more Josh Howard (updated)

Alright well I still kind of don't want to get too much into this, but I can't help making a few more comments about Josh Howard. Specifically, it seems to me that this is the exact same thing as Jeremiah Wright. A black man (or woman too I assume) in America is not allowed to be angry about the abuses black people face. If such anger comes out, it must be attacked. He is running his mouth off! He's an angry black man! Denounce him!

Henry Abbott, NBA blogger for ESPN.com called Howard's comments "mishandling of his freedom of speech." He went on to explain why his comments were so bad with this gem:

And we know Josh Howard speaks his own version of the truth (which is admirable) even if the timing and general lack of coherence undermine his cause (which is not). By being a celebrity, and addressing incendiary issues of civil rights around a microphone, fair or not he risks presenting himself as an actual civil rights leader. Like the 2008 Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King Jr. He's a really nice guy, and his heart is in the right place, but he must not let himself get confused with a civil rights leader.

Are you kidding me? Every black person with an opinion about prejudice that isn't a civil rights leader needs to shut up so they don't get confused for a civil rights leader? What the fuck kind of logic is this? And what is the lack of coherence of saying he doesn't celebrate the national anthem because he's black? That makes perfect sense to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Speaking the truth is only "admirable" if it is the officially-sanctioned truth that America is great and wonderful. Expressing something else is irresponsible, especially for a black man, who we all know are already prone to irresponsibilities like smoking marijuana (but, hey, grab me another beer while you're up).

The only "danger" of being mistaken for MLK that I can think of is that if dishonest asshats go on to paint everyone who criticizes the system from a black civil rights perspective as a some goofy weed-smoking jackass like that one NBA player. But the proper response to this "threat" isn't to make every celebrity with an opinion shut up. It is to address the dishonesty when it arises. Or, like Abbott, you can demand that people just shut up and not express their non-jingoistic opinion unless they have a doctoral thesis they're ready to present to back it up. That puts a gigantic burden of proof on oppressed people to prove their oppression, and gives the oppressers a free pass. (I've pointed all of this out to Abbott in a email exchange much more politely worded than this bluurg post and I hope he considers revising his statements.)

In the comments to the last post, David points out that a CNN poll says a majority of voters think Howard should be punished for expressing his opinion, and goes on to say that he should love America because he couldn't make as much money elsewhere. So I guess the uppity nigger should just shut the fuck up and be glad for the freedom that we gave to him.

Fuck you, America. Fuck you.

update: Abbott posted a link to this, which I suppose is a good start.