Charles Barkley

[ReplayRandall]

Originally Posted by TJDave

So, that's what makes him a role model?

I drive while drunk, get blow jobs from hookers, am a degenerate gambler, used to get into fights with other players and spit on fans...but, hey, at least I'm honest about it.

Now you're a role model............just not mine.

[JustRalph]

I never said he was a role model.

I said he was candid and brutally honest.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by TJDave

Charles is lucky he was born with physical talents.

Else he wouldn't be in a position to lecture anyone.

He's not lecturing anyone. He just has an opinion, like we all do.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

Charles is lots of things, but honesty is maybe his greatest attribute.

His golf swing may be outlawed in 5 states.............. but he speaks the truth!

I think Sir Charles was a little less than candid with his comments in that piece. The original story was that Russell Wilson was accused of not being "black enough" by his TEAMMATES...but Barkley took the conversation down a different path, when he started talking about how the "unintelligent", "unsuccessful" blacks are conspiring to keep their more "intelligent" and "successful" brethren mired in failure, by accusing them of not being "black enough". The insinuation is that the blacks who are "failures" are endeavoring to drag their more successful friends into failure too..because, after all, misery loves company.

Even though this seems to be true...it has little to do with the situation that Russell Wilson was facing with the Seahawks. There WERE no "unsuccessful blacks" in that locker room; we are talking here about fabulously successful black millionaires. It seems to me that the "dirty little secret in the black community" is that the blacks who are not behaving as the black majority does are being bullied into becoming "more black and less white"...and they are bullied not just by the "unsuccessful blacks"...but by the successful blacks as well. Do we really expect a sophisticated, intelligent black man to be persuaded to change his ways by a bunch of unintelligent "failures"?

I think Charles Barkley knowingly took the conversation down a different path, so he could reveal the "dirty little secret"...while keeping the "dirty BIGGER secret" concealed.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I think Sir Charles was a little less than candid with his comments in that piece. The original story was that Russell Wilson was accused of not being "black enough" by his TEAMMATES...but Barkley took the conversation down a different path, when he started talking about how the "unintelligent", "unsuccessful" blacks are conspiring to keep their more "intelligent" and "successful" brethren mired in failure, by accusing them of not being "black enough". The insinuation is that the blacks who are "failures" are endeavoring to drag their more successful friends into failure too..because, after all, misery loves company.

Even though this seems to be true...it has little to do with the situation that Russell Wilson was facing with the Seahawks. There WERE no "unsuccessful blacks" in that locker room; we are talking here about fabulously successful black millionaires. It seems to me that the "dirty little secret in the black community" is that the blacks who are not behaving as the black majority does are being bullied into becoming "more black and less white"...and they are bullied not just by the "unsuccessful blacks"...but by the successful blacks as well. Do we really expect a sophisticated, intelligent black man to be persuaded to change his ways by a bunch of unintelligent "failures"?

I think Charles Barkley knowingly took the conversation down a different path, so he could reveal the "dirty little secret"...while keeping the "dirty BIGGER secret" concealed.

Maybe he was talking about the media and society in general and not Wilson's "less successful" teammates?

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

Maybe he was talking about the media and society in general and not Wilson's "less successful" teammates?

The question Barkley was asked was specifically about Wilson.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

The question Barkley was asked was specifically about Wilson.

But my question was this. Was Charles talking about "haters" in general who might be trying to tear down Wilson, or was he talking about Wilson's teammates who were saying he wasnt black enough?

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

But my question was this. Was Charles talking about "haters" in general who might be trying to tear down Wilson, or was he talking about Wilson's teammates who were saying he wasnt black enough?

Barkley was asked if he had heard the story concerning Wilson and his teammates. Read the article if you don't believe me.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Barkley was asked if he had heard the story concerning Wilson and his teammates. Read the article if you don't believe me.

I'm not not believing you, just asking.

[Dave Schwartz]

TJ,

Does your criticism of Charles Barkley mean you do not believe what he said is true?

[Steve 'StatMan']

Originally Posted by tucker6

Yes, and why he is pretty much not heard from anymore.

Well, that and he's about 83 years old now. Time to enjoy life while one can.

[Steve 'StatMan']

Originally Posted by TJDave

Charles is lucky he was born with physical talents.

Else he wouldn't be in a position to lecture anyone.

Sure seems like an intelligent guy to me, and he knows how to put in the hard work, at least for basketball, and I suspect many more things.

I believe Charles Barkley would likely have done the things to help him have success in life. Maybe not NBA Star success, but success non the less. Maybe even more, who knows. Again, this is about NOT setting 'Limits' on self. Not a trait limited to white people, and many white people are particuarly successful.

One needs to do and behave like Successful People. And fight at that for yourselves tooth and nail if you have to.

[Robert Fischer]

The "crabs in the bucket mentality" has long been a recurring theme that black leaders have denounced. It's part straw-man cliché , but it's also grounded in reality.

I think Thaskalos brings up an interesting point.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Steve 'StatMan'

Sure seems like an intelligent guy to me, and he knows how to put in the hard work, at least for basketball, and I suspect many more things.

I believe Charles Barkley would likely have done the things to help him have success in life. Maybe not NBA Star success, but success non the less. Maybe even more, who knows. Again, this is about NOT setting 'Limits' on self. Not a trait limited to white people, and many white people are particuarly successful.

One needs to do and behave like Successful People. And fight at that for yourselves tooth and nail if you have to.

Do the "successful" people really try harder than the "unsuccessful" ones? Are these "failures" out there deserving of their fate...because they haven't done what successful people do? As I get older and get a better view of life...it occurs to me that there are no easy answers to these questions.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Do the "successful" people really try harder than the "unsuccessful" ones? Are these "failures" out there deserving of their fate...because they haven't done what successful people do? As I get older and get a better view of life...it occurs to me that there are no easy answers to these questions.

Obviously the reality is usually in the middle. You have a guy like Bill O on the Today show screaming like mad about how this is America and you don't need to rely on government or feel like you are hopeless because anybody can work hard and make something of themselves. On the other side, you have Revrum Al and that crowd that spend as much time as possible reinforcing that every bad thing that happens to every black individual or black society or black business is a product of racism designed to keep them shackled to the underclass and on and on.

Anybody that has spent time with the people Sir Charles is mainly directing his focus on know that Mr. O's theory sounds good in textbook and theory, but the reality around them seems a whole lot more like Al's. And of course it isn't as simple as working hard and getting rich anyway, but this scenario that Sir Charles talks about is not some trivial problem that can and has to be solved from within. I get that a lot of blacks don't like whites and the feeling is pretty deeper among the crowd Sir Charles is talking to. And the worst thing you can be is "Uncle Tom" or "act white" - which is to say in that context - work to be successful in areas outside of sports or music, aka be a nerd.

For once, someone targets right in on something that "his people" can do to help themselves and the rest of "their" people without a "dialogue" , a new law, some help from the U.N., and of course the Revrum himself. If you want to stop being "held down", well christ, stop doing it to yourselves. That's the easy part, but it is way impossible for anyone BUT a guy like Barkley to say it just like that. I don't care if Sir Charles got a hummer in a hummer or if he's a total idiot - this isn't rocket science stuff but the fact that the people who have delegated themselves protector of the solutions all seem to treat it as rocket science since they can't speak openly - maybe we need more dopey real people willing to speak truthfully about real problems that nobody else is allowed to or dare talk about for fear of repercussions that come with honesty about a subject you have to either lie about or be real good at euphemisms.