'Fab 5' Doc: Are Black Basketball Players at Duke 'Uncle Toms'?
SodaHead Sports
2011/03/23 19:00:00
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The colorful history of Michigan’s legendary “fab five” – Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson – which included allegations of illegal booster payments, laundering of illegal gambling money by the players and a two-year probation for the school’s program, is the rotten gift that keeps on giving.
The latest flagrant foul came on Sunday in the form of the ESPN documentary “The Fab Five,” which was executive produced by Rose and featured his allegations that rival school Duke only recruited black players he considered to be “Uncle Toms.”
In essence, Rose slams players like Grant Hill, whose Duke team beat Michigan in the 1992 Final Four, for choosing to go to a fancy, schmancy white school with a stellar educational reputation.
Hill wrote an impassioned response to the comments for The New York Times, in which he lamented Rose’s allegations.
“I am a fan, friend and longtime competitor of the Fab Five,” he wrote. “I have competed against Jalen Rose and Chris Webber since the age of 13. At Michigan, the Fab Five represented a cultural phenomenon that impacted the country in a permanent and positive way.”
He called it a “sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events” to see his friends narrating the film and calling “me a b---- and worse, calling all black players at Duke ‘Uncle Toms’ and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me.”
Hill said he should have suspected something was up when Rose sent a Twitter apology before the film’s premiere and Rose has since attempted to explain his remarks in numerous interviews.
“In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only ‘black players that were ‘Uncle Toms,’ Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today," Hill wrote.
Hill counted himself fortunate to have two parents who’ve worked into their 60s and who received a great education and taught him a work ethic he is passing on to his children.
“To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous,” wrote the Phoenix Suns star. “This is part of our great tradition as black Americans... I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know in much the same way so many people stereotyped them back then for their appearance and swagger. I wish for you the restoration of the bond that made you friends, brothers and icons.”
Do you think black basketball players at Duke are "Uncle Toms"?
The latest flagrant foul came on Sunday in the form of the ESPN documentary “The Fab Five,” which was executive produced by Rose and featured his allegations that rival school Duke only recruited black players he considered to be “Uncle Toms.”
In essence, Rose slams players like Grant Hill, whose Duke team beat Michigan in the 1992 Final Four, for choosing to go to a fancy, schmancy white school with a stellar educational reputation.
Hill wrote an impassioned response to the comments for The New York Times, in which he lamented Rose’s allegations.
“I am a fan, friend and longtime competitor of the Fab Five,” he wrote. “I have competed against Jalen Rose and Chris Webber since the age of 13. At Michigan, the Fab Five represented a cultural phenomenon that impacted the country in a permanent and positive way.”
He called it a “sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events” to see his friends narrating the film and calling “me a b---- and worse, calling all black players at Duke ‘Uncle Toms’ and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me.”
Hill said he should have suspected something was up when Rose sent a Twitter apology before the film’s premiere and Rose has since attempted to explain his remarks in numerous interviews.
“In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only ‘black players that were ‘Uncle Toms,’ Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today," Hill wrote.
Hill counted himself fortunate to have two parents who’ve worked into their 60s and who received a great education and taught him a work ethic he is passing on to his children.
“To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous,” wrote the Phoenix Suns star. “This is part of our great tradition as black Americans... I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know in much the same way so many people stereotyped them back then for their appearance and swagger. I wish for you the restoration of the bond that made you friends, brothers and icons.”
Do you think black basketball players at Duke are "Uncle Toms"?
Top Opinion
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No
+9As young fans my brother and I had the opportunity to meet the players of that wonderful 1992 team. During one of our many visits to our Uncles home in Durham,NC. As he was a professor of law at Duke and an avid fan. The guys were some of the nicest people you could meet. They played for a coach that has high standards on and off the court. Now I understand that losing that game left a bitter taste in the mouths of Rose and Webber. No one told Webber to call a time out when they had none. So talking trash about players who are in college not only to play ball but to get an education. Makes Rose look like a fool.
"Tom refuses Legree's order to whip his fellow slave. Legree beats Tom viciously, and resolves to crush his new slave's faith in God. Despite Legree's cruelty, however, Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and comforting the other slaves as best he can. Tom (also) refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline (escaped slaves) have gone, Legree orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely beat him. Humbled by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians."
See the movie if you don't have time to read the book. Tom was a devout christian slave. Why is he held in such low regard by black people today. I don't know! In many ways his humility is a perfect light exposing the hubris of black power political demagoguery. Uncle Tom certainly has little to no connection to sports or gambling.
Great answer though!
Move on - this is 2012....not 1912....shish
Although, having said that, I love pigs. They are a whole lot better than liberals anyways. LOL.
I worked with a black lady once who had two girls - about the age of my youngest daughter. She worked TWO jobs. She didn't sit with the others "blacks" in the office. And because she wanted her kids to get a good education (in a private school) and because she wouldn't play the "victim" she was called a "whitey" and yes, and Uncle Tom.
It saddens me to think that when a person of color tries to be responsible and decent, they get degraded by those in their own race for "selling out." Wouldn't it be better if we could all be self-reliant, responsible, and of good character?
blacks will keep themselves down
its a crying shame what members of this race do to their race