Is Posse a Racist Term (1 Viewer)

El Caliente · Nov 15, 2016

Am I missing something? Phil Jackson said Lebron had a posse, not a *****, so whats to complain about?

LeBron James says he has lost respect for Phil Jackson after the famed NBA coach used the word "posse" to describe the Cleveland star's business partners.

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LeBron's camp takes offense at Jackson's remark
After Phil Jackson said LeBron James and his 'posse needs special treatment,' Maverick Carter took offense to the use of the word 'posse' and responded to the Knicks president.

James responded harshly Tuesday to Jackson's use of the term in a recent interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan.

LeBron James of Cleveland Cavaliers slams Phil Jackson for referring to business partners as 'posse'

James agent Maverick Carter said the following

"I don't care that he talks about LeBron," Maverick Carter told ESPN.com. "He could say he's not that good or the greatest in the world as a basketball player. I wouldn't care. It's the word 'posse' and the characterization I take offense to. If he would have said LeBron and his agent, LeBron and his business partners or LeBron and his friends, that's one thing. Yet because you're young and black, he can use that word. We're grown men."

Carter, a high school teammate of James', has been involved in James' business ventures for more than a decade. He comprises one part of LRMR, the management company founded by James, Carter, Rich Paul and Randy Mims in 2006 that guides the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar's career on and off the court.

Maverick Carter responds to Phil Jackson 'posse' reference about LeBron James business partners

Did these guys not open a dictionary before they said that this was a racist term?

piece of work·se
ˈpäsē/Submit
noun
noun: posse; plural noun: posses
UShistorical
a body of men, typically armed, summoned by a sheriff to enforce the law.
BRITISHhistorical
the body of men in a county whom the sheriff could summon to enforce the law.
noun: posse comitatus; plural noun: posse comitatus
informal
a group of people who have a common characteristic, occupation, or purpose.
"he pompously led around a posse of medical students"
synonyms: gang, band, group, crowd, pack, horde, herd, throng, mob, swarm, troop, cluster; More
informal
a group of people who socialize together, especially to go to clubs or raves.

Nice to see the return of the Queen.

guidomerkinsrules · Nov 15, 2016

...???
"posse" in the parlance of our times - would typically be "your boys"
since his boys are also his business partners, it's perhaps a bit condescending

then i guess you would ask if he would refer to the Gasols' business partners the same way
:idunno:

BUT, it got you posting about it (and me responding) so...there's that

Galbreath34 · Nov 15, 2016

With all of these it rarely to do with whether the word itself has any inherent racist meaning. Those things get built up over time, and the words that are only ever used that way are known by everyone.

You can, though, use most terms in a way to be racist or degrading, and most reasonable people can recognize it, even if they want to use it as a dog whistle or way to plausibly deny racist intent.

There's nothing racist about saying someone is smart or well spoken. If I say, "Hey that new black guy we hired is something. He's pretty smart and well spoken. You'd never guess by looking at him. I think he's a rare good one." That's racist beyond belief, but not because any of the individual words are racist.

I think here it's probably pretty clear that Jackson was trying to link educated business partners of LeBron with a word used to describe an entourage of drinking buddies or childhood pals that make the news for being troublemakers when you head to a strip club. In the context of rich black athletes or stars, someone's "posse" has long been their drinking buddies and wild uncontrolled friends, not serious businessmen. It's hard to imagine a guy as smart as Jackson that's been around players as long as he has didn't know the implications of what he was saying.

kcirdor · Nov 15, 2016

saintfan-n-alex · Nov 15, 2016

it wasnt until now or at least since the James spoke and the article was written, now it will be

El Caliente · Nov 15, 2016

I guess I am surprised that you can't say somebody has a posse, and just expect for others to pick up that it is in no way racist. Being that Lebron and his crew were not summoned to enforce the law, I get what Phil is referring to, and its the informal meaning of the term. Hell, why would he be referring to the armed definition?

Is Posse going to be the new gay, where when you say it one way it will be taken another way?

jumpingoff · Nov 15, 2016

Galbreath34 said:
There's nothing racist about saying someone is smart or well spoken. If I say, "Hey that new black guy we hired is something. He's pretty smart and well spoken. You'd never guess by looking at him. I think he's a rare good one." That's racist beyond belief, but not because any of the individual words are racist.

The non-racist, racist way to say it is "articualte". I cringe when I hear that, even though I know it's not meant in any sort of derogatory manner.

Icon · Nov 15, 2016

Society is starting to remind me of that episode of Seinfeld where he was interested in a Native American woman.........and kept unintentionally offending her with Native American stereotypes.

tonythesaint · Nov 15, 2016

El Caliente said:
Am I missing something? Phil Jackson said Lebron had a posse, not a *****, so whats to complain about?

LeBron James of Cleveland Cavaliers slams Phil Jackson for referring to business partners as 'posse'

James agent Maverick Carter said the following

Maverick Carter responds to Phil Jackson 'posse' reference about LeBron James business partners

Did these guys not open a dictionary before they said that this was a racist term?

Nice to see the return of the Queen.

El Caliente, please don't take this personal, but I am amazed at how many times, we as a nation arrive at this very moment when half the people say I don't' see an issue with something someone said and the other half are offended immediately. Everybody talks about how being politically correct is so difficult, but honestly the way to avoid these situations is by just saying what you mean. If he was referring to an NBA owner's team of advisers he would say business partners, plain and simple. The question is not if the word posse is racist or was used correctly in his statement, it's more of a question of, why would you use that term anyway. We can never assume what is in someone's heart when they use certain words. It truly is not that difficult to navigate through a statement or conversation with a diverse group without offending people. We can go around and around about this but many times it is not what is said, it is more about who said it and who they were referring to. I'm sure Phil Jackson is not a racist; my problem is I expect more thoughtfulness and articulation from someone of Phil Jackson's stature when addressing the topic. The word posse is not often used in present day society and conversation, but it is now more closely related to the group of people African Americans surround themselves with. I just hope for the sake of conversation we don't have the usual suspects jump in this thread and start the race card thing again and what could be meaningful dialogue, disintegrate into name calling and finger pointing.
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gboudx · Nov 15, 2016

I heard that rolling with your posse is the only way to go, and it makes your posse in effect. :shrug:

RetroMcBananaFace · Nov 15, 2016

Can see why LeBron would not be happy. It's pretty disrespectful, assuming these guys really are his legit business partners. I really doubt Phil is any sort of a racist but it shows you how underlying these attitudes are even in good people.

Twenty · Nov 15, 2016

Today in "People Being Offended"....

DaveXA · Nov 15, 2016

Maybe I'm misinterpreting what Jackson said, but I thought Jackson's posse comment was a jab aimed more at LeBron's business partners than James himself. I've actually never heard of posse potentially being used in a racist context until reading this thread.

El Caliente said:
Am I missing something? Phil Jackson said Lebron had a posse, not a *****, so whats to complain about?

LeBron James of Cleveland Cavaliers slams Phil Jackson for referring to business partners as 'posse'

James agent Maverick Carter said the following

Maverick Carter responds to Phil Jackson 'posse' reference about LeBron James business partners

Did these guys not open a dictionary before they said that this was a racist term?

Nice to see the return of the Queen.

tonythesaint · Nov 15, 2016

retrobanana said:
Can see why LeBron would not be happy. It's pretty disrespectful, assuming these guys really are his legit business partners. I really doubt Phil is any sort of a racist but it shows you how underlying these attitudes are even in good people.

Retro,
there is where the problem lies with what Phil Jackson said. Many have thought that Lebron's inner circle/business team was filled with friends that give him bad advice. I took it as Phil taking a dig at Lebron's team because he didn't feel they were business material. Phil had a poor choice of words when discussing this, but I chalk it up to him still being Butt hurt that Lebron didn't come to the Knicks. He absolutely knew what he was saying when he used the word posse, referring to many of Lebron's childhood friends that are now his business partners. To provide some clarity the media routinely referred to Allen Iverson's entourage as his posse. In all fairness I have heard the term used in wrestling also when talking about the Four Horsemen and other groups.

RetroMcBananaFace · Nov 15, 2016

Twenty said:
Today in "People Being Offended"....

Or maybe you could try putting yourself in his shoes, rather than only seeing it from your own narrow, dismissive point of view, but I guess that's just too ****ing much to ask of people right now.

Is Posse a Racist Term (1 Viewer)

El Caliente

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