The Silence is Deafening
 

Now that the verdict was handed down in the Anucha Browne-Sanders case vs. Isiah Thomas and MSG. I ask where is the uproar against Isiah and MSG. Come on folks, just 6 months ago or maybe not even 6 months ago, we saw to it that imus was "punished" for his comments (Even though most of us knew that he would eventually work some place else). Isiah is a coach of a basketball team, that has a female customer base and he had no problem calling an educated, articulate sista B%^& and Ho when he felt like it. Where is the outcry about this and lets not go there about the fact that in his testimony that he felt that it was worse for a white man to call Black women a Beeeyotch but its was not as bad if done by a Black man. Neeeeeeeeeegrooooooo puhleeeeeze. Its situations like this why we are readily perceived by mainstream as hypocritical because we gun for whitey when they call us out of our name, but shrug our shoulders when our "brotha" do the same.

I am getting off my soapbox, I am through.....so through with the BS

ummmm ok....:confused:

I think the only people who really care about this is ones who follow sports. This is getting more coverage on ESPN and other sport shows than in the regular media. Also if this was Magic or Michael, rather than Isiah, it would have gotten a whole lot more coverage.

Exactly...the national story I saw about it didn't mention any of that....

Soror don't be confused, just feel me on this point and hear me out. Alot of orgs galvanized to show support for a team of girls who were called nappy headed hos by a radio jock (ie. called for complete divesting, boycotts, press releases etc...). During a sexual harrassment case, Isiah casually dismissed the fact that he referred to a woman as a B and H in the workplace solely because it was a brotha calling her those names as opposed to a white man (that is hypocritical and its that same mentality why most of us sit and watch idly as media continues to depict so negatively). I know my post reads like I am ranting, but lets remember that not too long ago alot of orgs some professional amd some greek letter were up in arms about a hick radio jock calling some Black women out of their name, have our fires cooled that fast that we are not irate that Isiah still has his job even though a court has ruled that he is culpable for the charges of sexual harassment and fostering a hostile work environment. He is a coach for a MAJOR sport franchise and he gets away with tossing the B and H bombs around the office and women aren't outraged. Yipes! :eek: Maybe its just me. :mad:

The sad thing is, is that the company he works for has to fork over the punitive damages not him, he walks away with his salary and job, sista Anucha is most likely shunned from her industry. I am a realist and I call a spade a spade!

ditto

I hear you soror, but the big difference is that the organization IS paying, a HEFTY sum whereas in some other situations (Justice Thomas, Don Imus), there was no punishment so a public outcry was warranted. Believe me, Mr Thomas will get his ;) . In fact, one of the reasons why Ms Browne-Sanders won the suit is because she was able to prove a hostile work environment (I believe at least 2 more came forward as witnesses of some sort).

I totally hear your post although now that mccoyred mentions it, a fair judgement was received so I can possibly understand why no public outcry right now.

I hadn't heard about this story (in its entirety) until yesterday when it was featured on Good Morning America (they interviewed Anucha). They showed the part of Isiah's interview when he said this and like you, I was like WTF? :confused:

Me too. I was a little surprised that it involved Mr. Thomas b/c I have always been under the impression that his demeanor was layed back. However, I do feel like an appropriate judgement was put into place. But as others mentioned before....if you don't really watch espn on a regular basis you may not have heard much about the story....

I have seen plenty of folks talking about this, just not on GC. Mostly over at crunktastical.

I do see what you're saying though. I mean we got folks ready to protest ANYTHING "the white man" does, but don't say boo when it's a black man disrespecting a black woman.

I don't know what this particular poster is raving about. Outcry for what? Because the man is paying the price? No.

If you want a general discussion of his comments, start a thread on that.

The Isiah story wasn't a big news story for a few reasons that have nothing to do with hypocrisy. The news media wasn't all over Thomas and there hasn't been a case even similar to this in my opinion since Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill--which DID receive a great deal of attention from blacks (and whites) if you want to take a more holistic look at this instead of finding stuff that happened within the past year or 2 to make your argument.

He got charged, is paying the price, many people aren't familiar with what he said (versus Imus who said it openly and Jena 6 where the case is much more public).

That's life.

It makes more sense to start a thread about it to elicit discussion rather than rant and rave about it as the OP did. Ranting and raving usually doesn't result in anything.

I don't disagree, just saying I understood her point.

Mr. Thomas has exposed his volatile side before.

I have followed it and am not outraged. But then I wasn't outraged about Imus, either. I've gotten more selective about what outrages me as I have gotten older--it's that high blood pressure thing. LOL

And as others have said she is getting paid and justice is being served.

BTW: never been a fan of Isaiah Thomas.

For real?? Lawd knows that is news to me...lol. Was it something recent? I'm gonna have to google him....

From his playing days on. Trust, he is not Mr. Nice Guy.

*coming back from google* A mess..."Wiki" sure does get a lot of info on a person. It just amazes me that I cannot recall some of it as much as I have always been into basketball. I was a lot younger though and probably didn't pay as much attention to the news as I do now, of course.

Hi Soror Mccoyred,
Actually, Anucha Browne-Sanders was awarded a judgement of $11 million by the jury. She WILL NOT see a penny of this judgement until the case is completely settled. Now the appeals process begins for MSG, and trust me they do indeed have the resources to drag this out with more lengthy court appeals and that will rack up more legal fees for Anucha. When all is said and done, she realistically could only see a settlement check as high as $300,000, because really and truly most folk out there think all we need is to get PAID and we shut up and the problem is solved. I started this thread solely to initiate dialogue. As a woman of a certain age, I am very aware as most of my greekchat members out here of the impact of misdirected rants and rave. Its not a question of notoriety, media coverage or lack thereof, In my honest opinion, Isiah's court conviction should result in a demotion from his current position at the very least. Imagine if that were your boss and you lost not only your income, but your professional identity and was blackballed within your industry. Would you be satisfied with only court judgement?

ps. I wont go there and question that if the plaintiff did not share the same complexion as Isiah would the general reaction be the same?;). I'm gonna leave that one alone for real!

YID
Dlta22


DSTCHAOS I don't know what this particular poster is raving about. Outcry for what? Because the man is paying the price? No.

If you want a general discussion of his comments, start a thread on that.

The Isiah story wasn't a big news story for a few reasons that have nothing to do with hypocrisy. The news media wasn't all over Thomas and there hasn't been a case even similar to this in my opinion since Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill--which DID receive a great deal of attention from blacks (and whites) if you want to take a more holistic look at this instead of finding stuff that happened within the past year or 2 to make your argument.

He got charged, is paying the price, many people aren't familiar with what he said (versus Imus who said it openly and Jena 6 where the case is much more public).

Soror DSTCHAOS, we will just have to agree to disagree!

i'm still learning how to get to that point. :o

I hate that saying. It's okay to just not respond. ;)

That has been ringing in my head this morning!!!

"We make a fuss if its theeeeeem, but we hush if its us."
- Lupe Fiasco

This single line comes to my mind everytime the hypocritical side of any sized group of black people shows its head. That and they tend to get upset about all the wrong things.

Excellent point.

If we as a people were more selective about what to really get outraged about (read: make a public outcry of some sort) and what to just let slide (read: discuss among ourselves, but not make a big fanfare about it) on a more consistent basis, then the public outcries we do make would have more of an impact, would get everyone's attention, and would be more likely to garner constructive results rather than the public blowing us off at every little instance we get slighted and accusing us of playing the victim card.

I originally "sided" with Dlta22's original post, but after reading the responses here, I agree with the consensus: sometimes it is just best to keep quiet and let the wheels of justice do its job; sometimes by having the public make a bunch of noise over the matter actually aggravates the matter and sometimes is counterproductive.

That said, I think Don Imus' remark, while highly inappropriate, the reaction to it was blown WAY, WAY outta proportion, especially considering his personal character and demeanor (read: everyone knows how Imus is; why is now everybody is shocked). His firing solved nothing, it only created an illusion of rectification.

LG is right, we need to better pick our battles.

Those of you who think this is hypocritical are confusing the issues and are assuming an either/or just because there wasn't a rally about the Isiah Thomas incident.

EVERY group is more defensive when outsiders victimize them. Except for groups that have privilege that safety nets against victimization.

But when there is a common denominator such as race, the uncommon factor such as gender will stick out as in this Thomas incident. So it would make more sense to me for people to be arguing that women, in general, or specifically black women are too silent on this issue. Not that black people are. Black people don't think sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination are any more acceptable than any other group of people does, seeing as though sexism and patriarchy span across racial categories.