10072: Phil Mushnick, Please Shut Up.

Phil Mushnick sent a response to sports blog Bob’s Blitz that’s worth further examination:

Bob — Such obvious, wishful and ignorant mischaracterizations of what I write are common. I don’t call black men the N-word; I don’t regard young women as bitches and whores; I don’t glorify the use of assault weapons and drugs. Jay-Z, on the other hand.....Is he the only NBA owner allowed to call black men N---ers?

Jay-Z profits from the worst and most sustaining self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture and I’M the racist? Some truths, I guess, are just hard to read, let alone think about.

(Same column I provide support for Amar’e Stoudemire at a time when everyone in town is ripping him to shreds. That was my LEAD, too, but what does that matter?)

Gee, Mushnick is creating an Al Campanis scenario for himself. Perhaps “such obvious, wishful and ignorant mischaracterizations” of his work are common because Mushnick is so obviously ignorant.

Mushnick insists he does not refer to Black men with the infamous slur. Yet he has done exactly that three times in three days. His references to “the worst and most sustaining self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture” are so culturally clueless, it’s not even worth discussing.

Mushnick wrote in his original column, “…what a shock that [Jay-Z] chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new ‘urban’ home.” Sorry, but Mushnick needs to verify his statement. Most official presentations claim the color scheme is a nod to local subway system signage. Additionally, black as a primary color for professional sports franchises has been a proven sales success—as evidenced by teams like the L.A. Raiders, Chicago White Sox, Miami Heat, etc. It’s not news—and not a racial thing. Except to people like Mushnick.

Finally, Mushnick building a defense around providing support for Amar’e Stoudemire is completely asinine. Stoudemire’s problems have nothing to do with race or culture. The hydrant-punching NBA star is simply an idiot. Mushnick, on the other hand, appears to be something much worse than an idiot.