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May 22nd, 2014
09:21 PM ET
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban race remarks - the hard truth or racist?
High-profile businessman Mark Cuban has set off a firestorm of controversy after speaking his mind about his own bigotry.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban: I have prejudices; everyone does
"If I see a black kid in a hoodie and it's late at night, I'm walking to the other side of the street," Cuban said in a magazine interview. "And if on that side of the street, there's a guy that has tattoos all over his face–white guy, bald head, tattoos everywhere–I'm walking back to the other side of the street. And the list goes on of stereotypes that we all live up to and are fearful of."
Is that the hard truth, or racism?
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The delivery was a little off, but the message is sound. Regardless of race, I think most of us would avoid crossing paths with a thug-looking dude (perhaps wearing a hoodie) late at night. Just like we would happily share the sidewalk with a guy wearing a designer suit in the same scenario. This should be about stereotyping trouble-makers, not race.
All mob members wore suits, and most poor people where hoodies, because they are cheap, and protect you head from the cold, a cold you will have do deal with simply because you don't have a home;.
Of course, people naturally feel more comfortable with others of the same race. If you doubt that claim, I suggest taking an implicit test on race and see what you really feel down deep. See implicit.harvard.edu/. That is not racism nor is noticing racial differences per se. What is racism is believing that one race is morally superior to all others or a particular race. Nothing else is racism.
No racism is simply realizing that the person is of a different race then you, and thinking differently because of it, or doing things differently, such as asking odd question you normally wouldn't someone of your race, using a different tone, body language, or behaving in a uncomfortable manner because of the different race in you present. I noticed a different tone in what you wrote, you see black as different, we are not, we just look different, just as you do standing next to brad pitt, or Rush Limboaugh, it's just skin deep.. right.?
I stand by my defintion of racism. There are intrinsic differences among the various races, not just individual differences across racial groups are you suggest. Consider Nicholas Wade's *A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History* if you think that racial differences are only "skin deep." By the way, I did not single out any race in my original comment.
Why is it such a news topic when someone speaks honestly about how they feel? Quit stirring the pot and looking for targets because they say something someone else finds offensive. This kind of crap reporting creates division and does nothing to help society at large.
When he mentions crossing the street to avoid the black kid in the hoodie, he then says if there's a white guy with tats on that side of the street, he would cross back over. So isn't he essentially saying he is LESS scared of the black kid?