Michael Jordan: "I was a racist"

I thought this was quite interesting in the light of the whole Donald Sterling saga. There has been many different threads on ATS over the past few weeks regarding race and racism, and this just popped up on my social media.

Michael Jordan Considered Himself A Racist As A Child

In the book, titled "Michael Jordan: The Life," Jordan describes to author Ronald Lazenby how growing up in the 1970s in North Carolina—where he said the Ku Klux Klan was dominant—shaped his views on race. Those views were strengthened after he watched the miniseries "Roots" and learned about the suffering of his African-American ancestors. The tipping point, Jordan said, came in 1977, when a girl at his school called him the N-word.

As Jordan said in the book, "So I threw a soda at her. I was really rebelling. I considered myself a racist at the time. Basically, I was against all white people."

Ronald Lazenby, the author of the biography, made it clear that these comments are not recent:

Obviously there is no evidence to suggest Jordan is still a racist in anyway, but i guess the question that needs to be asked is - Is it possible to outgrow racism?

A persons education can change a person and so can the society and culture around a person, but is it possible to outgrow those beliefs completely?

Just as a bit of a disclaimer, I'm in no way suggesting one way or the other, but simply putting this out there to debate.

originally posted by: Capitalsource
Is it possible to outgrow racism?

I don't know if 'outgrow' is the precise word, but of course hearts and minds can be changed.

At some point, with enough experience any thinking person will soon come to the conclusion that the quality of an individual has nothing to do with skin color. Good people, just like jerks, come in all colors. It's not genetic.

originally posted by: Capitalsource

Obviously there is no evidence to suggest Jordan is still a racist in anyway, but i guess the question that needs to be asked is - Is it possible to outgrow racism?

A persons education can change a person and so can the society and culture around a person, but is it possible to outgrow those beliefs completely?

Just as a bit of a disclaimer, I'm in no way suggesting one way or the other, but simply putting this out there to debate.

Yes, I believe it is quite possible. As a young man, his beliefs were based, like you said, in culture and his social environment. However as you grow, both intellectually and socially, you start to see that perhaps the previous paradigm was wrong, and you educate yourself fully.

Perhaps MJ should have phrased it a bit differently. Not that he was a racist, but that he had developed a racist mindset, that he later learned was wrong.

a reply to: Capitalsource

This brings up my Bi-Polar issues!

On one hand I want to applaud him for being honest and on the other hand I want to call him an "attention whore".

Hmmmm, do I need to get back on my meds?

a reply to: Capitalsource

I think this is a great topic. Racism isn't just white and black, it is also black and white, and white and brown, and brown and whatever other race there is. If you teach love and education, only then can you eliminate race.

originally posted by: youdidntseeme
Not that he was a racist, but that he had developed a racist mindset

A distinction without a difference?

I think it is possible to outgrow racism. Too many variables to say definitively if a specific individual can outgrow racism but I believe it is possible. People would have called childhood me a racist but I also was ignorant, like most children. Ignorance is inherent but lot of us outgrow it (regarding racism). I think the issue has grown so big and even expanded racism a bit because of media in general not just news. We've put out a lot of fear in the form of entertainment and I don't believe kids are being taught properly to ingest the stuff. I'm not saying TV causes a kid to kill or anything like that. More like parents not teaching their kids about violence or any kind of harm properly is the cause.

I think as your young, your most comfortable around familiar things, home, same color people as the family and friends you had as a youth, etc. Exposure to new things will always cause a little bit of culture shock and anxiety.

Its this time when you can start forming your views..and where racism takes root. Fairly easily overcome through education and exposure to new things in familiar settings...or you can hold onto it, not educate or expose yourself, and never grow from the experience.

So all those McDonald's commercials with larry bird were a lie?

Why does he hate Black people?

It doesn't make sense...

People do change, i personally grew up with a very shy kid, got beat up alot, he turned into a skin head, got into a gang and used to proudly where is racist tatoos.

Now hes all grown up, got kids with a vietnamese women, hes still stuck with those horrible tatoos but is heart is in a better place.

Racism.....

Did you ever notice his Hitler stache?

I don't think education has anything to do with it. It's real life experience with people different than yourself that
matters. Some of the most ignorant people I know are "educated".