"I don't understand that SPECIFIC change in the word's meaning...it has no racially-charged meaning to me."

Obi - you are a rat bastard *LIAR*. and Obama, the Boy President, agrees with me.

"Obi doesn't see race"

Yeah, I try this weird thing called judging people based on what they do and say rather than what color they are...as opposed to 1 Samuel, where it TOTALLY matters what race or ethnicity you are, it's a life and death situation there...

A radical idea, I know.

Same old obi, can't apologize or back down so he changes the topic. This is the second time he's tried. And he goes right back to the well and speaks for holocaust victims. Pathetic really.

And we all see the context your word was used in, we've been talking about that context, you are the one that tried.(and failed) to rip it out of context

Oh...so even though the word "thug" implies physical violence, you decided to call a person a thug based upon their use of language, not any physical action.

and....not surprisingly...out society as a whole has this tendency to throw out the term "thug" in a racially charged manner against a specifically pigmented segment of our society in a like manner...

Obi, you are a racist. Period.

"With respect to Richard Sherman, I don't understand all the vitriol."

The guy tears another player's helmet off on a play via grabbing the facemask,
Gets in Crabtree's face after the play,
Delivers dirty hits...

That's the source for my on the field vitriol.

Add to that the fact that he called out a guy (Crabtree) who had a decent game and has taken to calling out Tom Brady and Peyton Manning on top of that...

You use the Muhammad Ali parallel here, and that fits for his comments...

But Ali wasn't a dirty boxer. He talked a lot of trash, but he then backed it up with a clean style of boxing that won the day.

Sherman backs it up with dirty, penalized hits.

I fail to award a dirty player the Ali prize...

Fighting dirty is far more of a SONNY LISTON thing...and who here wants to root for Sonny Liston, really?

Link me the helmet play? What dirty penalized hits? Thanks in advance!

"Oh...so even though the word "thug" implies physical violence, you decided to call a person a thug based upon their use of language, not any physical action."

Since I have now REPEATEDLY given instances of how I felt he's a dirty player for his PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, and I will apologize 120% for not putting that in the original statement--trust me, I really do apologize for that, Sherman's dirty play deserved WAY more attention than I gave in that initial statement, that was a total failing on my part--can we move past that, now that I've spent 100 posts clarifying my comment...or would you just like to keep trolling me?

Either way, just please, let me know.

"and....not surprisingly...out society as a whole has this tendency to throw out the term "thug" in a racially charged manner against a specifically pigmented segment of our society in a like manner..."

When did this happen?

You have yet to answer the question, Anti-Obi League...WHEN did thug become a slur for blacks? Tell me. PLEASE.

You keep saying it is, *I* keep saying I meant it the same as goon or hitman and have been more than fair and transparent in my responses...

PLEASE tell me when thug became socially-unacceptable.

Come on.

If it's so fucking obvious, it should be easy for you to answer me and give me some proof right? I mean, you guys wouldn't just shit on me for the sake of shitting on me and keeping yourselves busy for a could hours, yeah?

Frank, I'm pretty sure it was another player, I can't find it but I recall tj ducket (on the other side of the ball!) doing what obi attributes to sherman but I didn't see every play so I can't be sure

Yeah, I think Santa's right...it was the Lamichael James play...

I think it was another guy, looking at the GIFs, so mea culpa, my aplogies there.

I did honestly think it was Sherman.

"To Those Who Would Call Me a Thug or Worse," by Richard Sherman

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/01/20/richard-sherman-interview-michael-crabtree/

Gee...google is hardssss.....

Here, first hit from "thus racial slur" is a Huffington Post lin from 2009....so by this account we can say "THUG" has been a known racial slur for at least 5 year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judy-muller/a-thug-by-any-other-name_b_155708.html

Fucking racist.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7179289
http://plaistedwrites.blogspot.ca/2008/07/thug-is-new-n-word.html
http://gawker.com/5899322/the-dog-whistle-has-sounded-how-the-right-talks-about-thugs-like-trayvon-martin
http://www.newsweek.com/knockout-game-has-america-fearing-thugs-once-more-207261
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/5/25/2189408/paul-azinger-lebron-james-twitter

Lol so you had no evidence in calling him a "dirty, penalized player?" maybe his dreads and outspoken nature were what galled you...

"maybe his dreads and outspoken nature were what galled you..."

Why would either of those things bother me in and of themselves?

Players on my team wore dreads...they've been outspoken before...?

b/c you for some reason assumed sherman was a dirty penalized player despite having literally zero evidence? why do you think you assumed that?

anyway please read this before responding: http://oliviaacole.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/richard-sherman-thugs-and-black-humanity/

luckily i think you are just ignorant and not wilfully racist so there is hope that you will learn from this!

After reading your link, krellin--

OK. Fair enough.

I didn't know that, glad I learned it, I apologize for using the word "thug."

...And apparently "dutch treat" is a pejorative...I have no idea what that is, but I guess I now know not to use that one either...whatever it is/refers to...

That article STILL didn't give an explanation as to how that word BECAME a pejorative, however...can I get an explanation as to that?

"b/c you for some reason assumed sherman was a dirty penalized player despite having literally zero evidence? why do you think you assumed that?"

Because I'd finished watching a 3 hour football game, was drunk, and in that very foggy mind's eye of mine I conflated that hit with some other Sherman hit during the game?

Amusing, hilarious anecdote....I was accused to being racist for calling....wait for it...Trayvon Martin a **thug**.

Of course, Trayvon Martin was known to act violently in school, and was killed when he attacked an adult....so, you know, by definition Martin was in fact a thug...

Sherman, on the other hand, uses extreme physical behavior on the football field, where extreme physical behavior is what you pay people to do....

So....apparently a few months back is what widely known in WebDip....and I have **no doubt** by Obi....that :"thug" carries racial connotation.

Fucking racist Obi..

And then I didn't go back to the tape because, hey, who wants to watch their team lose over and over, my memory told me it was Sherman, so I just went with Sherman.

My mistake.

"Because I'd finished watching a 3 hour football game, was drunk, and in that very foggy mind's eye of mine I conflated that hit with some other Sherman hit during the game? "

Let me rephrase that....."Because I was DRUNK, my INHIBITIONS WERE LOWERED....and I SPOKE MY RACIST THOUGHTS OPENLY"

"I didn't know that, glad I learned it, I apologize for using the word "thug.""

Thanks Obi....apology accepted. I don't really think you meant it as racist, but this has been fun none the less.

:)

From your article, Frank:

"Today Richard Sherman is being lambasted for his animated post-game interview in which he dared to express emotion outside of the cubic centimeter men of color are allotted."

...That's NOT why he's being lambasted...he's being lambasted in part because he attacked Crabtree, which he HIMSELF later admitted was a bad choice on his part (not in the least because, as he and Pete Carroll pointed out, making it about Sherman vs. Crabtree takes away from the other players who won the game for Seattle.)

"Today, Tom Brady criticizes Richard Sherman for his lack of “graciousness.”"

1. ...He wasn't a gracious winner...by ANY stretch of the imagination...whatever else may be said about him.

2. That being said, Tom Brady's not exactly the most gracious winner OR loser, so there is that element of hypocrisy...

Apologies to tj ducket, he retired in 2008

I love seeing obi get his ass handed to him on a platter by both sides. :-D

""The truth is, I only ever hear “thug” applied to black people."

Again...maybe this is a product of my own upbringing--though while I'd be lying if I said I lived in a ghetto of Los Angeles County...it's not like I live in an all-white suburbia, either...I think Latinos + Blacks combined either outnumbered or just tied the amount of Whites in my high school years back and the same goes for my colleges--but...

I have to disagree with that writer there. I've heard white people described as thugs.

Funnily enough, I've heard plenty of white male politicians described as thugs...

I've heard GEORGE BUSH described as a thug.

On the more-racist side of things, I've heard Latinos described as thugs too.

So again, it may well be just my area...but in my own personal experience, that term has not been racially-charged AT ALL.

Apparently it is and I'll remember that now, but again, from where I live...?

It's always been just another term...and a pretty common one used across all races at that.

"A black toddler made news recently when Omaha police posted a video on their website of the child cursing and holding up his middle finger. The child was described as a thug by Omaha police, who insisted they only shared the video to show “the cycle of thuggery.” The video was posted without the knowledge or consent of the child’s mother.""

That being said, THAT is 100% wrong and awful by the Omaha police...

"White supremacist culture dictates who and who does not get to be human. In order for people of color to receive a Human Card, they must assimilate: they must not use slang."

That's fairly true here...a lot of Latino clients I had got picked on for using slang...I question the use of "White supremacist" there, maybe "White majority" might be better, since I'd like to think we're not run by White Supremacists...

If we are...well, fuck, I'm in trouble, lol.

"They must be quiet. They must not wear hoodies. They must not curse. They must be gracious at all times. They must enunciate. They must not talk about racism. They must not listen to rap music. They must not sag. They must not brag. They must not laugh in public. They must not take up more than one seat on the bus. They must not ever ask for more. In short, you must be perfect. Robotic."

I again think that's true but in varying degrees...

For example...granted, I don't listen to it...but it's Los Angeles for crying out loud...

Rap is EVERYWHERE. It doesn't matter what color you are...if you live in LA, and you're not a total weirdo like me, chances are, you listen to rap at least a decent portion of the time.

Maybe that's not the case in other parts of the country, but sagging clothes and rap music? That's not really a taboo in LA, hasn't been for a good while. I'd again argue that's part of what defines the LA cultural landscape in large part.

And:

Black people laugh in public.
They take up WAY more than one seat on the bus PLENTY of times (as a frequent bus rider I can answer that with certainty...and really the only time that's ever a problem is if the bus is crowded, in which case, it's not that the person's black, it's that they're taking up a ton of space in an already crowded-and-smelly bus!)
And there's been a culture of bragging since Muhammad Ali in sports, be you black, White, Latino or whatever...

One more thing--

As with rap music? EVERYONE WEARS HOODIES IN LA.

Fuck, I wore them for a time. Not with the hood up (that just always felt weird on my neck for some reason) but still.

I'll freely acknowledge that maybe it's different other areas...but with regards to things like rap and hoodies especially...that's not only mainstream, that's expected here--if you DON'T listen to rap or wear a hoodie it's weird and socially-awkward.