Richard Sherman Says Calling Someone a Thug Is the Same as Calling Someone the N-Word

[SonnyCID]

If we can't use the N word and we can't use Thug -- then we'll just need to invent a new word to describe loud, indignant, menacing, black men like Richard Sherman...so, why don't we just stick with Thug and be done with it?

Thugs break bottles over teammates head and shove a gun in their face. Thugs clear out house parties with gunfire.

Though Sherman is a thug on the field against the niners. All he does is beat up receivers and steal from Kaep.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

I understand where people who called Sherman a thug are coming from. It's all about style of communication. Blacks get locked up more. There are other peoples who live in similar levels of poverty as inner city blacks who aren't committing as many crimes. Because their everyday communication is not as persistently intimidating, violent has a lot to do with it. Young blacks in the inner city must become defensive and mouthy at a young age or they will not survive. The impact of this communication coalescing with a culture normative is self-defeating with the ticket out being a permanent solitary prison abode.
Sherman probably should not be weighed too much on that short string of sound bytes alone. Yet isn't that what twitter is here for, to react to a scene in a moment? He's become too much like Sarah Palin where he can get a fraction of people to say the most vitriolic things about him, making his supporters deflect from the stupid shit he said in the first place and it worked on me too. Part of me still believes Sherman will do something thuggish off the field or at least lose all dignity in a fit of roid rage while he is still a young man.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

Were they calling him a thuggish person off the court or a thuggish player on the court? There's a difference.

I don't know... Nothing done on the court would fit the definition of what a thug is. Exactly how you are saying what Sherman did was not thug behavior. So I guess one could draw the conclusion based on what some of are saying, that it is racist to call someone a thug if their behavior doesn't warrant it regardless of color. Or does that only apply if the person in question is black?

I don't why people keep insisting on trying to make the giant leap to racism here...

 

[SonnyCID]

I don't know... Nothing done on the court would fit the definition of what a thug is. Exactly how you are saying what Sherman did was not thug behavior. So I guess one could draw the conclusion based on what some of are saying, that it is racist to call someone a thug if their behavior doesn't warrant it regardless of color. Or does that only apply if the person in question is black?

I don't why people keep insisting on trying to make the giant leap to racism here...

I dont think everyone using the word thug is racist, I just think they're wrong. Sherman is a nerd, he's not a thug.

 

[NinerSickness]

I don't why people keep insisting on trying to make the giant leap to racism here...

That's what people do to avoid criticism when they don't have a real argument: cry racism (or whatever-else-ism).

Unless they're white guys of course.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

They were referring to his physical style of play, not words he spoke in an interview.

How do you know that? Are you speaking for everyone that's ever called him a thug? Even if that is the case, What difference does it make? It's still not an accurate use of the word just like in the Sherman incident. So if these people aren't using the term correctly they clearly must be racists, Right?

Also, Do you know that every person that called Sherman a thug is white? I'll ask again, If any black people used that term when referring to Sherman, Would you consider them to be racist as well?

 

[Berkeley_Blues]

Part of me still believes Sherman will do something thuggish off the field or at least lose all dignity in a fit of roid rage while he is still a young man.

I agree.

Sherman has that self-destructive style of insecurity that is frequently masked with thuggish, grandiose, in-your-face gibberish, which is so common to this genre of idiot, goof fool

 

[cwood]

I don't know... Nothing done on the court would fit the definition of what a thug is. Exactly how you are saying what Sherman did was not thug behavior. So I guess one could draw the conclusion based on what some of are saying, that it is racist to call someone a thug if their behavior doesn't warrant it regardless of color. Or does that only apply if the person in question is black?

I don't why people keep insisting on trying to make the giant leap to racism here...

A thug is a violent street criminal. So yes a guy who is extremely physical sometimes beyond the rules fits that definition. It would fit Sherman if he was being called a thug for his style of play, but a guy who talks trash doesn't come even remotely close to fitting the definition. Thug in this instance is code for the type of black guy that the person saying it doesn't like. It's racist even if not intentionally. I don't think there is even a reasonable argument against this.

 

[SonnyCID]

That's what people do to avoid criticism when they don't have a real argument: cry racism (or whatever-else-ism).

Unless they're white guys of course.

Sherman had a "real argument" on Monday morning when he brought up how many times he was called a n*gg*r, and nobody had any opinions about it. Then he "pulls a race card" and everyone jumps down his throat. There's a weird dynamic when it comes to race discussions.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

I dont think everyone using the word thug is racist, I just think they're wrong. Sherman is a nerd, he's not a thug.

Thank You! Exactly what I have been saying the whole time... It is a misuse of a word and not a hate crime like some of you are making it out to be.

 

[NinerSickness]

Sherman had a "real argument" on Monday morning when he brought up how many times he was called a n*gg*r, and nobody had any opinions about it.

Who called him a n*gg*r?

 

[SonnyCID]

Who called him a n*gg*r?

Exactly

http://www.eurweb.com/2014/01/seaha...t-tweets-after-epic-rant-tom-brady-weighs-in/

This was from Monday and was hardly talked about.

 

[Berkeley_Blues]

Who called him a n*gg*r?

Someone who understood the proper use of the term.

 

[cwood]

Who called him a n*gg*r?

This is all just from Twitter I think. The people who called him that were just the braver version of the people who called him a thug... for the most part.

 

[SonnyCID]

Someone who understood the proper use of the term.

Wow, that's some provocative butthurt there.

 

[NinerSickness]

Exactly

Richard Sherman Takes the MLK Route Responding to Racist Tweets after Erin Andrews Interview; Tom Brady Weighs In on Post-Game Rant | EURweb

This was from Monday and was hardly talked about.

Hold on...

We're talking about some anonymous assholes on twitter? Seriously? That's getting news coverage?

 

[Frank Rizzo]

A thug is a violent street criminal. So yes a guy who is extremely physical sometimes beyond the rules fits that definition. It would fit Sherman if he was being called a thug for his style of play, but a guy who talks trash doesn't come even remotely close to fitting the definition. Thug in this instance is code for the type of black guy that the person saying it doesn't like. It's racist even if not intentionally. I don't think there is even a reasonable argument against this.

Yes, There most certainly is a reasonable argument against that. There are two examples of people being labeled a thug even though they are not violent street criminals. You are saying that it is racist to call one that but not the other because he had a physical style of play. Does that honestly make any sense to you or are you just grasping at straws? So is it acceptable now to call anyone with a physical style of play a thug?

 

[SonnyCID]

Hold on...

We're talking about some anonymous asshole on twitter? Seriously? That's getting news coverage?

Why not?

Sherman was responding to his "critics", I'm sure that included Twitter assholes. This "race card" didn't come from nowhere. Just nobody wanted to talk about it until it was pulled.

 

[NinerSickness]

Making the leap from anonymous racists calling him the n word to saying the word "thug" is a racist term is seriously milking it.

This crap is a non-issue.

 

[NinerSickness]

Why not?

Sherman was responding to his "critics", I'm sure that included Twitter assholes.

That's stupid. You don't respond to anonymous hecklers through the media. You don't even dignify them.

...unless you're trying to make yourself out to look like some kind of victim, and I'm getting really tired of people doing that.