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By Randy Boyd
This after Iverson came under fire at the beginning of the season for derogatory anti-gay lyrics in his upcoming rap CD (allegedly deleted after some ass-kissing by the NBA front office). Iverson and the Sixers' response to his latest John Rocker-isms was that Iverson’s name calling in Indianapolis was in response to the Pacers fans calling him names, including monkey and nigger. But Allen and seemingly the entire city of Philadelphia insists Allen has nothing against gays. Poor Allen was simply hurt by the name calling. It bothered him. Got to him. Hurt his feelings, his pride, his peace of mind, so much so that he attacked back. Name-calling is pretty incite-ful, huh, Allen? Can cause a brutha to lash out, attack back, grab yo’ gat and represent! We hear ya. Name calling is a bitch. It causes people to rally together and go out and string up some niggers, faggots, wetbacks, Jews, gooks, bitches or whoever else they hate or fear. It makes people to feel they are less than human, which leads to individuals and entire racial and ethnic groups feeling ashamed, hiding their true selves, becoming pathological, resentful, alienated, suicidal. It causes people to fight back, fight each other, fight whomever. It divides instead of unites. You say Pacers fans called you nigger and it made you angry. Will it make you any less angry if they tell you that they have nothing against blacks? Would it be OK if you were called nigger in every building in the NBA, then the next day or week, each fan proclaimed in the media that they didn’t mean it in a hateful racial way? Would you like it if a white rock group sung an acid rock song that warned, "Black person come to my hood, they’ll get whacked"? Name-calling is a bitch. And yet you with your powerful, influential voice in the public eye still do it, then fail to own up to it. If you really do have something against gays, tell us. Be a man about it (isn’t that what your world is all about, "being a man" whatever the hell that means?). That way we could at least lump you with Reggie White and Mr. Rocker and know who and what we’re up against when it comes to educating the ignorant and making our voices known with our consumer dollars and fan support, or lack of it. Let us know, Allen. Educate us. And
here’s hoping that you educate yourself that name-calling, no
matter how it’s meant, heard or intended, does not promote or
produce any positive result. |
Randy
Boyd is a gay novelist and Ballin’ columnist for Outsports. You
can 
During
a Super Sunday match up at Indiana’s Conseco Fieldhouse,
Phialdelphia 76er Allen Iverson repeatedly called Pacers' fans
behind the bench faggots. NBC caught it on audio so there’s no