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

[bocomo007]

You just did, by conflating the word thug to the word n*gg*r. I don't preach against either, but I also don't stand idly when either is used in my presence.

If Sherman had just come out against the use of n*gg*r being used against him, I would have no issue with his statement & had some sympathy for him . But he didn't. He decided that in his all knowing greatness, that word thug is racist too. Which it is not. He is using the redefining of that word to deflect the attention away from his dumbassness.

i don't think he is saying the word thug is racist, i think he is saying it's racist to call him a thug for what he said in the post game interview (or how he said it)

he didn't curse, threaten or speak in slang - he was just a black man speaking loudly, which some folks jumped on with "thug"

and i get that white athletes get called thug as well, but usually for actually doing something rough or dirty during the game, right?


just my 2 cents

 

[wood20ks]

People calling Sherman a thug are stupid. I dunno about racist but I would go as far to say thug (based on it's definition) is on par with that term or white trash (more explained below).

How does trash talk = thug? Rodney Harrison who deliberately tried to injure people and admitted it along with the entire Saints defense from 2010 (or whatever it was, shows how much I care thus reinforcing the dumb who dat slogan) are thugs.

Lawrence Taylor constantly trash talked, sent coke/prostitutes to opposing teams rooms nights before the game.... is a football legend and football hero.

Sherman, who is an upstanding citizen, only makes trash talking about the game, does not take physical or personal cheap shots, does not injure people, applauds receivers like Roddy White for beating him.... is a thug.


God people are stupid.

Thug stands for: Violent, ruthless, lawless, tough (?) according to the dictionary. I don't see what Sherman says/does equal to any of that. Mike Tyson saying he's going to eat your children and biting an ear off = thug. Saying, "He's a sorry receiver" does not equal thug.

And yes based on the definition and based on who I would label as 'thugs' in the NFL, it does equal n**ger to me and/or would also be white trash.... Richie Incognito is white trash or a thug.

At one time he was,but he never was to me.............And after all the controversy he`s been thru,i think the fans are done with him too.
And as far as Sherman,this is exactly what he is:

 

[RoboticDreams]

Here are some white thugs:
1. Jeremy Shockey
2. Bill Romanowski
3. Richie Incognito
4. Chris 'Birdman' Anderson
5. Bill Laimbeer

Those are just a few but it's not just a word to describe black guys.

 

[redseat]

yes, but you forgot top-5 defensive player

And "All Pro Safety at Stanford" (or whatever he know wants to be called)

Sherman loves the attention and usually backs it up on the field but he really does need to STFU and worry about performing in the Super Bowl.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

I don't need the cops to deal with anyone's stupid ass. And all this definition crap is useless. Word definitions change day to day in this world. Like I said, use the word punk, asshole or whatever you want but don't make this about race when you act stupid on national TV and get called out. Now, do I think people are making too big of a deal over his behavior? Probably, and there certainly shouldn't be all the hate and "real" racism that has happened. I said it earlier in the year that the "chip on the shoulder" thing is getting old. It's fine when you use it to make your game better but the side-show is just annoying. It's time for Sherm to stfu and the sideline reporters need to quit searching him out for some stupid "soundbite". Of course, they succeeded in getting everybody watching and talking about it, I suppose.

The lost logical post on this entire thread.....
Sherman is playing the race card to deflect blame from his own stupidity and most of the Seahawk fans are falling for it. If he was really sorry for taking attention away from his team he would just shut up already and stop with these ignorant comments. Now, because he started all this, he and his teammates will be asked all kinds of questions about this up until the Super Bowl which will be a distraction.

I think he is a selfish idiot..... Is that a racist term?

 

[cwood]

I agree with Mr. Sherman. There is absolutely racism behind a lot of the people calling him a thug. A white guy doing the exact same thing wouldn't be treated anywhere near the same. People will chime in and try to deny it, but it's true.

 

[TheDman875]

I'd say it's closer to calling somebody a piece of shit...and that has nothing to do with race...it has to do with character.


If you don't want to be called a thug...don't act like a piece of shit.

Sherman says a few words and gets labeled a thug or a punk or whatever.

Meanwhile....
(Keep in mind, this isn't a knock on the 9ers or an attempt to stir the pot with their fans)

 

[germanjohn]

From USA Today, "Richard Sherman equates being called a 'thug' to a racial slur":

This is just another way of playing the race card. Criticize a black athlete, and all you get is "MUHFUGGA DAS RACIS"

 

[Frank Rizzo]

In the first sentence of the article below the gal that wrote it calls Richie Incognito a thug. With this new revelation that thug is a racist term.... Why do you think this person hates white people?




Richie Incognito must face stern NFL response for intolerable treatment of teammate - The Washington Post

 

[cwood]

In the first sentence of the article below the gal that wrote it calls Richie Incognito a thug. With this new revelation that thug is a racist term.... Why do you think this person hates white people?




Richie Incognito must face stern NFL response for intolerable treatment of teammate - The Washington Post

But there was nothing thuggish about the way Sherman acted. He was just loud and intense near a worried looking white woman. Incognito by comparison actually did act like a thug.

 

[TheDman875]

But there was nothing thuggish about the way Sherman acted. He was just loud and intense near a worried looking white woman. Incognito by comparison actually did act like a thug.

Heh, actually Erin Andrews loved it.

 

[Frank Rizzo]

But there was nothing thuggish about the way Sherman acted. He was just loud and intense near a worried looking white woman. Incognito by comparison actually did act like a thug.

What they did has nothing to do with my question.... My point is that if thug is a racist term like many who have posted here seem to believe... Then the people who are calling Richie Incognito a thug must be racist against white people... Correct? Or would it have been OK and not racist to call Sherman a thug if he did something "thuggish"?

Maybe people should just accept that the term thug has absolutely nothing to do with race....

 

[Frank Rizzo]

But there was nothing thuggish about the way Sherman acted. He was just loud and intense near a worried looking white woman. Incognito by comparison actually did act like a thug.

Also, Why does it matter that Erin Andrews is white? If Pam Oliver had done the interview would it have made a difference? Would Sherman not have gone on that idiotic rant if they didn't have that "worried looking white woman" interview him?

 

[Thruthefog]

The evidence is in this thread. Blame the rappers. They're the ones that have Sherman equating thug to a racial slur.

I don't listen to rap. Would never have made the connection.

 

[CaptainStubing]

i wouldn't say what these guys are doing on the field is 'thug' at all. They are just emotionally immature. but this is not a color thing. some of the biggest trash-talkers and over-celebraters in this league are white. danny woodhead is maybe the biggest of them all. dude makes a 3-yard run and has to have a huge celebration and trash talk the defenders. it just shows he has the mental level of a 10 year old kid.

 

[tshirt]

"thug" means someone from the hood/ghetto. Per the Merriam-Webster thesaurus, words that are synonyms of the noun "thug" include: "gangbanger, gangsta, gorilla, hood, homeboy, homey (or homie)"

that is the meaning of thug that Sherman is using: “I’ve fought that my whole life just coming from where I come from,” Sherman, who’s from Compton, California, said. “Just because you hear Compton, you hear Watts, you hear cities like that, you just think ‘thug,’ ‘he’s a gangster,’ ‘he’s this, that, and the other.’ ... You fight it for so long and to have it come back up and people start to use it again, it’s frustrating.”

saying someone asks like they are from the hood/ghetto is like saying they act like they are from the trailer park. Basically you are calling them an unrefined person, the opposite of a class act/gentleman/lady

the following white celebrities have all been thought of as trailer trash/white trash:
-Britney Spears
-Kid Rock
-Kevin Federline
-Courtney Love
-Paris Hilton
-The cast of Jersey Shore
-Anna Nicole Smith
-Tanya Harding
-etc etc etc

Sherman shouldn't have said calling a black person a "thug" is like calling them the n-word (or ape, monkey, darky, porch monkey, spearchucker)

What Sherman should have said is that the press calling a black person a "thug" is like the press calling a white person "trailer trash." Is the press more likely to call a black person that acts like a unrefined person a "thug" than they are to call a white person who acts like a unrefined person "trailer trash"/"white trash"? If so that would be a double-standard

 

[gvsulaker82]

What exactly did he do that was thuggish? He's really not wrong. People see loud, obnoxious black man and start calling him a thug just like you are. People need a better word than thug. How many people has he beaten up? Threatened? Killed? Has he ever hurt a fly outside of the gridiron? Has he robbed anyone? Raped anyone? So please, PLEASE tell me what makes him a thug? If this was JJ Watt or Clay Matthews no one would be calling him a thug. Whether you agree with what he said or not, calling him a thug is just ignorant.

I agree. It kind of reminds me of chad johnson, because hes loud and clowns around on the field and is clearly arrogant hes a thug for some reason. Thugs are people that break laws, that hurt others, steal, commit crimes. Theres definitely a negative connotation here and its definitely because hes black. Is bill belichick a thug? Because he acts like quite the jerk toward the media. No, because hes an old white man and you dont call old, white men thugs.

 

[RobToxin]

 

[Midnightangel]

Thug:

 

[tshirt]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umqL7KtCONY]How To Be a Thug - YouTube[/ame]