Thursday, April 12, 2007

What Don Imus Tells Us About Georgetown Basketball and the NBA

Don Imus and Allen IversonEarlier today, Jon Hanson and I published a lengthy article on The Situationist entitled "Hoyas, Hos, & Gangstas."

We argue that the underlying prejudice found in Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers' womens basketball team can be found in other sports contexts, including in how we talk about male African-American basketball players, such as Georgetown University basketball players, and in how we regulate the behavior of basketball players, such as the NBA's recent attempts to make its players seem more "likeable" to mainstream America. However, unlike with the universal outrage we all expressed at Imus for his comments, these instances occurr in ways that we take for granted, find unoffensive, or even support. Jon and I try to examine why that might be the case.

We hope you read our article on The Situationist (and a thank you to Henry Abbot for linking to it on ESPN.com).

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