The College Fix

Before I start getting into my thoughts on this whole Jalen Rose “Uncle Tom” business, I should probably get this one of out of the way:

I’m a white kid from the suburbs, and never had any chance of playing college basketball.

Now that you have that information, you can either choose to completely disregard my opinion, or treat it like I am the reincarnation of Aristotle.

Now let’s get down to it: I really have no problem with what Jalen Rose had to say. Every night before I go to bed, I pray to God for world peace, a billion dollars, and an America that will just lighten up about everything.

Jalen Rose should not have to offer any apologies. The guy just said what is on his mind, and when I was in first grade, someone told me you can do that in this country.

Now I can’t speak intelligently on the economic situations of every black Duke player growing up, but there are a lot of black players who come from very stable backgrounds. When I think of the Blue Devils, the first black guys that come to mind are Jay Williams, Nolan Smith, Shane Battier, Trajan Langdon, Grant Hill- guys like that. They all seem like really sharp dudes and I know Nolan Smith’s dad was a stand-up NBA player and Grant Hill’s parents were always around and I’m pretty sure Langdon’s dad is a professor at the University of Alaska or something.

Now we all speak in generalities, it’s just how human communication has developed. I’m sure Duke has recruited a really bright kid from the inner city before, but everyone can acknowledge that in general, Duke is much more comfortable with recruiting guys who come from white-picket-fence type backgrounds.

And it has been incredibly successful for that program. Kids from the inner city sometimes come with a lot of baggage, and Coach K would just rather not deal with off- the-court issues that other schools sometimes have to handle.

But for Jalen Rose, a kid from Detroit, to resent Duke because he feels like they never would have an interest in him as a player, is perfectly normal. The fires of sports rivalries always spread because of some sort of personal, regional, or cultural resentment. It’s just how it goes.

If I was a betting man, or had money to bet for that matter, I’d be betting that Jalen Rose has nothing against white people or black guys that come from wealthy families, it’s just trash talk. Sports is filled with trash talk. Life is filled with trash talk. And the sooner we can laugh about differences in this country, the sooner those differences will disappear.

Jack Kiernan is a contributor to the Student Free Press Association.

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