Grant Hill: Was he Right about Jalen Rose's Fab Five Comments?
By Michael Cahill (Featured Columnist) on March 16, 2011
Did Grant Hill put Jalen Rose in his place?
Is it possible to verbally slap the crap out of someone and look really classy doing it? If so, then that’s just what Grant Hill did.
In a piece written for the New York Times blogs Grant Hill responded to the comments Jalen Rose made in the Fab Five documentary that aired on ESPN Sunday. There Rose referred to black players that played at Duke as “Uncle Tom’s” and claimed to have resented Hill for his parents having stayed married.
Grant Hill responded, in kind, with an eloquently written blog about his cultural background and how he felt that the Fab Five labeling him was just as bad as the media and the rest of America blasting the Fab Five for the way they dressed and their style of play.
Hill said(and this was my favorite part):
“It was a sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events, therefore, to see friends narrating this interesting documentary about their moment in time and calling me a bitch and worse, calling all black players at Duke “Uncle Toms” and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me.”
Grant Hill is 100% right. Jalen Rose and the rest of his teammates should have known better than to stereotype people without any knowledge of who they are or where they really came from.
It’s like when people say I’m a goofy looking idiot who is probably a closet Beverly Hills 90210 fan…sure it’s true, but for the love of God, get to know me first!
Grant Hill shouldn’t have been criticized or judged for his parents success and his opportunity. It’s what everyone, regardless of race, wants. We all want opportunity. Whether we earn it or someone, who’s job it is to care for us, gives it to us, it’s what’s right.
The problem is that if Jalen Rose wants to make off handed comments about people he needs to pick a target than someone with the class and dignity of Grant Hill.
With this in mind he could try the following: Isiah Thomas, Latrell Spreewell, Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino, Tony Hawk, anyone who says the word “Bro” on a regular basis and any girl with a lower back tattoo.
Jalen Rose should have learned from his days with the Fab Five: he can never beat Grant |
