Stumbled upon this collection of old player tweets from Reddit. This wouldn't be post material but there is some STRAIGHT UP borderline homophobic stuff said by Aminu. Someone probably told him at some point you can't be saying this stuff as a public figure but it makes you wonder if he's over it, especially now living in one of the most progressive cities in America. A lot of players said some really bad stuff but Aminus was by far the worst.
I could have done without this thread....sounds like sailors off duty in a sleazy overseas bar....and to answer..yeah, there's a lot of homophobia in sports
Yeah Harkless was only like 16 when made those tweets. When I was in high school I knew a lot of people who called their friends faggots without fully understanding how bad it was.
And Aminu was 19. So, a couple of teenagers, one who grew up in a different culture, saying stupid shit. Yeah, that never happens. Hopefully, like most human beings, they've grown up a little since then. I do question the OP's motivation. Why post this now? Why six years later? Why on the day after the a team everyone expected to be in the lottery overachieved and advanced to the second round of the playoffs? If those comments were from last night, last week, or even last month, I could see the relevance. As it is, they are so old, to post them now seems like nothing but shit stirring to kill everyone else's buzz about this team's success. I guess when the team does much better than you thought they would, when they actually have some success, the negative nancy's need to dig up six year old tweets to justify their negativity. Thanks for the buzz kill SlyPokerDog hat. BNM
Much more recently than those tweets, the "kids" were saying "that's so gay", like, constantly. Then, more recently there was a movement to get kids to understand why they shouldn't, and to stop saying it, which seems to have been pretty effective because I think its been a while since I've even heard it. And yeah, those are the kinds of things pubescent men, especially guys in the jock culture, tend to say to each other growing up. I tend to give people a pass on the stupid shit they did when they were stupid kids growing up, trying to fit in. Hopefully, they are older and wiser now. Unless they said it very recently, like this season, I really don't care to hear about it.
KingSpeed is now a Raptors fan. I don't give a damn, because i don't expect jocks to be smart or nice.
There's no ulterior motive. I only found out today which is why I posted it I have nothing against Aminu just thought it was interesting.
If the OP wasn't going to post it, I would have. I stumbled across it on my Twitter TL just now. As mentioned, both Harkless and Aminu's comments were when they were teenagers. To be honest, if Al or Moe still felt that way, I don't and wouldn't want to root for them in the red and black. On the plus side, I haven't seen any type of comments or remarks from either since joining the Blazers and I hope being apart of such a welcoming (to all lifestyles) community has opened their eyes and they've become much more respectful to other walks of life.
But guys, he had one GREAT game where he scored 30 points...did you expect him to play great every game?
Its another cultural ignorant bad habit thing. I'm very guilty of it and have to watch myself all the time. The thing is when I use it, its as an insult, but my thought process isn't to call the person a homosexual. Its more like. Your an idiot, or an asshole. 60's and pre, the word used to be to be happy and I believe still does in the dictionaries. "I went to the beach and had a gay ole' time" I absolutely have no issue with anyone's sexual preference and can see how kids using these words don't have a full concept of the history and depth. Aminu was over the top and yes, I hope he has learned, but I don't take it heavy, because I think we are humans and a society need to understand collectively that slang, words, and times change, but not everyone is as up on culture to keep up. True bigotry needs to be cut down at its source, but slang users just need to be educated with the times. of course this only works if said people are respectful enough of others to understand that whether they meant it as an insult or not, doesn't change how another takes it, and thus compromise.
You just hope they grew up... i'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it's always depressing reading it.
I want to be very clear that I do not condone what Mo or Al said. I have a gay daughter who was harassed and bullied in high school. So, I have seen first hand that such words and such attitudes can cause damage. But, I am also realistic enough to realize that teenage boys often say and do some very stupid things to fit in with, and be accepted by, their peer group. If that's the language their peers used, that's the language they would adopt. That doesn't make it right but that's the reality when dealing with teenage boys. Harkless and Aminu are no longer teenagers and as I said in my first post, I hope they've grown up since they made those comments six years ago. If not, then we have a problem worth discussing. Until we have more recent evidence of hateful ignorance, I'm willing to assume they've grown up and become mature members of our society and culture. I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary, certainly not since they arrived in Portland. BNM
