Jacob1983

It looks like another former NBA player has shot his mouth off again. I swear these people need to realize that people are gonna bury them when they say stuff like this. The former NBA player is Micheal Ray Richardson and he's a coach of some stupid CBA team. From his comments, I honestly don't see him spreading hate speech against Jewish people. He simply stating his opinion. And he actually says positive things about Jewish people.


ESPN.com - NBA - Ex-NBA star's anti-Semitic slurs draw suspension

Former NBA All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson appeared to be getting his life back on track after his league suspension in 1986 for drug use. He was coaching in the Continental Basketball Association and had led his team, the Albany Patroons, to the playoffs. But as they say: What goes up, must come down.

The Patroons have suspended Richardson for the rest of the CBA championship series for comments made to the Albany Times Union on Tuesday.

Before Tuesdays game against the Yakima Sun Kings, Richardson made anti-Semitic comments to two reporters in his office when discussing the contract general manager Jim Coyne had offered him Monday to coach his team in the CBA and USBL.

"I've got big-time lawyers," Richardson said, according to the Times Union. "I've got big-time Jew lawyers."

When told by the reporters that the comment could be offensive to people because it plays to the stereotype that Jews are crafty and shrewd, he responded with, "Are you kidding me? They are. They've got the best security system in the world. Have you ever been to an airport in Tel Aviv? They're real crafty. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty."

And he continued, "They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean?" he said. "Which I think is great. I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."


I honestly don't see what the big deal is. People are way too freakin sensitive in my opinion. Besides, who really care what this mediocre former NBA player says anyways. He probably shouldn't have said those things but it's not like the guy said horrible things like "the Jews killed Jesus or I hate Jews".


Let me repeat this: I am not saying it's okay to say bad things about Jews. I am not saying it's okay to say bad things about Jews. I am not saying it's okay to say bad things about Jews. It's wrong to say bad things about them. You should not do. Please understand that and don't assume that I'm anti-Semite and don't ban me.

Anyways, it's not racist or mean to say that some Jewish people have had success in American business and trade. That's a compliment. Just look at the stats. Statistically, Jewish people are good at business and running things. And yes, I did look up at the research on that.

TheAngel

I don't think it's racist but it's certainly stereotyping. I have mixed feelings about that. I don't think race should play into any conversation, especially not as strongly as he was making it part of his.

migamoo

I have to agree, it seems more stereotyping than racism.

elisheva

It's a stereotype, but it can be a dangerous stereotype. It's not harmless. I think it's ignorant and prejudiced to generalize about ANY group, whether it's meant to be positive or not.
People need to realize that groups are made up of individuals who are no dfferent from the individuals in any other group.

Jacob1983

I don't really think it was stereotyping or racist because if you look at our society, There are a lot of Jewish people that are successful. I will admit that ages ago I shouldn't have ever said that Jews control the media. I was stupid for saying that. However, I would say and I'm sure many people would agree that they do have an influence since a lot of Jewish people run movie studios, newspapers, magazines, and tv networks. It's not a bad thing that they run those things. It's a good thing.

elisheva

But the thing is that those are a very small number of individual Jews. There are many, many Jewish families living below the poverty line, as well as average middle class Jews, etc. Honestly, Jewish people are no "craftier" than any ither group, nor are we all richer.

(I sure wish I was crafty and rich....then I wouldn't be worrying about taking out student loans in a year or so! )

Jacob, I can understand you thinking it's not racist, but it certainly is a stereotype. If I said "all men like sports - this is backed up by statistics because a lot of men do!" it would be a stereotype. There are plenty of men who don't like sports. It's not the greatest example, but do you get what I'm saying?

Jacob1983

No, I don't get what you're saying. I am a white male either in the bottom of the middle class or upper part of the lower class. And in our society, that is held against me because of my race and gender and socio economic status. You'll probably disagree with that and say I have all fine and dandy but you are not a white male who has been in the bottom of the middle class most of his life.

I honestly don't see how a compliment can be insulting. That's like an oxymoron.
Saying that some Jewish people have success in business in America is not an insult. It is a compliment and a good thing.
This might sound like a stereotype but it's not meant to be but I believe that being good with money and in business is just a part of the Jewish culture.
All cultures have their strengths and weaknesses.

I would have to disagree with you on there being many Jewish families who are below the poverty line. You should come down to Texas and the south see how poor people can be.

I have a counter example to your sports one.
Am I wrong and stupid to say that stastically black players are better white players in the NBA right now?

elisheva

Huh? What does the socioeconomic status of white males have to do with any of this?

And, Jacob, yes, there are tons of Jewish families living below the poverty line. You may not be aware of this, maybe you live in an area without a lot of Jewish people, but here in Montreal there are a lot of poor Jewish families, both immigrants to Canada as well as people who have lived here a long time. And it's the same in the United States. (And I may live a middle-class-ish lifestyle, but my family is certainly not a high income family at all. Trust me on that.) This isn't opinion, Jacob - it's fact.

Don't you see that "some Jewish people are successful in business" is not the same as saying "all Jewish people are successful in business"? And it may sound positive, but it certainly isn't always meant in a positive way. The "Jews are good at business and money" is very very tied up with "Jews are very miserly and cheap." Have you ever heard the expression "he Jewed me"? It's not a positive thing. And ask a young Jewish kid who's had pennies thrown at them in the subway how positive it really is.

My sports example was just trying to say that SOME is not the same as ALL.

migamoo

Jacob, people can be below the poverty line anywhere there are people. You're implying that only people in Texas and the South are living in poverty, but that's grossly inaccurate.

How is this a counterexample?

Jacob1983

I actually know a Jewish person. Yeah I know it's a shocker. And he gets treated just like everyone else. I've never seen anyone throw pennies at him or yell anti-semitic slurs. Not trying to brag but I probably see more minorities and diverse groups in a week than most posters on FF see in a year. My college is very diverse. Actually, it is the second most diverse college in Texas.

I was talking about America. Most of the stats that I have looked at say that the south is the poorest region in America. Statistically and historically, the south does not have a huge Jewish population.
This might sound mean but Jewish people can be helped by affirmative action. I hear all the time about Jewish scholarships. I'm not saying it's bad but a white gentile like myself can't be helped by affirmative action. That's another story for another time.

I know that many people on FF will disagree with me and probably burn me for saying this but being a white male in America hurts you nowadays. It's like people hold that you against because of what happened during segregation and slavery.

elisheva

Um. Okay. First: Community scholarships are NOT the same as affirmative action. They're funded by community organizations, not by the state.

Second, while the South may be the poorest region in the States (I wouldn't know), that doesn't mean there are no poor people in the rest of the country. Poverty is a problem all over the US, and Jewish people also suffer from the same problem. (And in Israel, for example, there are enormous amounts of very poor Jews as well. If they were so good at business, the countey economy would be booming, right? But the economy isn't so great, and everyone is suffering as a result, Jew and non-Jew alike.)

I'm not saying all Jewish teens have experienced anti-Semitism or suffered as a result of stereotypes. But a lot, a lot, a lot have. I'm very happy that your Jewish friend hasn't experienced anything bad like that - but his experience doesn't equal every other Jew's experience. I'm also glad to hear you experience a lot of diversity - that's great, and it's a very enriching experience for anyone.

migamoo

I know a lot of Jews and minorities, it's not really a big deal. I don't know about you, or others, but I assume everyone does.

Want to know why the South has had a lot of history being in poverty? The plantation system. It allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to stay poor. Same with oil. You can live with next to nothing but the person down the road has the big house and wants for nothing.

What? Scholorships are not affirmative action. They are given based on merit, even the specific ones like, those for Jews/Blacks/Asians, etc.

Jacob1983

Diversity isn't always a good thing. I know that sounds very stupid and dumb but if New York City is a fine example of diversity being both a good and bad thing.
I get offended sometimes by minorities with the way act toward me. They have this feeling of entitlement or that they are better than me or something. I'm not saying all minorities but I've had experience with some minorities who think they are better than me because they're a minority. I can't stand when people do me that way.

Community scholarships sounds like the PC way to hide that it's basically affirmative action.
I still want someone to explain to me why I cannot receive handouts and special benefits because of my race and ethnicity. Like I said before, until you live a day in American society as a poor or average white male then you will not see how it is held against you.


Actually, I was never inaccurate at all. Look at the stats on povety in America. The poorest people live in the south. Of course, there are people in other parts of America and in the world.

elisheva

Huh? If you have encountered that attitude, then please remember that those are individual people, and that not all minority groups act like that. And I don't think diversity is ever a bad thing, myself. I think it's a source of strength. And what does NYC have to do with this?

Um, affirmative action is when the government is the one organizing it, right? But a community scholarship is when people in the community put their OWN money, not tax money, towards helping community kids attend university and so on. It's not affirmative action at all.

This is unrelated, but there actually are several community scholarships for white kids - my boyfriend received a bursary from the Scots-Irish/St. Andrews Society in Montreal, which is definitely a white group. There are also other Christian community scholarships, as well as the regular merit-based scholarships open to everyone.
You were inaccurate in stating that there couldn't be any poor Jewish people, because only the South is poor and there aren't that many Jews in the South.

Jacob1983

No, I was not inaccurate. I never said that all Jews were rich or had tons of money. Never said that at all.
I live in America, not Canada. If you can name one white based scholarship in America, I will be impressed. Oops, wait a minute in our double standard society white people are not allowed to have race-based scholarships because that would be racist yet minorities can? Doesn't sound very fair to me?
That's one thing that I have never understood about affirmative action. People who support says it helps create diversity and helps the less fortunate but it in a way it supports and creates degregations and favoritism.

Well if the community based scholarships come from donations and not government money, then I don't see why not. However, taxpayers' money should not go toward affirmative action. Just because you are a certain color, does not mean you should get into college. You should get into college because of your grades, merit, SAT/ACT scores, and extra activities.


I just hate that American society fails to realize that poor white people suffer too. It's not always the minorities that have it bad. People should remember that. Being white does not mean you're going to have it easy. Nowadays, it can be used against you.