Dishonor Roll: Hansbrough Haters

Admittedly, when it comes to NCAA basketball, I bleed Tar Heel blue, which means people are sure to call "homer" on this post.

Let them boo and hiss; Tyler Hansbrough is going to be a pretty damn good NBA player and all the doubters need to look beyond the color of his skin and see that.

What? Did I say something wrong? That is why so many people are down on him heading into tonight's NBA Draft right? Because he's white...


No one will come right out and say it; they'll use phrases like "limited upside" and "grittiness," talk about his "determination" and how "hardworking" he is as a player. Players who are far less accomplished in the collegiate ranks will earn praises for what they might develop into and the athleticism they bring to the table, despite having done nothing remotely close to what Hansbrough has done over his four years at North Carolina.

Leadership, integrity and an easily identified passion for the game seemingly don't translate to being highly-regarded the same way that being the second or third best player on your team does, like Arizona's Jordan Hill or Wake Forest's James Johnson.

Experts will point to the difficult transition to the NBA game for fellow "Great White Hopes" Adam Morrisson and JJ Redick, two NCAA poster boys who have fallen on hard-ish times as members of The Association. The problem, of course, is that the comparision is far from apt. Just because all three are white doesn't mean the other two are the best measures of Tyler Hansbrough's ability going forward.

Why not line Hansbrough up next to fellow Tar Heel alum Antawn Jamison? Both are 6'9" and both dominated in the paint and on the glass while extending their game beyond the key each year they put on the UNC uniform. Wouldn't that be a more viable comparison?

After all, both won Naismith and Wooden Awards, and had outstanding career averages, Jamison going for 19 and 10 to Hansbrough's 20 and 9. Much like Jamison, Hansbrough's jersey will soon swing from the rafters at The Dean Dome, right next to the National Championship banner he helped win this past season.

Or what about another fellow Tar Heel, Sean May? Like Hansbrough, May helped hang a National Championship banner in the rafters leading into his draft year. Unlike Hansbrough, May couldn't operate a lick outside of the key and played on a pair of balky knees. The result? 13th overall and the bulk of his career riding the pine in Charlotte, injured or out of shape.

But wait - Hansbrough's white, so we have to compare him to white players only, right?

Ike Diogu was a Top 10 pick. Sheldon Williams went Top 5, though admittedly it was the Atlanta Hawks who took him, so we all know it was a little crazy, but still. Dammit, Drew Gooden went 3rd overall. Drew Gooden!

The difference? Skin color. That's all it really is. Guys like Hansbrough get labeled as hard-working and playing above their true potential because he's white and can't jump out of the gym, while far less accomplished and decorated players who didn't perform nearly as well in college are viewed as projects and seen for what they might be able to do in the future.

Experts project Hansbrough as an "energy guy off the bench" and someone who will give a team "good minutes in reserve." I project him to make a lot of teams wish they had reconsidered their "projects" and guys with "outstanding upside" when they could have taken the kid who won everything in college.

But what can you do? JJ Redick was considered too small and a defensive liability coming out of college, despite an ultra-fast release and storied career at Duke. Stephen Curry? He's going to be a star, even though he's an inch shorter and played against far lesser competition...

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History in the Making

Down the road, when we're all parents and our kids are bitching about the history test they have at the end of the week, one of the dates they'll be forced to memorized will be November 4, 2008.

On that date, they'll learn, history was made in the United States when a black man was elected President.

Then you'll tell them where you were on that day, just like you'll share with them where you were on 9/11.

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Being as I'm Canadian, some might wonder why this US Presidential Election has been such a regular topic here on iBlog over the last nine months, seeing as the results seemingly have no direct impact on my life.

However, that is not the case.

The results of this election, which final polls forecast as a sure win for Senator Barack Obama, impacts each and every one of us, regardless of nationality, age, gender and, perhaps most importantly, race.

Think about what is happening.

This time tomorrow, the next President of the United States of America, the most powerful nation in the world, will be a black man.

Forty-four years ago, segregation was still viewed as a valid practice on a wide scale in the United States.

While I certainly admit that the issue is one that still exists in our world today, the scope of this event taking place over the course of the day today should not be discounted.

A black man is going to be President and that gives me hope.

Hope that we're finally realizing that the man is more important than his skin colour.

Hope that we're deciding that the best man for the job should be in charge regardless of which side of the aisle he sits on.

Hope that those who still see Barack Obama as a black man with a Muslim sounding name come to realize that he's the one who is going to lead the United States out of the dark ages they've been stuck in for the last eight years.

Hope that one day my children won't think of a Black President as a historical achievement.

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Highly Recommended: American History X

Flicking through the channels last night, I saw American History X was on the History Network. There was no way that I was missing this movie.

I know I recommend a lot of movies here - some good, some bad, some dance oriented. For anyone who has not seen American History X, do yourself a favour and go get this movie. Don't get it on a day when you're not wanting to pay attention and think or when you're looking for a laugh though. It's not that kind of movie.

It is, however, an outstanding movie and probably one that gets unfairly passed over when discussing the best movies of the 90's and one that I have mistakenly left out of my All-Time Top Ten... until now.

While movies are certainly meant to entertain, this one not only does that in spades, but it also discusses some very important and powerful topics and should not be missed.

It also marks the end of Edward Furlong's actual career.

Remember Eddie Furlong? John Connor from Terminator 2?

Dude was all set to become one of the best young stars of the moment after following T2 with this outstanding film and his quality performance as Edward Norton's kid brother. Instead, he made Detroit Rock City, drove head first into drugs and alcohol and now lives in the Direct to DVD bin at your local Blockbuster.

Regardless of the failings of Eddie Furlong, he was terrific in this movie and Norton very much deserved the Oscar nomination he garnered for his performance. Perhaps the best performance of all, in hindsight, was that of Ethan Suplee who plays dim-witted oaf Randy on My Name is Earl. The Neo-Nazi ball of hate and anger you see here is nothing like "The Big Dummy."

All I end with is this: if you haven't seen it, go get it and if you have, watch it again.

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Highly Recommended will appear periodically whenever something awesome stumbles into my life that I feel the need and desire to share with all of you. Books, movies, music, that kind of stuff...

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Things I Learned This Week

1. Apparently It Can't Just Be a Discussion
See that's all I was hoping for with the first post of this week - Untitled - about the Kelly Tilghman comments and the reactions. I wanted to talk about the reaction, educate myself and maybe others to where the reactions come from and open a discourse on an important topic. Sadly, that didn't happen, because, well, I don't really know why. In part, it's because of the atrocities committed by racist men in previous generations. It is an immediate barrier to communication, one that I can't get through because of the whiteness of my skin. But I think the other part is that it is easier to angrily discuss the past and the mistakes of others than to examine the future and what needs to be done to make the world a better place.

2. An Interesting Question
One thing that came out of the early week posts was an assertion that an entire race - us light-skinned folks - should be ashamed of the actions of white folks in the past. My question then is this: Should then not everyone living in North America feel ashamed for the treatment of the Native Peoples throughout history? I mean, we flat out took their land and gave them nothing...

Just saying, there are all kinds of sides to this coin.

3. We Focus On The Wrong Things
As there is most weeks, this is more of a "Thing I Continued to Learn" than anything else and I am very much a part of it. I devoted three posts this week to the word lynch - a word with venomous history for some - but a word nonetheless, when there are far more important things going on in the world. And I don't mean the ridiculousness that is Britney Spears, though that seems to get even more coverage than anything else. We all need that diversion from time to time - be it reality TV, gossip mags, sports, whatever - but we could also make a helluva lot of difference if we all wanted to.

4. An Example of The Above
There is this dude I used to work with named Sab. He's a good dude, good intentioned, nice enough, mildly annoying. You know, that guy. Anyway, I get somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 emails a week from Sab, none of which have any intellectual content whatsoever. Some are YouTube clips of goals or fights I've seen on The Score all morning, some are jokes that aren't overly funny, but for the most part, it's porn. Topless chicks on a beach, the latest silicone queen from the cover of a magazine, you name it. If Sab spent even 10% of the time he spends trolling for and forwarding on porn on anything of remote importance, he might have figured out where bin Laden is hiding already. I'm not saying steer clear of the porn entirely... just maybe ease up a little.

5. I Still Love This Picture, Years After First Seeing It
Some things are always funny. This is one of them.

6. My Mom is a 16 Year Old Girl
Figuratively, of course. See, I got a call from her this week that amounted to the kind of phone calls you had when you were sixteen, wondering if that boy or girl you liked liked you or liked you liked you. Faye's in the same boat.

7. I Really Have Grown Up
My buddy Deuce had a party Friday night at his place. Typical deal - people, drinks, music, etc. - at least, that's what I would imagine happened. We made an appearance at 8:00 and were home on the couch by 10:15 watching What Not To Wear. Now, in my defense, I had to work Saturday morning, but still. Two years ago, this wouldn't have meant squat to me. I rocked a massive hangover on the casino floor more time than I can remember after a night out with Bucky and the Boys. Maybe I really am becoming a Sally...

8. Some People Actually Have No Idea How A Movie Store Works
You'll hear all my gripes about the fine folks who frequent The Block a little later in the week (maybe Thursday, who knows?) but I just gotta get this one out there right now:

It's not like a fast food joint where you go up to the counter, place your order and the people behind the counter go and get it for you!

The only exceptions are if you're (a) a cute, older person (b) disabled in any way or (c) a cute, older person who is disabled in any way.

Notice that being a lazy skeet didn't make the list...

9. No, It Don't Come In English
Me: Thank you for calling Blockbuster where you can Trade & Save
Him: Yeah, uh, we bought dat Pan's Labyrinth movie en it's all in Spanish. Do it come in English?
Me (choking back laughter): No sir, it's a Spanish film.
Him: So I can't turn off the Spanish er nothin?
Me: No sir, unfortunately not.
Him: So it's like that Iwo Jima? I didn't know that wasn't English either. I got that one here too.
Me: I see...
Him: You ain't got an English version of that do yee?

At this point, I usually make the finger guns and pretend to shoot myself with both finger guns under the chin...

10. 1 Month, 1 Cigarette
Yesterday marked one month of "quitting smoking" and in that time, I have had exactly one cigarette. I also had one shitty Pom Pom cigar a couple weekends ago, but that doesn't really count because, well, it just doesn't. ONE CIGARETTE... IN A MONTH! Yes, I want a pat on the back.

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Dishonour Roll: Golfweek Magazine

I had another group lined up for this week's Dishonour Roll, but I've had to put them on the shelf for now. I got home and heard about and saw the image to the left and had to change course.

If you've been here at all this week, you know we've been discussing race a great deal and the words of Kelly Tilghman, pictured right, an anchor on The Golf Channel. Golfweek Magazine has stoked the fire even more with this horrific choice of covers.

Someone at Golfweek Magazine should get fired over this. There is no question that the motive here was to sell magazines based of the controversy and that end result was put ahead of everything else. How someone - anyone - involved in green-lighting this cover didn't wonder aloud whether they were doing something horribly offensive is beyond me.

While you may say that sounds hypocritical coming from the guy who said he didn't understand the grave uproar over the Kelly Tilghman comments, I counter with this:

I give Tilghman the benefit of the doubt that she made a grievous mistake on live television and meant no harm with her comments. Some times, decent people make horrible mistakes and I think that is what happened in her case. She apologized immediately, was punished and we move on. Doesn't mean what she said was okay...

This is a whole different situation though, as this isn't off the cuff and unrehearsed on live TV. Someone started thinking about this the minute the comment became news and ran with it. This is an image that summons the fiercest anger in almost an entire community and there is no way that it should be allowed to sit on shelves around the world.

As a journalist, I am all for freedom of speech, but there are limits. To me, this image and this cover cross that line.

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An Open Letter to Anyone Who Wants to Listen

Yesterday, I sought out clarity and understanding of an issue.

Today, I want to pass along what my venture has taught me and what I pledge to do from this day forward as a result.

In hoping to have a discussion, I was sent a link to Google images of horrible atrocities.

In sending a private email asking for insight and opinions, I was told that is what us white folks always want to do.

In asking to help educate and open minds, I was told that educating and opening minds wasn't part of the deal.

Racism and bigotry are issues that have always struck a chord with me. That's what happens when you're the white kid who grew up loving hip hop, hung out in a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities and was nicknamed "United Nations" by his old man for being so accepting of everyone, no matter the skin tone.

I do not tolerate either and do not understand those who do. We no longer live in a time where "that's the way they were raised" can be used as an excuse, not that it should have been in the first place.

I also do not understand being bound to the past beyond the point of moving forward. The sins of the father do not always fall to the son and the ills of the father work the same way. At some point, history and the past must simply be that; remember it, swear to never repeat it and work towards the future. The future is what we can control and change and influence. That should be our focus.

Yesterday, part of one of the comments nearly brought me to tears:

If you've had thousands of your people killed and burned while White offspring laugh and smile at the feet of their murderous fathers, then you would totally understand. Slave ships traveled to and fro for 200 years. Two thirds of Africans died on each trip. Do the math.These are the images burned in our memories from birth and where the majority of our distrust for Whites is grounded.

That shit is sick! It's fucking disgusting and an entire race should be ashamed that their grandfathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors, priests and presidents basically authenticated DEATH with no action!

I am not ashamed of who I am, nor do I feel I should be. Slavery and the atrocities committed during those times were not committed by each and every white person. I am as sickened by the pictures linked to me in the comment as anyone with any moral fiber should be, but I am not responsible for those sins. Please don't judge me as such. Doing so is as mistake and a missed opportunity.

I saw yesterday as an opportunity, to open a line of discussion on a topic that is of the utmost importance in our world. Instead of discussing the random, unimportant topics that are usually featured here, I wanted to do something I think is important - educate.

It's not my job or any other Black person to educate Whites on what is right and wrong to say.

Get a fucking book and educate yourselves instead of focusing on yourselves and yourselves only.

No one else in this country does this. We know more about Whites than they know about themselves because we are forced to know.

My question is this: Why not you? Or me? Or anyone?

There isn't any rule that says you can't help someone grow and become a better person. This isn't about black or white, it is about educating, understanding, learning, growing and becoming a better world.

For me, the future is what is most important. It is the world in which my children will live and grown and learn. I cannot change the things that have happened before my time, but I can educate myself, my children and anyone else who wants to listen to where we have been, where we are and where we can go.

Education and communication are the answer.

I refuse to stand in the past and not be a part of building a better future, for everyone.

My world is colour blind.

I only hope that yours is too.

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Untitled

Warning: There is going to be some language in here that you might not like. I don't like it, but it's here to help discuss an issue.

I'm getting older and I was hoping that by the time I reached this age, some things would have changed in the world and we would have sorted a few things out by now. But we haven't and I don't think we ever will. That makes me sad.

Kelly Tilghman, an on-air analyst for The Golf Channel, used the word "lynch" in reference to how the rest of the PGA should try to defeat the dominance that is Tiger Woods.

Ms. Tilghman couldn't have picked a worse word. She made an apology, was suspended for two weeks and the person whom the comment was directed towards, Tiger Woods, has said it's a non-issue. This, to me, means we're done here. Of course, we're not and here is where I will get my self into trouble.

We're not done because some people don't want to see beyond it. Some people refuse to let a horribly inappropriate word uttered on live television not just be a horrible inappropriate word uttered on live television. It's gotta be more than that.

I love Scoop Jackson. He's one of the people who inspired me over the years to make a move into this writing thing. Loved him at SLAM, still love him over at ESPN. Except this morning. This morning I'm annoyed with Scoop Jackson.

You see, Scoop's piece is all about Kelly Tilghman, Tiger Woods and us as a society understanding that thoughtless statements that are racially insensitive do not have a place in the world today. He calls for Tiger Woods to be the person that shows us all this. He also likens Ms. Tilghman to Howard Cosell, Marge Schott, John Rocker and Don Imus.

This isn't Imus calling the Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team a bunch of "nappy headed hos." This isn't Howard Cosell's infamous "Look at that little monkey go" or Marge Schott calling Eric Davis and Dave Parker her "Million-Dollar Niggers." This is nowhere near John Rocker territory either. This is an on-air personality making a horrible choice of words.

Unfortunately, because of the word Ms. Tilghman used, this has become a bigger issue. Sadly, had she said the rest of the players on the PGA Tour need to take him into a back alley somewhere and beat the fuck outta him, not a lot would have been made of the story I don't think. In essence, that is exactly what needs to happen if anyone else wants to win something of significance on the PGA Tour in the next twenty years. Not because Tiger Woods is black, but because he is that damn good.

Of course, this is about more than just Tiger Woods, Kelly Tilghman and the word lynch. This is about racism, perceived or real, intended or unintentional.

I don't think I will ever see a time where racism isn't a part of society. I don't like that I feel this way, but it is how I feel. Sadly, one of the reasons I think this way is situations such as this one.

To me - and I understand that I come from a much different place than those who take great offense to Ms. Tilghman's choice of words - the fact that this became as much of a story as it did is a sad declaration of the world we live in. Not that Ms. Tilghman should have gone unpunished or there should be no barometer of what you can and can't say, but aren't there much more important issues in the world than one woman not being smart enough to think before she spoke?

Kelly Tilghman used the word lynch on The Golf Channel. How many rappers use the N word throughout their rhymes, reaching a much larger audience than The Golf Channel could ever hope to reach? And don't feed me this, "It's okay because they're black and it's nigg-a, not nigg-er," bullshit either. If lynch is a word that strikes a chord, how the fuck is the N word acceptable? How come Rev. Al Sharpton isn't calling for a stop to the recording of hip hop tracks using that word? Or what if a black commentator said it or something of similar nature in reference to a white athlete? Then what?

I guess, my basic question is this: why is one thing seen as horribly wrong and the other is acceptable?

Black comedians get on stage and do "The White Guy Voice" without anyone batting an eye. Russell Peters' entire routine is predicated on racial stereotypes, but because he's a minority himself it's okay? Or are both of these acceptable because they are done in good spirits and jokingly?

I dunno.

What I do know is that I will continue to live my life the way I always have, seeing people not colour and with my fingers crossed that maybe my children will be able to live a world that truly embraces that belief.

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The Rundown: One Sick Puppy

So I woke up this morning feeling like ass and it hasn't subsided since. Thankfully, I'm off tomorrow, which affords me to opportunity to do nothing but the five things that make up today's Rundown...

Top Five Things To Do When I'm Sick

5. Sleep
Pretty much the most obvious of the list. Who doesn't like staying in bed all day, sick or not?

4. Watch Old Movies
Since no one can sleep all day, there doesn't need to be any getting out of bed and old movies are the perfect solution. You've seen them hundreds of times, so if you do pass out - or need to run to the bathroom - who cares? Personal favourites include Pretty Woman (it's the only movie we owned when I was in high school), Thank You For Smoking and High Fidelity.

3. A Nice, Hot Soak in the Tub
I understand that following up Pretty Woman with a nice, hot soak in the tub is going to make some question my masculinity, but I don't give a damn... It's not like I'm adding in lilac bath oils or having a bunch of candles lit or anything like that; I'm just saying a nice hot bath soothes the aches and pains is all.

2. Read Magazines
I'm quite certain that trashy magazines and sports books like SI and SLAM were created for days like I'm sure tomorrow is going to be. Easy to digest, quick to read and requiring absolutely no mental effort whatsoever... just the way we like them.

1. Being A Total Sook
The only thing better than the four that came first, is getting to stay in bed and have someone look after you by bringing you your favourite movies and trashy magazines, then drawing you a bath when you finally wake up from your mid-afternoon siesta. In an interesting twist, Sarah is off almost all day tomorrow... SWEET!

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Update to yesterday: Still no Passion in St. John's, plus the website doesn't go up until tomorrow or so it says today... if I get up in the morning and it says Friday, I'm going to start worrying.

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ESPN has a writer named Jemele Hill, who I have to say, makes me angrier than any one person in the world has to date.

Ms. Hill likes to interject race into every single article she writes, whether it belongs there or not. I agree that sometimes race is a factor, but her post yesterday on the tragic death of Washington Redskins Safety Sean Taylor was not the time or place. I was impressed with her coverage until this:

Although study after study shows black men are more likely to be victims of crime, rarely do they receive victim treatment. When black athletes are crime victims, the undertone seems to be they somehow were at fault. Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker and Bucs cornerback Phillip Buchanon all have been victims of home invasions that seem as orchestrated as the one that claimed Taylor's life. In March of 2006, Buchanon was stripped naked and tied up by seven men in ski masks who robbed him and jammed a gun in his mouth. This past July, Curry and his family were bound by duct tape as men robbed him at gunpoint in his suburban Chicago home. The Pistons' Flip Murray narrowly escaped the same fate, slamming the door on two gunmen on his porch before he called police. Yet we seem to think it's much more likely a black athlete is holding the gun instead of staring down the barrel of one.

I haven't heard anyone saying Sean Taylor was to blame or at fault for the unfortunate circumstances that took place, nor did I hear anything like that in regards to Curry, Buchanon or any of the other athletes mentioned. The simple fact is that Ms. Hill didn't have an appropriate angle to play the race card from, so she created one on her own.

To me - and I know this might seem like the easy opinion and notion, but whatever - race will become less of an issue when people stop making it an issue, from both sides. Not everything in this world is racially motivated. Someone at The World Wide Leader needs to make that clear to Jemele Hill.

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Ecko Under Fire / The Status of Hip Hop

As has been the case for the initial two posts on this here blog, this third installment will again have a tie-in with my "other job" writing over at Bugs & Cranks.

Earlier this year, I covered fashion designer / entrepreneur / Jack-of-All-Trades Marc Ecko's purchasing of Barry Bonds' historic 756th Home Run ball and the vote held on his website to determine it's fate. Basically, homeboy paid over $750K for the ball and then let anyone who wanted to vote on whether to send it to the Hall of Fame as is, brand it with an asterisk signifying Bonds' alleged steroid / HGH usage or blast the damn thing into orbit.

The asterisk won... I covered that too.

So now, two of my colleagues have picked up on a story from The Starting Five where they (TSF and my fellow Bugs) are agreeing with Barry's decision to boycott the Hall if they take and display Ecko's Branded Baseball. Their contention: doing this, branding the baseball, makes Marc Ecko a racist and a sellout.

For those who don't know, Marc Ecko and his initial and most profitable clothing line Ecko Unlimited got it's start in the Hip Hop Community. Ecko is the brand with the rhino for a logo you see people rockin' all over your town.

Settle in, here comes the rebuttal.

Marc Ecko didn't brand the ball himself. Millions of people, myself included, voted to put that big, fat asterisk on the ball because we believe Bonds has achieved his records through the use of performance enhancing drugs. Ecko is just following up on his promise to go along with whatever "The People" voted. It's not his fault all the Barry Lovers didn't get online...

As for how this makes him racist, I'm not sure. Would sending it to the Hall sans asterisk earn him an Image Award?

Yes, some people probably dislike or even hate Barry Bonds because he is black. Personally, I have my own reasons and not one of them has anything to do with the colour of the man's skin.

Now, let's take this away from the diamond and Barry Bonds and onto TSF's claims that these actions make Ecko a sellout who is turning his back on the people who got him to where he is today...

There is no doubt that the first demographic to embrace Ecko Unlimited was the Hip Hop Community. I can say this confidently because I count myself as part of that demographic and have proudly donned Ecko gear for some time. The flaw in TSF's argument, and therefore my friends Hulk and Chalk's co-argument is this:

Hip Hop Is Mainstream and Hip Hop Is Middle America

Like it or not, Hip Hop broke from the counter culture a long time ago and has been becoming more and more mainstream by the day.

Hip Hop tracks dominate Top 40 Radio. Hip Hop styles are present on the runways, in the shopping malls and in the closets of all races and backgrounds. It's not a 'hood thing anymore like TSF either thinks it should be or wants it to be...

I live in St. John's, Newfoundland. There is no real 'hood. There aren't even very many folks who aren't Caucasian around here. But there sure as shit is a whole lot of Hip Hop.

Now I'm not saying dressing the part and talking like 50 is the correct representation of Hip Hop, but it does show that the influence of the music and the culture extends far beyond the boundaries of race.

You want to toss Ecko aside? Do it, but do it full out. Don't say you're not tossing his glasses that you wear because you'd be blind without them. Go buy new ones tomorrow and renounce him completely. Pull a Chuck D and try and Shut'em Down. Even though the clip didn't work, it was nice to remember the power of PE...

In the end, I see it like this:

Ecko's moves weren't racially based, they were press and publicity based. He's not a racist for buying and branding the ball, he's a spotlight whore, at best. You call his move racist, I call it savvy - interjecting your name and brand somewhere it never would have been in the first place is smart business.

The two - his decision to brand the ball and hip hop - aren't related. If a white player broke that record with the same allegations swirling around his head and Ecko pulled the same moves then what?

He didn't say "Fuck Hip Hop"
You said "Fuck Ecko!"

His moves were about a baseball and a baseball player.Yes, he's black, but that doesn't mean Ecko is racist, at least not in my books. And they weren't even his moves if you want to get technical.

Besides, I was always taught - through hip hop - that hip hop isn't a colour and isn't a race, it's a culture and a way of life. It's not a black thing, it's not a 'hood thing... it just is... and I am Hip Hop.

Still Free...

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