Parcells apologizes for racial slur

What really struck me as odd with Parcells' remarks were that it seemed like he was aware that he was about to offend some people so he prefaced it with his "no offense to Orientals" remark. I guess my thing is if you know what you're about to say could offend people then why say it?

What really struck me as odd with Parcells' remarks were that it seemed like he was aware that he was about to offend some people so he prefaced it with his "no offense to Orientals" remark. I guess my thing is if you know what you're about to say could offend people then why say it?
I agree!

itvnetop:

Obviously, Parcells realized that he was running his mouth into "murky waters" in the middle of his sentence. That's why he did the "no disrepect..." interjection. Unless he thought what he was about to say might be taken disrepsectfully, it would never occur to him to make that interjection.

EXAMPLE: No one would say even the people who want to serve "Freedom Fries" instead of "French Fries" something like, "We signed this free agent defensive tackle because he - no disrespect to fat people - because he is really big and we think it will be hard to move him out of the middle."

No it would not be all right for him to have said the things you suggested he might say. But he didn't and so no one can be offended. but if he had said what he said, the outrage needs to come from where the offense aimed.

So Parcells had a sense of what he was doing and he did it anyway. For that he should apologize - which he did - and for that he should be chastized by the people he offended.

It is a bit much for everyone in the media to take offense at this statement since for the vast majority of them it is not something that relates to them. If I say that people who can't score 600 on the SAT exams (prior to the new system where there are three scores added together) are dumb, you may argue with me that there could be other factors that caused them to make such a score. But unless you are one of those people or one of your family is one of them, then your standing in terms of labeling me as a bigot or a stereotyper is a bit thin.

Some of the media honchos have called for the NFL to fine Parcells or even to suspend him for a game. Excuse me. This is a league where players refer to others associated with the league as "homos" (Shockey about Parcells) and "faggots" (Seau recently in Miami) and nothing is done about it. So why should Parcells get a game suspension? (Other than the fact of course that he is a Cowboy...)

Many in the overly-righteous wing of the media believe that the name "Redskins" is a racist slur that should be removed from the NFL whether or not the team owner wants to change it or not. I don't like that idea either.

With regard to the Rush Limbaugh remark, what he said was that he believed that the media wanted a black QB to be a success and that they (the media and not black QBs) were not as critical of poor performacne in those cases as they might be. He didn't say that black QBs weren't any good; he said they "got kid glove treatment" from the media. That was offensive to media people and they expressed their outrage - properly - and he was fired by a company whose sole business is - - the media.

Point taken SC... but I never once labeled you anything, so i'm not sure where you got the whole "labeling me as a bigot or stereotyper." If you reread my post, I'm basically offering an explanation as to why people are offended by such a statement.

Oh and btw- I am "one of those people" you are talking about, in terms of the respective group in question. But I don't know how being a part of said group gives me more of a right to call Parcells out than someone who isn't... maybe it's a matter of personal difference, but to me "Jap" is highly offensive and it's something that should be taken seriously. Have you ever been called "Jap"? I'm not even Japanese, but I've been called one numerous times when i was growing up in Virginia. And when I was called such, it wasn't because the person was trying to be my friend. I shouldn't even have had to mention this to defend my earlier post, because it shouldn't matter that I am a certain race in order to call Parcells out on this.

Apologies if you took my earlier post as an attack or something, but I still don't see where I implied anything. I was only rebutting the statement of people taking Parcells' "Jap" comment too seriously. I also pointed out the double standard to wake people up- the media was not the only group pissed at Limbaugh (do you really think ESPN fired him because he was slamming the media? Barkley is always slamming the media on TNT even though he's a part of it now... ESPN fired him because of the PUBLIC outcry of perceived racism on the part of Limbaugh) ... most fans, in addition to this board, were expressing rage at his comments. Yet there is a noticeable lack of the same emotion towards Parcells, who was actually much more blatant in his derogatory statements. I'm just making an attempt to enlighten those who don't understand why many of us are offended by the term "Jap" and "Oriental"... it's your choice whether you still don't get it or not- i'm not trying to push an agenda on anyone. Again, it's just an explanation.

While we're on the topic, how about Larry Bird's most recent comments?!

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2004-06-08-bird-interview_x.htm

Man don't ever post nothing else about the Tuna he is the enemy. He has no class he has Quincy Carter we have Brunnel and Ramsey. He has a Notre Dame reject for a back we have Portis. Blitz the hell out of us this year Tuna.

Doesn't 'oriental' usually refer to a rug, soup or medicine?

One thing for us non-japanese people to think about:

There was a japanese reporter in the room when Parcells said what he said. The guy didn't think twice about it until the other people started making a big deal about it. When asked if it offended him, he said no and was kind of suprised that other people were making a big deal about it.

For as long as there are distinguishing characteristics among the human race, there will always be 'offensive' remarks.

itvetnop:

My comment about "labeling me ..." was not meant for you. It was meant for the "you" in my example about taking offense calling someone dumb if they could not get a 600 on the SATs. I should have been more clear in that paragraph that I was speaking to a "mythical you" and not to the person addressed by the note.

Sorry about that.

I believe - and that does not make it absolutely right for everyone - that if you are part of the group at which the remark was directed that you indeed have a much greater standing in terms of your outrage and your discomfort. I am a white male. I do not like or condone or use racial epithets. When someone else does, I may feel uncomfortable and I may diminish the regard in which I hold the person who uses them, but any outrage that I feel has to take a backseat to that of a person directly singled out by the epithet. IMHO.

I think ESPN fired Limbaugh because they wanted to in the first place (he was not catching on as "the next big thing" and wasn't drawing viewers in the numbers they had projected) and because they were given the opportunity to do it when the PC police took Limbaugh's remarks aimed at the media and deflected them to appear as if they were aimed at Donovan McNabb. That gave ESPN the reason it needed to pull the trigger.

BTW, in case anyone thinks I am one of Limbaugh's listeners or followers, nothing could be further from the truth. I think he is a buffoon both politically and as a "radio entertainer".

smootsmack:

Regarding the Larry Bird article, the think I found most hilarious - and such an obvious attempt to take cover lest someone complain about these remarks - is the NBA statement saying they do not have a breakdown of the players in the league by race.

Boy, that would be a hard database to construct...

Puhleeeez!!!