Ron Artest

Unbelievable. Or maybe not. In response to a report quoting Yao Ming, the franchise player for the Houston Rockets, new F Ron Artest had to the following to say: (Yao had been quoted as saying he was worred about team chemistry now that the violatile Artest was in the mix)

"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto. That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about."

He expounded further:
"If you go back to the brawl, that's a culture issue right there. "Somebody was disrespecting me, so he's got to understand where I'm coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed."

You know what's wrong with "black" America? Instead of having people like this as your role models, perhaps folks should look up to pillars of our society, who have outgrown such childish things as blaming being a complete jackass on your culture. Is the argument here that "black" culture allows that anyone who is black and disrespected has the right to "thug up" someone? Is it OK for Obama to run across the stage in upcoming debates to punch out John McCain after McCain "disrepects" Obama over the economy?

You know what is scary? I think more people follow the logic behind Artest's thoughts and words than most people are willing to believe. Until we accept this, and recognize the problems associated with "black Americana", we'll never truly get past racsism and classism in this country. There will remain a divide - most notably between those of us who recognize Artest and people like him for what they are - complete and utter wastes of human genes; and those who continue to blame his absurd behavior on social issues, and "culture".