we are going to move forward.
Maybe Trent Lott didn't understand the full, dark meaning of his fateful words when he spoke them. But that makes them all the more insidious if the beliefs are so ingrained.
The same applies to 7-1, 338-pound centers, especially a pop icon whose reach extends far off the court -- to movies and rap albums and product endorsements.
The really sad thing here is that O'Neal doesn't seem to grasp how truly offensive his words were. He seems to think that he can laugh them off as a bumbling attempt to make a joke. Well, OK; how about if John Stockton walked off the practice court one afternoon and said "Tell Shaq..." and then spewed a stream of pseudo-Ebonics?? Can you imagine the outcry? No, I'm not sure that you could. Yet for some reason, the media allows Shaq, an African-American, a free ride when it comes to racial slurs, when any white player would have been crucified. Double standard? Definitely. Despicable? You bet.
Apparently, being a wealthy and famous African-American athlete places you under a different level of scrutiny than athletes of other races. What a crock.
Hey, take it from me; it's not easy being a member of the oppressing class....
Yao Ming
YaoMingYaoMing
Yao Ming
Yao Ming
Aaauugghhhh.... MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!!
