LAMPLEY'S Advice for KIRKLAND: Go GHETTO on Him...!!!

I'm from a working class neighborhood myself, I'm Latino, and know plenty of people that would object to a white man with an education equating ghettoness with inherent violence. Lampley, at the age that he's at, had an education very early on, and given this comment, is probably not connected enough to struggling communities to gauge what's appropriate and what's just caricature. It's one thing for poor minorities and working class whites to use certain terms among themselves, and another thing completely to espouse such an implication over a sports commentary. Obviously, not only blacks live in the ghetto, but if Lampley ever says that about a white person, I will sell you my house. The face of poverty is black, and "ghettoness" is a concept tied specifically to blacks. Language is political, whether you recognize it or not. Notice that many people agreeing with the TS's point of view are of color. Is Lampley going to say Floyd is "going ghetto" by saving his money like a poor person would? Is a boxer that works hard hours on end like a ghetto minority on a minimum wage "going ghetto"? No. It was a phrase linked directly to violence, and implicating that everyone from a rough area has an inherent capacity for language, in reference to a black fighter, is racist.

And I'll reiterate, it wasn't that big a deal. But to try and say race is unrelated to such a phrase is idiotic and ignores the power of words in specific social contexts. Tell a black person to "go ghetto" when playing a videogame or being jokingly insulted, and it likely won't go over well, for a reason. You seem much more adamant to prove that telling a fighter to "go ghetto" is harmless than I am offended by the comment. I simply didn't like it for the stated reasons. If you don't want to understand that, then that's fine, but don't rationalize away valid points on the language of race and class in media.

 

just logged in to ESB. any updates on whos winning the race card?????

 

i didn't catch that but if he said it he was wrong for it, on the other hand I wouldn't consider it racist due to Kirkland's recent history and the fact that Wolfe tells him to "go ghetto".

 

The ghetto is a place and an economic class not a race. Nor is it exclusive to black people. Therefore while poor people MAY find this offensive (probably over sensitive when taken in context), I don't see how this is racist in any way.

 

and bangladeshi mutts do

 

I think you are reading far too much into this. There is nothing RACIST about insinuating that ghettos are violent. That's a fact and it has to do with money, not race. Most every country in the world has ghettos and the people look very different.

If there is any insinuation on the part of Lamply, its probably that people from the ghetto are rough and tough. I think its pretty common knowledge that people who have lived in that kind of atmosphere have been made tougher for it. It's just a trait, and not necessarily a bad thing.

Pretty harmless comment seriously. There are unfortunately far too many examples of real racism in boxing to put any real weight on this comment.

 

That's the current connotation in America (economic underclass), yes, but historically, ghettos contained people of certain ethnicity, nationality, or religion. See the Venetian ghetto.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Lampley likes to **** black chicks, so none of this matters. Unless he makes them call him Thomas Jefferson.

 

Would they object if it was a Indian,Latino,Arab, or Chinese man?

Are you stating that because he has an Education he is not allowed to say certain things?

Many people get student loans in order to fund their education so equating being well off and having an education is retarted.

What if a Middle Class Black man got educated and did not grow up in the "ghetto" *cough* obama *cough*, would it be offensive for him to say such things?

Pdiddy claims hes a "gangster" and that he grew up in the streets, In reality he grew up in a nice neigborhood with a hard working mom. If diddy were to say, "Go ghetto" would you be offended?

:think

 

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I'm saying that Lampley likely isn't familiar with that upbringing. If he were, I don't think he would have made that comment on television.

I would object if it were said about someone from a different minority race as well, and the fact is, it was in reference to a black man, who belongs to the social group most associated by the ghetto. Race is related to class in a very real way. Not a clear, linear, direct way, but the association is historically there.

If Obama said "go ghetto" in the same way, yes, I would be offended, because he's still saying that going ghetto = getting violent, which implies ghetto people are all inherently violent. When referring to a black boxer from such a background, it's even worse.

For those saying "ghettoness" has nothing to do with blackness, I'll make a lifetime ban bet that Lampley doesn't ever say it again in reference to anyone who is not black, or even Latino. For those thinking race doesn't apply (as if it ever went away as an element of our interactions), google "ghetto" and tell me what the people that come up look like.

It's less about who is saying it, and more about what is being portrayed. Some people may think it's nothing, and in truth, it's not a big deal and I don't see Lampley as a bigot, I like him as a commentator, but it is not cool to equate being from a ghetto and being violence on television. Language like that, however small, appearing in lots of seemingly innocent places, constantly and without critique, is what reinforces the social structure that creates disparities. I'm simply trying to explain my point of view as to why I personally didn't like it, and it relates to the way language shapes social norms. I wouldn't have to drag it out if people didn't adamantly try to rationalize phrasing that associates poverty with animalistic tendencies.

 

:yep

 

I honestly thought the comment from Wolfe was "go gorilla on his ass" and that Lampley just re-stated it. This never hit my radar.

 

yes