Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ManintheMiddle]

I see a pattern developing here and I'm not alone in this perception. Many of you have seen it coming too, perhaps for a very long time, like me. Permit me to get racial and why not, as this spate of incidents indeed has racial overtones, often forced on us as viewers.

Consider only the most recent examples of young Blacks behaving badly:

1. Michael Jordan, ever the ego-tripper, chooses to spout off at his own NBA Hall of Fame induction ceremony, badmouthing anyone with whom he ever had a grudge on the court. He even tells his kids that he would "hate to be them." Gee, thanks, Dad.

2. Then Serena Williams, always on the verge of doing some chicken-necking, flies into a rage over a bad call late in her match to her Belgian opponent, which she was losing. She threatens the Asian umpire with bodily harm and upbraids her again as the court referees meet to decide her penalty. Then later at her press conference she plays coy--or should I say she plays dumb--about what transpired, never apologizing.

3. Fast-forward to last night. As teenage sensation Taylor Swift is accepting her MTV award, on walks Kanye West, a vastly over-rated "musician" if there ever was one, grabs the mic from her and insists that Beyonce deserved the award more. The audience boos him and applauds her, as well they should have. His only act of contrition: a half-hearted apology on his overblown website.

And let's not even mention the antics of Naomi Campbell, Chris Brown, or that other Brown, Bobby, who even his ex Whitney now admits is a total azzwipe.

Now of course some of you are probably saying, oh there goes MIM again with one of his rants on Blacks. No, this is NOT a rant on all Blacks, or even African Americans, but in particular on a younger generation of same who feel ENTITLED or is it EMPOWERED (re: emboldened) to say almost anything they want when they want.

Hear me out: this is a disturbing trend made more upsetting by the fact that some of those most outspoken against it--people like Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Juan Williams, and now columnist Billy Johnson, Jr. are from older generations. It's a kind of raw, rude, and relentless display of thuggery or, to put it bluntly, acting ghetto. Before the present generation took the stage or court, I gave no credence to the line, "You can take the Black out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the Black." Indeed, I found it downright disgusting.

But I'm beginning to have a change of heart, not just because of the huge spike in the number of these ghetto acts, but since most if not nearly all of the public criticism leveled against them is coming not from peers but older generations of Blacks who suffered through a hel-l of a lot more but still managed to maintain a quiet dignity and even grace.

No, there is a new coarseness at work in Black youth culture which began with the rise of gangsta rap and hip hop slop. It explains why someone like Snoop Dog can attract the audience he does. It has a growing base which is, to be sure, not confined to the Black community. But it is a base that is debased, that appeals to the lowest common denominator and is, above all, as devoid of real, enduring talent as it is decency.

One of the most popular talk radio hosts is a guy who goes by the name "The Black Avenger." He and more than a few very well educated Blacks of older generations have repeatedly been on record saying that there is an illness afflicting the African American community, which is riven by out-of-wedlock births, chronic underemployment, violence, and fatherless families. While these problems are not, of course, peculiar to this demographic, they are significantly and consistently more pronounced with it.

But I also believe these thuggish antics are indicative of the excessive tolerance shown to excessive behavior emanating from far too many younger Blacks. One sees it all the time in the news these days. I saw it firsthand in my previous career as an inner-city high school teacher. And it shows no signs of abating despite the election of an African American to the presidency and the very visible good role models otherwise abounding in the media. Were this bad behavior limited to the so-called permanent underclass of the Black community, it might at least be understandable if still not acceptable. But it isn't; going ghetto is seen by far too many as cool, as hip, as a way to be whenever one feels like it.

It is also no doubt part of a larger trend of roguish behavior as one sees on talk shows like Jerry Springer and more than a few radio shows. And, no, I'm not talking about Joe Wilson's unseemly outburst against Obama in the well of the House the other day. What MJ, Kanye, and Serena have done goes well beyond the pale.

So what gives? Or more precisely, what will need to give before the American public at large holds this sort of behavior accountable. Jordan gets away with anything because he's untouchable--a King. The King of Pop got away with saying and doing things it would have been inconceivable to have been tolerated in the King of Rock, Elvis, had he done the same. Williams takes a page from McEnroe but finds even the latter commenting on air that she went too far. And Kanye--well--let's just say it's just the most recent installment in a long series of punk moves.

But where's the backlash? Williams is penalized but in two days time her outbursts are all but forgotten. A few sports columnists took MJ to task but little more will be said. The other MJ is dead and buried but still his past is being air-brushed. And Kanye, Bobby, and their ilk continue to shock and mock without retribution by awards shows and their labels.

Yes, it is a form of entitlement and it's only going to get worse before it gets better unless the media establishment gets some much needed backbone.

[ED209]

Sorry I'm colourblind, was Joe Wilson at the VMA awards?

[proustme]

[Pink Freud]

[mises]

Kanye West is probably the most arrogant man in America. I do like what he has done with ghetto fab, though. The prison bitch look was tired and even hipster skinny jeans are an improvement.

But Serena's rantings were not completely out of line with court antics. Professional athletes blow up sometimes. And MJ was a junkie, as was Heath Ledger, DJ AM etc. Half of suburbia is whacked out on oxy.

You might like this article MITM: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1229849.html

[bacasper]

I am not sure it is a generational thing as evidenced by the analogous outburst recently from Henry Louis Gates.

The question I posed then I pose again: has such behavior now been potentiated by the Black Man in the White House?

BTW, Williams' penalties may not yet be over. She may get disqualified from future majors tournaments.

And stop confusing the MJs!

[mises]

[ubermenzch]

MITM is making an error of confirmation. He wants to find examples of young blacks behaving badly, and has no problem doing so. But we could all find examples of the opposite as well, whether that be young whites behaving badly or young blacks behaving exquisitely.

[On the other hand]

[On the other hand]

[On the other hand]

I just watched the footage.

[sluggle]

The only thing that could possibly be worse than watching the Glenn Beck show is reading the posts of an internet troll who wishes to be Glenn Beck.

[bacasper]

[mithridates]

Op-ed on the same subject here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/serena-joe-kanye-its-a-new-social-disease/article1287456/

[ManintheMiddle]

Pink Freud noted: