Hoops

Patty Mills racially abused by fan in Cleveland

Thanks Paul, and apologies to all Polish/Armenian/Balkan/Irish/Jewish people I offended on hoops.com.au.

Bravo paul.

Judging Europeans solely on their skin colour instead of family history of persecution as listed above, is racist as well. Funny how it works both ways, huh?

"Australians of European descent"

So some people who survived or are descendants of genocide like acts in:

- The holocaust
- Poland
- Armenia
- Balkans
- Ireland

Seeing the world through a black/white prism leaves you blind to so much of what actually happens in this world.

I wonder if it is a case of some people viewing the world through America culture, because it's so pervasive, so they get stuck into thinking that is the world.

@ rdj; long post, but I think Isaac basically nailed it. Maybe I should have said "Australians of European descent" instead of "white people", but I'm both of those things and I'd say it describes the most vocal majority of folks that feel the need to get into these debates. Like I said above also, I don't think the comment was particularly racist (stupid, yes), but it's arrogant to think that I know how a minority would or should react to a comment like that.

Well said rjd, nailed it. Those who purport to be for tolerance are often the most intolerant.

I wonder if a comparison that isn't negative isn't quite in the "sickening remarks" territory as indicated by news.com.au's URL in OP's post? But I can appreciate that I haven't experienced life from a position of minority, so I wouldn't be particularly sensitive to remarks. Given Mills' response, he feels like it was offensive rather than just hairstyle heckling.

Hahahaha well I'm offended.

snooch is a dickhead. I don't need to explain anything any further than that.

My position is it was a racist comment. I don't need to explain anything any further than that. I've made that pretty clear throughout the entire thread.

You claiming a fan would call someone Jamaican if they were white with dreadlocks is disingenuous.

Again, stop being disingenuous.

would he have called mills a jamaican if he was white? no he wouldn't. so why are people pretending that skin colour is not a factor in this?

I don't need to explain my thought process. What I believe, like what you believe, it completely and utterly irrelevant.

The FACTS are that a fan used a racially charged comment to taunt Patty Mills - a taunt Patty and his teammates knew to be racist, as did the Cavs, who punished him for making the comment by banning him indefinitely. Not sure how our facts can possibly differ on that??

Scooch just because they think it was doesn't mean it was.

You continue to not answer rjd's request re: explaining why it is racist. "Because the Cavs etc. think so" doesn't fly. Explain your thought processs.

So he didn't say dawg then?? There goes that hypothesis I guess.

And yet the guy is still banned indefinitely so clearly the Cavs - armed with all the information - knew it was racist.

Patty and all his teammates who've been asked about the incident knew it was racist and those questioned have applauded the decision to ban the fan.

So, yeah, sticking with the fact it was a racist taunt.

Oh, and the title of the thread STILL remains incorrect.

But before they clarified what was said the outrage already took its tool. What a world we live in today.

I'm going to call Craig Moller a Jamaican dog on Saturday night and see what the reaction is.

Still waiting on scooch and Zodiac to explain why it is racist.

rjd meanwhile has explained himself to the nth degree. Good job.

I think just about anything can be conveniently explained away if one tries hard enough.
If I call someone a Black C*nt then am I being racist? I mean he's just some guy who IMO is acting like a c*nt, and he happens to be black. If I call Patty Mills a strong black man is that racist?

To me, as soon as someone feels the need to combine a race/nationality reference with their insult of choice (in this case, dog), then they've shown their true colours, so to speak.

Just my take.

Anon you seem to think you've got some sort of "gotcha" moment going on here. You don't. It's pretty cut and dried why it's racism, and I'm sure you know it.

If it had just been "Jamaica just called - they want their bobsledder back" then I'd say there's ambiguity there and just as likely to be a dumb hair style comment as a comment with any racial intent.
But "Jamaican dog"? I don't see any plausible excuse for that one.

Ignore them Scooch they're just trolling.

The Cavs did the right thing in giving this guy a 12 month ban.

I'm not going to argue with people who are being disingenuous.

You know all know why it was racist. Everyone know why it was racist. The fact you are trying so vehemently to deny it was says more about you than me.

All of them. Clearly

That's because they don't need to spell it out.

Look it up. It's all there. Listen to what the people involved have said. Learn.

rjd the general populace has been convinced by the media that anything negative towards a person of colour means that it is racist. This thread is an excellent example of it. The title is wrong but hasn't been modified says it all.

None of what you wrote dealt with facts, which is probably why no one responded to your hypothesis of what happened.

The Spurs dealt with it by suspending the fan indefinitely. They dealt with the facts.

^ Exhibit A

Mills' classy response to the incident has earned widespread praise and it coincided with Mills visiting the San Antonio Museum of Art on Tuesday as part of Black History Month in the United States.

"You always take the high road ... last night's incident is something that's not new to me," Mills told reporters.

"I've ignited a lot of stuff growing up as an indigenous Australian and over here in the NBA as well.

"I think it's fair to say I've been called a lot worse, but it was a small example to shine light on the fact racism still exists in sport today.

"We as a whole can do a lot more to be in a situation like today and educate kids to be proud of who they are and where they come from and have the feeling inside to be able to express all of that."

Mills' mother Yvonne is Aboriginal and was part of the stolen generation. His father, Benny, is a Torres Strait Islander.

Mills was recognised at the NAIDOC awards last year as the person of the year and he has become one of Australia's leading indigenous role models.

Rightfully so and good on the Cavs for banning the racist.

A real shame a few Hoops commentators instead of getting stuck into this idiot have spent most of this thread defending his racist behaviour. At least NBA teams know and understand what racism is and as Patty alluded to in his tweet some Australians still have a long way to go.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers have indefinitely banned a fan from their arena for making racial taunts at San Antonio's Patty Mills.
Security officials reviewed videotape from Sunday's game and identified the fan sitting near the court. He yelled at Mills while the Spurs guard was shooting free throws in the fourth quarter.
The team did not disclose his name or any details about him. He is barred from events at Quicken Loans Arena, with the team to review the ban after one year.
While Mills was at the foul line, the fan was heard on the ABC broadcast twice yelling, "Hey, Jamaica called, they want their bobsledder back!" Mills is black and from Australia with an Aboriginal heritage.

rjd I'm with you. These days most people are sheep who have been brainwashed into being fanatically politically correct and also thrive on outrage porn.

I beg to differ.

When I'm unhappy with someone I call them a dog or say it's a dog act etc. Nothing to do with race.

Today I had an airline decline waiving fees for a missed connection due to them rescheduling the first flight of two on the same ticket (budget carrier obviously). I was muttering about them being dogs all day.

Would it be racist to suggest that all white people are American rednecks dogs?

I’d suggest that the heckler assumed that Mills was African-American, and linked that to Jamaican (historically and genetically linked by the slave trade of the Americas). Probably because of his hair. Global affairs and Geography are not strong points in American education at school or college level.

This stuff happens, I had a cousin from Mauritius who had braids. A lot of people assumed she was American and couldn’t judge her accent. When she returned to Mauritius as an adult the locals assumed she was some kind of Rastafarian.

It’s ok to make a mistake about someone’s background or culture (or you could ask them nicely when possible) but attaching “dog” to your opinion of where they’re from is probably racist and definitely offensive. If you had an open mind and asked someone about their background, you’d be unlikely to attach the word “dog” to your description.

TLDR= fan def offensive and ignorant, probs racist too.

Why do people feel the need to yell out stupid shit?

"Maybe this will be the thread where white people can finally agree on what other races should find racist/offensive."

Yeah, because everyone in this thread and on this site is white. Good one.

FWIW I don't think it was racist either on the surface, but have no idea what the person who said it thinks. I can also see why others might disagree. If you think you are going to solve this issue here though, maybe try religion and politics next.

Maybe this will be the thread where white people can finally agree on what other races should find racist/offensive.

Exactly.

So what I get from all this is :

- Heckle a person of colour, eg a dog, its racism.

- Heckle a white person, its a Tuesday.

I love how the word 'dog' is being dissected on here. The hyper-politically correct OMG RACISM!!11 mob on here are really trying to stress it after the 'Jamaican' part was explained to them and dismissed. Keep trying but we have a brain.

Dazz 2.0 welcome back (not). You haven't improved in the slightest.

#674649 - um, no.

Firstly, if you single out a person because of their race, that's racism regardless of what you call them. (Which is why I asked whether he was heckling other Spurs equally.)

Next, it doesn't matter if it's a "pop-culture reference," if it is racially based. ie why was that specific reference chosen?

Calling a white person "Irish" is not the same. For starters, "Irish" is not a slur.
Calling a Chinese person "Chinese" is not a slur, but calling them a "Slope" or a "Chink" is!
(Maybe there's an equivalent slur for Irish people, but I'm not aware of it.)
Calling Mills "Jamaican" would just be ignorant, but calling him a "Dog" tends to make that into a slur.

And as I said, the two sides of the coin are not equal. What we share in common with the USA is that we treated Black people like shit for 200 years. So I think they're allowed to be a bit more sensitive about racial issues.

Mills has a certain hairstyle.

The Winter Olympics were on at the time.

Jamaican bobsled is a pop culture reference re: Winter games.

Jesus F Christ you do gooder/hippy tree hugging/bleeding hearts are out of control.

"The people making the "yeah but white players get heckled" statements need to realise that racist terms have been used against people of various colours for centuries to oppress, degrade, and devalue their worth. These aren't statements which carry the same weight against white people.

It was racist against Mills and it’s ridiculous to suggest it’s not because someone was called Irish or a viking... GTFOH"

You do realise Irish were persecuted for centuries as well? You're the racist one by brushing that aside. Hello reverse racism!

The people making the “yeah but white players get heckled” statements need to realise that racist terms have been used against people of various colours for centuries to oppress, degrade, and devalue their worth. These aren’t statements which carry the same weight against white people.

It was racist against Mills and it’s ridiculous to suggest it’s not because someone was called Irish or a viking... GTFOH

I like how no one crying racism has addressed the Dirk or Bonner examples.

So why do you think he chose to call him Jamacain then, Smith?