It would help me a great deal if you put the speaker’s positions in quotes or italics or something. Thanks.

If you don’t like discussing race issues, why are you on here doing so?

All I am trying to do is get people to look at it from a perspective other than the two that invariably dominate these discussions.

What other two points are there? There is or is not!

I have pointed out people’s misconceptions on how the human mind works, and I have given information that corrects the misconceptions. Whether ot not you choose to follow through with the thinking is entirely up to you.

The human mind is influenced by it’s environment, it does not arrive at a position from a void and since emotion is greater than environment, your emotional context and influence affects you subconsciously more than any conscious intellectualization.

You either did not read or you missed the point of my piece on the Confederate Flag. If you read it slowly enough to take in the words, you will see that I rail against white supremecists in it.

There is conscious and unconscious support for a white supremacist system, I will give you some information to read slowly so you’ll understand that the KKK are racist, but don’t practice a SYSTEM of white Supremacy.

I linked to a site that says, “Here’s how people think, here’s how salesman get you to buy things, here are the fundamental mistakes people make when debating.” There is no bullshit involved. It is a useful tool when constructing persuasive arguments. I can understand if you’re intimidated by intelligence, but that’s no reason to get upset at me. I’m just relaying information that existed long before I was born.

How intelligent can your conversation be, when you dismiss the premes and the views off the bat? Yeah I am so intimidated by your intelligent argument, because of your parroting arguments not your own but appears intelligent to you

Or it may mean that people are falling prey to the “availability heurstic,” which leads people to make decisions based on the data that is most commonly presented to them. It is why people were so afraid after 9-11. Everyone thought there were terror cells all over the place because that’s all the news talked about for weeks. It was false. Consider that hundreds of years ago “most people believed that the earth was flat and was the center of the universe.” It’s now called “Wikiality.”

Obfuscation and misdirection will not change the fact that on this topic your intellectualization does not carry weight.

You assume that, because I presented an argument against the content of the article, I did not hear anyone’s argument. You also assume that I’ve never heard any arguments for it. Most disturbingly, that statement implies that “white” is by definition unsympathetic. And I believe you meant to say “empathize.”

Thank you for correcting my English, fine sire, yet as you deduced I know you only hear what you want to hear. The statement about “white” being unsympathetic…. wait for the information on White Supremacy, though I have no hope or care if you take your blinders off.

1. If you did not read the first article I linked, then you cannot assume the color of my skin.

Where did I mention or refer your skin color.

2. You cannot assume my educational background, despite the clear and methodical way I type.

Where did I assume your educational background?

3. You cannot assume that I am unsympathetic and that I am somehow privileged because you do not know under what circumstances I was raised.

Where did I assume you were privileged. I care not how you were raised, but you’re right I assume you are unsympathetic.

4. You cannot assume that others should think like you simply because you say so.

But…that’s exactly what you are trying to get MODI and the rest of us to do!

5. You need to take the advice that you quoted.

In the matter of ethnicity and the conflict around skin tone and white supremacy, I cannot advise me…you can seek same from me.

You can NEVER eliminate ALL bias, like Michael Jordan, you can only hope to contain it. Yes, GM’s and coaches are certainly not immuned to bias (racial or otherwise), but they are also the ones planning on how to stop an opposing player. That means a lot.

And no, the GM’s conclusions do not agree with mine. My personal conclusion is that Lebron should have WON the second award outright, not have it in a tie. But what even NASH SUPPORTERS must concede is that by no objective measure should Nash have won by 57-16. That vote — EVEN IF WE DISAGREE ON WHY THAT IS– is a vote of collective incompetence. In conclusion-again- reasonable people could possibly disagree on the choice — but not the final vote. So, GMs and coaches seem to be more in line with reality. The fact that my own personal opinion is also grounded in reality is purely incidental.

Jey I am assuming NOTHING. The 57 to 16 vote was UNJUST. Period. End of story. I did not manufacture that vote. Bill Walton’s characterization of Nash’s athleticism– which mind you I have heard countless other similar characterizationa from fans– was UNJUST.
Nash receiving accolades for his community service while Mutombo getting no love for a 30 million dollar hospital was UNJUST. Extra media attention probably meant more dollars for that hospital. Marbury, who has done 10 times the community service as Nash getting NO PRESS this summer (unless you are counting consensual sex and free spirited interviews) was UNJUST. More than unjust. It was a TRAVESTY. I know full well that none of the article’s critics will ever get outraged enough to remedy any of these things.

So there should be no debate here on WHETHER there is a problem. And I will readily concede that MULTIPLE biases can be at work, to exclude race given all these preferential levels of treatment is absurd. I have a question for you, McCallum, and anyone else who requires more evidence to make a race-based diagnosis than sending someone to the electric chair:

Did you hold up McCallum’s 6 OTHER biases up to the same level of scrutiny that you did “race”? Are you going to put McCallum through the wringer on his proposed “ageist” bias as you do me with race? Or will you readily accept WITHOUT ANY RESISTANCE any other possible bias that comes down the pike…

Listen Jey, I’m a big boy. If I write an article exposing racial bias and white privilege I know full well that I am going to take some shit for it no matter how much evidence is presented. When you live in a country where white denial is rampant as ours, that simply comes with the territory. And it ain’t going to change anytime soon. That is PRECISELY the reason that so many reporters who DO see bias on a dialy basis won’t write about it. They will tip-toe around it, maybe even cite a list of double standards, but that is usually it.

As a rule my condition for responding to critics is predicated on something about their response that I perceive that the other person, like me, is sincerely and genuinely, wanting to find TRUTH beyond just being a lawyer in a court room. When I come on your blog, those are the commenters that I will respond to.

I don’t know if this is what is happening, but it seems like it — Why is it better to assume an unjust world in this case? Why does it automatically become race, simply based on the fact that it is very difficult to quantify Nash’s impact on a team?

For example, I love Nash as a player because, on the court, he reminds me of a lot of old school point guards, color notwithstanding. He’s a witty interview, a crappy dresser, a great leader on the floor, and none of that has to do with the color of his skin. I can point to several black athletes that I enjoy watching for similar reasons (Allen Iverson is one of my favorites…no, seriously).

Bottom line — when it comes to complex explanations, why do we feel the need to simplify it using race? It’s just as bad to assume that racial biases did play a major role in voting as it is to ignore that it was a possibility. But like I said in my blog, once you acknowledge the possibility (which is very easy), you then have to address the probability (which is unprovable in this case). Just seems counterproductive to the whole idea of discussing it.

As far as the 2nd MVP vote, I can give you a million arguments as to why it happened that do not involve race, though I’m sure that it wouldn’t change anyone’s mind.

“Wait, so this dude is pissed at us because we don’t ascribe to his “church”. ”

No, I am not pissed off. I am giving valuable advice. I have explained on my own blog why I don’t like discussing race issues, and it has to do with the futility of trying to change a person’s mind when they don’t even realize what they are doing. All I am trying to do is get people to look at it from a perspective other than the two that invariably dominate these discussions. I have pointed out people’s misconceptions on how the human mind works, and I have given information that corrects the misconceptions. Whether ot not you choose to follow through with the thinking is entirely up to you.

“As an indiot and an obvious appologist for white supremacy”

You either did not read or you missed the point of my piece on the Confederate Flag. If you read it slowly enough to take in the words, you will see that I rail against white supremecists in it.

“You are an arrogant bastard Jey.”

I may be arrogant, but my parents were married before I was born. It was close, though.

I linked to a site that says, “Here’s how people think, here’s how salesman get you to buy things, here are the fundamental mistakes people make when debating.” There is no bullshit involved. It is a useful tool when constructing persuasive arguments. I can understand if you’re intimidated by intelligence, but that’s no reason to get upset at me. I’m just relaying information that existed long before I was born.

“it may very well mean that the presence of that theme is real.”

Or it may mean that people are falling prey to the “availability heurstic,” which leads people to make decisions based on the data that is most commonly presented to them. It is why people were so afraid after 9-11. Everyone thought there were terror cells all over the place because that’s all the news talked about for weeks. It was false. Consider that hundreds of years ago “most people believed that the earth was flat and was the center of the universe.” It’s now called “Wikiality.”

“One more thing, in order to change how I think, you must first hear what I am saying, sympathize if you can’t emphasize and step outside of your ‘whiteness’”

You assume that, because I presented an argument against the content of the article, I did not hear anyone’s argument. You also assume that I’ve never heard any arguments for it. Most disturbingly, that statement implies that “white” is by definition unsympathetic. And I believe you meant to say “empathize.”

1. If you did not read the first article I linked, then you cannot assume the color of my skin.

2. You cannot assume my educational background, despite the clear and methodical way I type.

3. You cannot assume that I am unsympathetic and that I am somehow privileged because you do not know under what circumstances I was raised.

4. You cannot assume that others should think like you simply because you say so.

5. You need to take the advice that you quoted.

the player that gets the most combined votes (equally weighted) wins mvp.

this new mvp voting system would include the players in voting for their peers, which would seem to make sense, and still give the media — who cover the game closely and (ideally) objectively — their chance to get things right, without being the sole judge of who wins mvp.

since the league is overwhelmingly african-american (no revelation there), and the media is overwhlemingly caucasion, the voting would reveal if race is influencing voting in a subconscious way … or it could demonstrate (when both the media and the players vote for the same person) that the mvp went to the right guy, no matter what the race of the voter.

then again, yao ming might get royally screwed… (joke)