A trifecta of nostalgia has been taking me back to my formative years this past week. The anniversary of The Notorious BIG’s death, the death of Nate Dogg and ESPN’s feature on the Fab Five. That last one has gotten the most play over the last couple of days. It’s unsurprising, considering how volatile the subject matter is.
Truehoop has a good video recap of the combustible portion of the Fab Five feature, where Jalen Rose gets real.
Schools like Duke didn’t recruit players like me,” explains Jalen Rose in the video. “I felt that they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms. … I was jealous of Grant Hill. He came from a great black family. Congratulations. Your mom went to college and was roommates with Hillary Clinton. Your dad played in the NFL as a very well-spoken and successful man. I was upset and bitter that my mom had to bust her hump for 20-plus years. I was bitter that I had a professional athlete that was my father that I didn’t know. I resented that, moreso than I resented him. I looked at it as they are who the world accepts and we are who the world hates
In response, Grant Hill has some published some pointed words in the New York Times.
To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous. All of us are extremely proud of the current Duke team, especially Nolan Smith. He was raised by his mother, plays in memory of his late father and carries himself with the pride and confidence that they instilled in him.
The sacrifice, the effort, the education and the friendships I experienced in my four years are cherished. The many Duke graduates I have met around the world are also my “family,” and they are a special group of people. A good education is a privilege.
Just as Jalen has founded a charter school in Michigan, we are expected to use our education to help others, to improve life for those who need our assistance and to use the excellent education we have received to better the world. …
I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know in much the same way so many people stereotyped them back then for their appearance and swagger. I wish for you the restoration of the bond that made you friends, brothers and icons.
I’m behind Hill’s response. It’s eloquent. It’s pointed. It needed to be said. However, I’m not convinced that Jalen Rose is the bad guy here. If you call someone an “Uncle Tom” on national TV it’s going to get attention. But in context, I think Jalen Rose is channeling the voice of his teenage self. In doing so, he shows a level of vulnerability and honesty that rings true to a pathology that is prevalent among urban black boys even to this day.
It reminds me of a story my boss used to tell when I was doing urban ministry. He was at the Boys & Girls club one day and noticed there was a boy who was studying while most of the other kids were playing around. When the boy’s dad arrived to pick him up, he started tearing the kid down.
“Are you studying? Don’t you know that only white kids study? Are you trying to act white?”
My boss would then pose a question as he wrapped the story. How damning is that? This idea that you, because of the color of your skin, are expected to do poorly in school. When your racial self-concept is negative, that’s a huge problem. It was a problem for Rose and made him “jealous” and resentful as a teenager working through expectation, racial reality and self-concept.
On a personal level, I find the “conversation” between Rose and Hill interesting. My family looked more like Grant Hill’s family*. Two parent. Valued education. Suburban. That was the environment I grew up in, with the added dynamic that I’m biracial. And yet, I always disliked Duke and Grant Hill.
*Actually, of all the people in the film, my experience would most resemble Chris Webber (kid of color from the ‘burbs) with the exception that I wasn’t actually that good at basketball. Minor difference.
It goes all the way back to when I was 10 years old and Duke played UNLV in the National Semifinals. Played and BEAT UNLV, as a matter of fact. I really wanted UNLV to win that game, and to an extent I think my rooting interest was racial. UNLV was mostly black and had serious swag. Not to hate on the Fab 5, but they get credit for a lot of stuff that UNLV actually pioneered. It wasn’t like 10 year-old me was sitting around saying, “I hate Duke because they’re white”. It was more a matter of really being drawn to UNLV, to their “blackness” and their style, and then being ticked that Duke had derailed them.
That sentiment carried over through the years. When the Fab 5 rolled around, I fully embraced them. I had a Michigan hat. A Michigan shooting shirt. I bought the wristbands and shoes I saw the Fab 5 wearing and sported them on the court. And yet, all the while I was killing it academically. Getting good grades all through high school. Doing internships in medical labs during the summer. Without being aware of it, I was living a dual reality. To be successful (and cool with the white kids at my school), I had to be Grant Hill. To be cool with my black teammates, I had to be Jalen Rose. And my white friends found my “Rose-ness”…I don’t know…interesting, endearing, exotic, whatever.
My impression of Jalen Rose is that he’s grown up a lot since his Fab 5 days. Dude is a pro and has seen a lot of the world over the years. I honestly wish that the part of the movie in question were longer, because that would have given more room for nuance and reflection. Probably wouldn’t have been entertaining and combustible, though.
As I process all of that, I’m struck again at how one of the most important tasks for those who work with urban black youth is to help them develop a positive racial identity. One that embraces the reality that it’s ok to be black and smart. One that doesn’t define blackness by cultural norms and stereotypes that are detrimental to overall personal and community wholeness. And that’s a tough calling, because the pull of those cultural norms and stereotypes can be so strong.
You can keep handing out your backpacks and school supplies, if you want. But without a paradigm shift it won’t do a ton of good.
Renew and Restore
