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SamURLJackson t1_j67tkln wrote

Reply to comment by idontreadfineprint in Legendary college basketball analyst Billy Packer, who called 34 Final Fours, dies at 82 by HeStoleMyBalloons

That's a turn of phrase that's outdated so people don't know it anymore but it was definitely a thing people said and it wasn't racial. I don't know Packer's thoughts or anything, of course, but if that's your smoking gun then it's not much

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_Retaliate_ t1_j684p1i wrote

I was able to find the phrase being used innocently in Seinfeld, which lends some credence to the possibility of Packer not meaning it in that way. 

That being said, I think regardless of Packer's thoughts when saying it, he should've realized how bad it sounded and he shouldn't have tried to brush it off as people being too sensitive. 

There's just too much history of racists referring to black people as "monkeys" to use that phrase when there are so many other phrases that bring the same meaning across. He could've easily referred to Iverson as a "tough cookie" and it would've had the same meaning without the racial overlap.

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SamURLJackson t1_j6a28gs wrote

Monkey was thrown around a lot in that era to mean a person generally. Pixies had a song in this era called Monkey Gone to Heaven, for example.

This is why it's not doing anyone any good to use 2023 glasses on language from yesteryear in most cases. We lost the context long ago. I only know this from being an 80s kid and remembering how we used to speak. It's interesting how language has evolved, and I think it should be left at that, personally, as a mixed race person myself.

I don't care much about Billy Packer and don't know the guy personally, obviously, but I also think a racist wouldn't choose a career like his, one where he must interact with many black people daily, if he really were such a thing. I just think if this phrase is all we have for proof then the bar should be higher

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vaelstresz77 t1_j682d6f wrote

A turn of phrase that wasn't racial. Explain to me the dynamics of how referring to a black man as a monkey is not racist.

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