Crowd Please!

No disrespect to the people affected by the earthquake in Japan, but Jalen Rose sent a seismic shock throughout the media world himself when he dropped the "Uncle Tom" tsunami this past Sunday on ESPN.

The aftermath continues to resonate in the major damage area was in Durham, NC. The main target of the "Uncle Tom" statements were Duke grad Grant Hill. I'm sure he felt a great deal of pressure of his family, friends, and school to retort and that's what he recently did via letter to the NYTimes online.

I must admit, as an admirer of multi-syllabic words and expansive vocabulary I was very impressed with Hill's submission. After analyzing what I read, however, I realized it wasn't much. The over-arching theme I gathered from the open letter was embarrassment and defensiveness. Surprisingly, Grant Hill wasn't the only person to take offense to the Rose comments. There are a significant amount of "well to do" black people (writers, columnists, "everyday folk") taking this to heart and personally. They feel as if his sentiment is antiquated and out of bounds.

But is it? Everything is all perception, at least initially. The reputation and perception of Duke as being a primarily white and traditional school existed well before the Fab Five. If you saw the Lebron James movie "More Then a Game", then you know the high school he attended (St Vincent St Mary) was considered a white school. In the movie Lebron discusses the criticism and ridicule he received from black peers for "selling out" and attending a predominantly white school. Lebron didn't come from a polished, two parent household family yet he was still subjected to similar "sellout" branding from other blacks that Jalen applied to Grant Hill. Being labeled as a "sellout" is synonymous to being called "Uncle Tom." "Uncle Tom" is a state of mind and is immune to background or social status. As a black athlete consciously enrolling to a school universally perceived by blacks as "the establishment", one (Lebron, Grant, whoever) makes themselves vulnerable to such epithets and labels.

We keep forgetting that these comments were made by a 17 year old Jalen Rose. To suggest he harbors the same feelings 20 years later would suggest a stunt in maturity and growth, and that's insulting. Do you really think a brash and wild Rose didn't let it be known to Duke in 1991 how he felt? That's why I'm baffled by the response Grant elicited. I know Jalen spewed that along with other toxic barbs to the Duke players when they played each other.

What's so funny to me is that people are acting like the Fab Five weren't pre-judged. If people, coaches, pundits, fans prematurely judged him, why couldn't Jalen do the same? Let's not forget were talking about a competitive athlete here. Athletes are always looking for that edge. Michael Jordan is revered and famous for finding any nugget of motivation against his competition but when the Fab Five do it, it's a problem. People are getting upset with things that are much ado about nothing, and the ones that are getting finicky seem to be protecting and justifying their own inner Uncle Tom.

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