Sean Taylor Dead

[Ripper 0]

And once again, Sean Taylor grew up the son of a cop and the only trouble he has ever really been in is allegedly pulling a gun on three convicted felons who had stolen property from him.

 

Such a thug.

 

Hey, maybe he was shooting people left and right, was a gambling drug dealer that owed money to the mob or something, but there is absolutely NOTHING that is pointing to that, and you don't have one person saying that he was Mr. Thug. What the hell are people basing it on?

[Boon 0]

The "son of a cop" argument is lame - Taylor being or not being a thug could've been completely independent of his father's profession. None of us knew him personally, so all of this is speculation.

 

Anyway- interesting take on this from Jason Whitlock.

Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all

Jason Whitlock / FOXSports.com

Posted: 1 hour ago

 

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.

Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.

 

The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.

 

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

 

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

 

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.

 

 

Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working?

 

About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an "injustice" the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.

 

Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that news outlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood by reporting on his troubled past

 

No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.

 

Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was his explanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry.

 

Really?

 

Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner's office and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.

 

Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.

 

But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts. Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.

 

Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.

 

You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration.

 

Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "super man dat ho" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your bitch," nothing will change.

 

Does a Soulja Boy want an education?

 

HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nine black kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's 60 percent black and located in a poor black community.

 

Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poor black kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.

 

Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who can change the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.

 

According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during his youth.

 

The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell you you're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embrace education, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.

 

The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place — uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.

 

In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could be next.

[snuffbox 0]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/foot...r.ap/index.html

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation.

 

I stopped reading at this point. "Well, we don't actually know any real, concrete facts about this case right now, but I'm not going to let that get in the way my prefab narrative!" Ughh.

[Ripper 0]

But how can you assume someone is a thug? How can you automatically assume the worse. It has to be proven that he wasn't a thug? Why?

 

You say its lame but I am pointing out the undenible truths here. People keep saying he grew up with a culture of crime and embraced it. Okay. Prove it. Name one thing that can be proven that was a criminal, thug or grew up that way. The only crime he committed was stupidly taking the law in his own hands against a group of criminals.

 

Thats a "checkered" past? Why? Thats troubled thug? HOW? Everything is speculation now, but it is ridiculous that so many things are being attributed to this kids life without any justification whatsoever. When you have to list late hits as proof a guy had a troubled past, he doesn't have a troubled past. Its a fucking late hit in a fucking game.

 

Was Sean immature? Yes, he was. But there is a big fucking gap between immature and thug.

 

I brought it up once and I will bring it up again, what Sean did and Joe Horn of Texas did is close to the same thing, only Sean didn't kill anyone. One is a hero and protector of his community, one is a troubled thug. Its disgusting and I don't see how anyone can't see the blatant hypocrisy of it all.

 

And Jason Whitlock is a fucking retard and continues to prove it every time he utters nonsense. His "Please love me white people. I am not like those complaining negros." act is bullshit, especially when he tried to go to the "Because I am a BLACK MAN" card after he was fired from ESPN. Fuck him.

 

Corey Fuller, Yancy Thigpen, Will Allen, Dunta Robinson, Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury...those guys off the top of my head, have all been violently robbed or held up and assholes like Whitlock is suggesting that has nothing to do with how much money they have? Its because of hip hop. Fuck that retarded fat bastard.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation.

 

I stopped reading at this point.

You would. I'm tired of everyone writing off Jason Whitlock just because he's not in lockstep with thug culture. He's not wrong, you know. I liked that Ripper just called him an Uncle Tom, in addition to the ad hominem. You forgot "bitch please," "noone," and "ridamndiculous," though!

[Boon 0]

The "son of a cop" argument is lame - Taylor being or not being a thug could've been completely independent of his father's profession. None of us knew him personally, so all of this is speculation.

 

Like Czechers said, it'll be a little while before the entire story comes out. Stuff like what snuffy just posted is more information, but I've a feeling you've already made up your mind, eh Rip?

 

I use nicknames.

[snuffbox 0]

The story I linked to above features a friend of Taylor's since childhood. He knew him.

[Ripper 0]

I have no mind made up. For all I know, the guy was behind all the murders and drug sales in Miami for the last few years.

 

But there isn't one thing that anyone can point to that will say that, and until then, there is no reason to guess that maybe he was.

 

Looking at Rolles article, where did he say that Taylor used to get in trouble. everyone talks about how mature he has gotten over the last year, Rolle is talking about how Taylor has been a target since distancing himself from people 3 years ago.

 

Where in any of that do you get "his thug life caught up with him" that keeps getting spewed by all these writers? I am asking a simple question. What is this "checkered troubled" past that keeps getting mentioned. Maybe you guys know something I don't. maybe the reporters do. But all they are mentioning is that he pulled a gun on a guy (Like Whitlock did) ignoring the fact that the 3 guys that the gun was allegedly pulled on were lifelong criminals that had stolen property from him. Why am i guessing that the same wouldn't be said about someone else.

 

If this was Lawrence Phillips or Marice Clarett that got shot, then okay, I would see the reasoning behind the way the story has been presented. But reporter after reporter is just saying that he had a troubled past, but aren't pointing to a single thing that supports that comment.

 

And anyone that buys into that bullshit that Whitlock says is fucking retarded too. Fred Thompson blames all violence on video games and he is a fanatic. Bible thumpers blame Colombine on Marilyn Manson and they are idiots. Whitlock blames everything under the sun on hip hop and he is right. No, he is just as much as a retarded hack as the others.

 

Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Yancy Thigpen and Will Allen all got tied up and robbed at gunpoint with their families in their home and its hip hops fault. Because robberies didn't occur before the late 70's apparently. And people never get robbed by someone that listens to any other type of music. Nope. Its all hiphops fault. Who the fuck blamed white people for these athletes getting robbed? But whitlock says "we have to stop blaming the white man". No one did it but him.

 

He is a fucking hack who's entire act is built around trashing blacks and saying controversial things, and it must be true because he is a black guy and he said it. Fuck him and his weak, no talent ass using that pussy ass gimmick to make his career. And like I said, its all black people crying racism all the time until he gets fired from ESPN and then its "They couldn't handle a BLACK MAN telling the truth" Shut the fuck up. Now all of a sudden its the white man holding you down and not your fat ass trying to make "shocking" comments against people you worked with that got you fired. He is nothing more than the writing equivilant of a shock jock, and just like them, his act is only there to hide the fact that he isn't as good as half of his peers.

 

 

[NoCalMike 0]

I'm gonna have to side with snuffbox and Czech on this one. Sean Taylor (a known thug).....

 

Stopped reading.

[Slayer 0]

Sure is a lot of not-reading going on here

[Ripper 0]

Sure

 

Stopped Reading.

[alfdogg 0]

I stopped reading at this point. "Well, we don't actually know any real, concrete facts about this case right now, but I'm not going to let that get in the way my prefab narrative!" Ughh.

Except that he's a "known thug", right?

[dh86 0]

But how can you assume someone is a thug? How can you automatically assume the worse. It has to be proven that he wasn't a thug? Why?

 

You say its lame but I am pointing out the undenible truths here. People keep saying he grew up with a culture of crime and embraced it. Okay. Prove it. Name one thing that can be proven that was a criminal, thug or grew up that way. The only crime he committed was stupidly taking the law in his own hands against a group of criminals.

 

Thats a "checkered" past? Why? Thats troubled thug? HOW? Everything is speculation now, but it is ridiculous that so many things are being attributed to this kids life without any justification whatsoever. When you have to list late hits as proof a guy had a troubled past, he doesn't have a troubled past. Its a fucking late hit in a fucking game.

 

Was Sean immature? Yes, he was. But there is a big fucking gap between immature and thug.

 

I brought it up once and I will bring it up again, what Sean did and Joe Horn of Texas did is close to the same thing, only Sean didn't kill anyone. One is a hero and protector of his community, one is a troubled thug. Its disgusting and I don't see how anyone can't see the blatant hypocrisy of it all.

 

And Jason Whitlock is a fucking retard and continues to prove it every time he utters nonsense. His "Please love me white people. I am not like those complaining negros." act is bullshit, especially when he tried to go to the "Because I am a BLACK MAN" card after he was fired from ESPN. Fuck him.

 

Corey Fuller, Yancy Thigpen, Will Allen, Dunta Robinson, Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury...those guys off the top of my head, have all been violently robbed or held up and assholes like Whitlock is suggesting that has nothing to do with how much money they have? Its because of hip hop. Fuck that retarded fat bastard.

 

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely

blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that.

[Kinetic 0]

The thing that really irks me about the Whitlock article is how he singled out poor Soulja Boy. All the guy did is come out with (or drop, as they say on the streets) a stupid novelty dance song. Nobody's shooting anybody over Soulja Boy.

 

I'd like to hear Bill Cosby's take on all of this. Doesn't he have an account here?

 

[Ripper 0]

He was being sarcastic, I think. The article he posted was "refuting" the whole "He was a thug and this was retaliation for something" line of thinking.

 

Its way to early to tell anything though, but I don't THINK he was calling him a thug.

 

 

 

[alfdogg 0]

Damn, I'm losing it. I'm usually pretty good at detecting sarcasm on the internet.

[Ripper 0]

But how can you assume someone is a thug? How can you automatically assume the worse. It has to be proven that he wasn't a thug? Why?

 

You say its lame but I am pointing out the undenible truths here. People keep saying he grew up with a culture of crime and embraced it. Okay. Prove it. Name one thing that can be proven that was a criminal, thug or grew up that way. The only crime he committed was stupidly taking the law in his own hands against a group of criminals.

 

Thats a "checkered" past? Why? Thats troubled thug? HOW? Everything is speculation now, but it is ridiculous that so many things are being attributed to this kids life without any justification whatsoever. When you have to list late hits as proof a guy had a troubled past, he doesn't have a troubled past. Its a fucking late hit in a fucking game.

 

Was Sean immature? Yes, he was. But there is a big fucking gap between immature and thug.

 

I brought it up once and I will bring it up again, what Sean did and Joe Horn of Texas did is close to the same thing, only Sean didn't kill anyone. One is a hero and protector of his community, one is a troubled thug. Its disgusting and I don't see how anyone can't see the blatant hypocrisy of it all.

 

And Jason Whitlock is a fucking retard and continues to prove it every time he utters nonsense. His "Please love me white people. I am not like those complaining negros." act is bullshit, especially when he tried to go to the "Because I am a BLACK MAN" card after he was fired from ESPN. Fuck him.

 

Corey Fuller, Yancy Thigpen, Will Allen, Dunta Robinson, Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury...those guys off the top of my head, have all been violently robbed or held up and assholes like Whitlock is suggesting that has nothing to do with how much money they have? Its because of hip hop. Fuck that retarded fat bastard.

 

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely

blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that.

 

Crime rates are lower since the commercialization of Hip hop. Hip-hop has not damaged anything. Music is not effecting society. Crime has always been around poor areas. ALWAYS. And it did not start 20 years ago. Hip hop is the new rock music. In the 70's and 80's everything was "devil-worshiping ROCK is destroying society". In the 60's, all the love music was destroying society. They blamed dance music of the 20's for the ills of society. They blamed music for the destruction of the youth in the 50's. And every time they were wrong.

 

Music is a reflection of society, not the other way around. If it became the law that all music was gospel music, people would still be killing each other. Trying to blame a genre of music for societies ills when it has CONSTANTLY been proven to be a idiotic venture.

 

People that want to be criminals will be criminals. Those that want to do something with their lives will attempt to. Simple as that. Blaming music for it is ridiculous and articles like whitlocks will be pointed and laughed at 50 years from now just like those "Rock...the devils music" films are pointed and laughed at now.

 

And I understand that Wilbon and Whitlock(to a lesser extent...I truely don't think he believes half of the bullshit he writes) are staying things from their point of view. But that doesn't stop me from pointing out how stupid it is. I will say again, if they know something that I don't that is supporting their point of view, then fine, go ahead and say it. But as of right now, someone ran in a mans house at night and shot him to death.

 

He has crime in his life that consisted of him allegedly pulling a gun on convicted criminals who had stolen property from him. I am in no way excusing that and calling it a smart move, but I do think that if you want to call him a thug for that, why aren't people calling others thugs for doing the same thing? Do you have to live in texas to get a pass? Do you have to be old? Do you have to kill them?

 

Wilbon and Whitlock took the same facts that have been presented to everyone, and keep saying that the way he led his life lead to this. But they are pointing at anything in his life to support this. Unless they are saying standing up to criminals led to this, but they aren't exactly putting it in that light. He "embraced violence" and "hip hop culture" caused this with absolutely nothing to back up their claims.

 

To be clear, i am not upset about the fact that there is a chance that Sean Taylor could have been involved in something, but the same can be said for anyone that dies ever. I am upset that they are portraying it as it is a forgone conclusion and that he actually had a troubled past when they don't know. All they know is that he was a black kid that got shot and this one time he got arrested. Therefore, his thug life caught up with him. And that is bullshit.

[dh86 0]

But how can you assume someone is a thug? How can you automatically assume the worse. It has to be proven that he wasn't a thug? Why?

 

You say its lame but I am pointing out the undenible truths here. People keep saying he grew up with a culture of crime and embraced it. Okay. Prove it. Name one thing that can be proven that was a criminal, thug or grew up that way. The only crime he committed was stupidly taking the law in his own hands against a group of criminals.

 

Thats a "checkered" past? Why? Thats troubled thug? HOW? Everything is speculation now, but it is ridiculous that so many things are being attributed to this kids life without any justification whatsoever. When you have to list late hits as proof a guy had a troubled past, he doesn't have a troubled past. Its a fucking late hit in a fucking game.

 

Was Sean immature? Yes, he was. But there is a big fucking gap between immature and thug.

 

I brought it up once and I will bring it up again, what Sean did and Joe Horn of Texas did is close to the same thing, only Sean didn't kill anyone. One is a hero and protector of his community, one is a troubled thug. Its disgusting and I don't see how anyone can't see the blatant hypocrisy of it all.

 

And Jason Whitlock is a fucking retard and continues to prove it every time he utters nonsense. His "Please love me white people. I am not like those complaining negros." act is bullshit, especially when he tried to go to the "Because I am a BLACK MAN" card after he was fired from ESPN. Fuck him.

 

Corey Fuller, Yancy Thigpen, Will Allen, Dunta Robinson, Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury...those guys off the top of my head, have all been violently robbed or held up and assholes like Whitlock is suggesting that has nothing to do with how much money they have? Its because of hip hop. Fuck that retarded fat bastard.

 

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely

blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that.

 

Crime rates are lower since the commercialization of Hip hop. Hip-hop has not damaged anything. Music is not effecting society. Crime has always been around poor areas. ALWAYS. And it did not start 20 years ago. Hip hop is the new rock music. In the 70's and 80's everything was "devil-worshiping ROCK is destroying society". In the 60's, all the love music was destroying society. They blamed dance music of the 20's for the ills of society. They blamed music for the destruction of the youth in the 50's. And every time they were wrong.

 

Music is a reflection of society, not the other way around. If it became the law that all music was gospel music, people would still be killing each other. Trying to blame a genre of music for societies ills when it has CONSTANTLY been proven to be a idiotic venture.

 

People that want to be criminals will be criminals. Those that want to do something with their lives will attempt to. Simple as that. Blaming music for it is ridiculous and articles like whitlocks will be pointed and laughed at 50 years from now just like those "Rock...the devils music" films are pointed and laughed at now.

 

And I understand that Wilbon and Whitlock(to a lesser extent...I truely don't think he believes half of the bullshit he writes) are staying things from their point of view. But that doesn't stop me from pointing out how stupid it is. I will say again, if they know something that I don't that is supporting their point of view, then fine, go ahead and say it. But as of right now, someone ran in a mans house at night and shot him to death.

 

He has crime in his life that consisted of him allegedly pulling a gun on convicted criminals who had stolen property from him. I am in no way excusing that and calling it a smart move, but I do think that if you want to call him a thug for that, why aren't people calling others thugs for doing the same thing? Do you have to live in texas to get a pass? Do you have to be old? Do you have to kill them?

 

Wilbon and Whitlock took the same facts that have been presented to everyone, and keep saying that the way he led his life lead to this. But they are pointing at anything in his life to support this. Unless they are saying standing up to criminals led to this, but they aren't exactly putting it in that light. He "embraced violence" and "hip hop culture" caused this with absolutely nothing to back up their claims.

 

To be clear, i am not upset about the fact that there is a chance that Sean Taylor could have been involved in something, but the same can be said for anyone that dies ever. I am upset that they are portraying it as it is a forgone conclusion and that he actually had a troubled past when they don't know. All they know is that he was a black kid that got shot and this one time he got arrested. Therefore, his thug life caught up with him. And that is bullshit.

 

"People that want to be criminals will be criminals" Why do these people want to be criminals? It is never that cut and dry simple. Hip hop is a reflection of society and society is now a reflection of hip hop. Entertainers are role models, especially in houses where daddy may not be around. With that said, I dont believe Sean Taylor to be a thug. The man (or woman) that shot Sean is a thug. Sean grew up in the inner city where he may have forged close bonds with said individuals and tried to make a clean break as he matured. Hence the premise of the article. I have had to make the same kind of decisions as I have matured. I dont agree 100% with Jason Whitlock but I definitely get his point

[Guest Smues]

The thing that really irks me about the Whitlock article is how he singled out poor Soulja Boy. All the guy did is come out with (or drop, as they say on the streets) a stupid novelty dance song. Nobody's shooting anybody over Soulja Boy.

 

I'd like to hear Bill Cosby's take on all of this. Doesn't he have an account here?

 

I don't know if that's true. I'd kill someone to get them to turn off Soulja Boy.

[Kinetic 0]

 

[Ripper 0]

But how can you assume someone is a thug? How can you automatically assume the worse. It has to be proven that he wasn't a thug? Why?

 

You say its lame but I am pointing out the undenible truths here. People keep saying he grew up with a culture of crime and embraced it. Okay. Prove it. Name one thing that can be proven that was a criminal, thug or grew up that way. The only crime he committed was stupidly taking the law in his own hands against a group of criminals.

 

Thats a "checkered" past? Why? Thats troubled thug? HOW? Everything is speculation now, but it is ridiculous that so many things are being attributed to this kids life without any justification whatsoever. When you have to list late hits as proof a guy had a troubled past, he doesn't have a troubled past. Its a fucking late hit in a fucking game.

 

Was Sean immature? Yes, he was. But there is a big fucking gap between immature and thug.

 

I brought it up once and I will bring it up again, what Sean did and Joe Horn of Texas did is close to the same thing, only Sean didn't kill anyone. One is a hero and protector of his community, one is a troubled thug. Its disgusting and I don't see how anyone can't see the blatant hypocrisy of it all.

 

And Jason Whitlock is a fucking retard and continues to prove it every time he utters nonsense. His "Please love me white people. I am not like those complaining negros." act is bullshit, especially when he tried to go to the "Because I am a BLACK MAN" card after he was fired from ESPN. Fuck him.

 

Corey Fuller, Yancy Thigpen, Will Allen, Dunta Robinson, Eddy Curry, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury...those guys off the top of my head, have all been violently robbed or held up and assholes like Whitlock is suggesting that has nothing to do with how much money they have? Its because of hip hop. Fuck that retarded fat bastard.

 

I understand completely where Whitlock and Wilbon is coming from with their commentaries. To understand someone else's motivation, you have to look at it from their point of view. Not "Ripper"'s point of view. I would never be so general to solely

blame this on hip hop culture or Sean being a "thug". The facts remain that Sean Taylor has made poor decisions in the past. Clinton Portis alluded to Sean Taylor changing as a man after the birth of his daughter. In my personal belief, theres a much better than a 50% chance that his maturity lead to hatred and envy which led to the shooting. On a separate note, hip hop has had an irreparably bad effect on our society as a whole. Especially the black community. What started as a true reflection of black culture has been commercialized by white record execs into poisonous bullshit. Negativity breeds Negativity. Growing up in the inner city, in many situations, jobs are out, investments are out. Black children are often found looking elsewhere for male role models. They find themselves watching the filth on BET, listening to the radio. How can hip hop not be an influence? Its been nearly 20 years since it turned into a caricature of itself. I am a product of that. Sean Taylor was a product of that.

 

Crime rates are lower since the commercialization of Hip hop. Hip-hop has not damaged anything. Music is not effecting society. Crime has always been around poor areas. ALWAYS. And it did not start 20 years ago. Hip hop is the new rock music. In the 70's and 80's everything was "devil-worshiping ROCK is destroying society". In the 60's, all the love music was destroying society. They blamed dance music of the 20's for the ills of society. They blamed music for the destruction of the youth in the 50's. And every time they were wrong.

 

Music is a reflection of society, not the other way around. If it became the law that all music was gospel music, people would still be killing each other. Trying to blame a genre of music for societies ills when it has CONSTANTLY been proven to be a idiotic venture.

 

People that want to be criminals will be criminals. Those that want to do something with their lives will attempt to. Simple as that. Blaming music for it is ridiculous and articles like whitlocks will be pointed and laughed at 50 years from now just like those "Rock...the devils music" films are pointed and laughed at now.

 

And I understand that Wilbon and Whitlock(to a lesser extent...I truely don't think he believes half of the bullshit he writes) are staying things from their point of view. But that doesn't stop me from pointing out how stupid it is. I will say again, if they know something that I don't that is supporting their point of view, then fine, go ahead and say it. But as of right now, someone ran in a mans house at night and shot him to death.

 

He has crime in his life that consisted of him allegedly pulling a gun on convicted criminals who had stolen property from him. I am in no way excusing that and calling it a smart move, but I do think that if you want to call him a thug for that, why aren't people calling others thugs for doing the same thing? Do you have to live in texas to get a pass? Do you have to be old? Do you have to kill them?

 

Wilbon and Whitlock took the same facts that have been presented to everyone, and keep saying that the way he led his life lead to this. But they are pointing at anything in his life to support this. Unless they are saying standing up to criminals led to this, but they aren't exactly putting it in that light. He "embraced violence" and "hip hop culture" caused this with absolutely nothing to back up their claims.

 

To be clear, i am not upset about the fact that there is a chance that Sean Taylor could have been involved in something, but the same can be said for anyone that dies ever. I am upset that they are portraying it as it is a forgone conclusion and that he actually had a troubled past when they don't know. All they know is that he was a black kid that got shot and this one time he got arrested. Therefore, his thug life caught up with him. And that is bullshit.

 

"People that want to be criminals will be criminals" Why do these people want to be criminals? It is never that cut and dry simple. Hip hop is a reflection of society and society is now a reflection of hip hop. Entertainers are role models, especially in houses where daddy may not be around. With that said, I dont believe Sean Taylor to be a thug. The man (or woman) that shot Sean is a thug. Sean grew up in the inner city where he may have forged close bonds with said individuals and tried to make a clean break as he matured. Hence the premise of the article. I have had to make the same kind of decisions as I have matured. I dont agree 100% with Jason Whitlock but I definitely get his point

 

 

The same thing that made them want to be criminals in the 70's, 60's, 50's, 40's, 1830's and so on. Criminals have always been here. The did not start when Sugar Hill game dropped Rappers delight. They didn't start 20 years ago.

 

The allure of easy money is what draws in criminals. You take people with no money and some of the lazy fucks will go the easiest way possible to get it, which would be getting a gun and taking it from people that worked for it. Others will have some pride about themselves and work for it. Some are driven to a crime ridden life because of desparation. Many things. But one thing that isn't causing it is a song.

 

There is absolutely no basis to ever blame entertainment in general for the ills of society. Like I said, this is no different than blaming video games for violence, blaming movies for violence, blaming dancing for violence, blame Elvis's hip gyrating for violence. Its all the same. Passing the blame and ignoring human nature and the fact of the matter is, Jack the Ripper wasn't rocking DMX before he cut up some prostitute. John Wayne Gacey wasn't jamming to Luda. Charles Manson wasn't crankin dat Soulja Boy. Frank Lucas wasn't listening to Jay-z when he was killing people with his drugs.

 

I just don't see the difference between Whitlocks rants and these guys: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%...evils_music.htm

 

One will be seen as ridiculous, the other as "He has a point". No. He doesn't.

[Kinetic 0]

This is an ESPN town hall discussion waiting to happen:

 

Sean Taylor Commentary

[Slayer 0]

Memorial pics

So have we covered every angle that we do with nearly every dead athlete?

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Heaven needed a 15-yard personal foul and disqualification for disorderly conduct.

[Ripper 0]

That did it.

[lomasmoney 0]

I'm amazed at all the people with the idiotic jokes and cracks, especially the one about "Heaven needed a 15-yard penalty", that kind of stuff is just ignorant and disrespectful. A 24 year old in the prime of his life gets murdered( no matter what way you cut it, this way a burglary-murder) while defending his young family, and all people want to look at is the negative, and they aren't even negative facts, they are negative assumptions. We don't know all the facts. Could Taylor have been a drug dealing gang-banging thug despite having that whole NFL career thing going for him? Possibly? Or could he have been a young man who like all of us, realized he had to grow up and mature, had a promising career, and lost his life protecting his family? Possibly. From what I have gathered from people that knew Sean Taylor is that he's changed and grown up as a person and left some friends behind. Also, this "Sean Taylor is a thug" stuff has got to stop. We don't know he was a thug? He pulled a gun on three real "thugs" who stole some property that belonged to him. That's it. He got a DUI that was eventually thrown out of court for various reasons including improper police procedure and probably a bit of racial profiling.

 

Sean Taylor didn't grow up poor and fatherless. He grew up in a family, a seemingly pretty normal family, hell, he probably grew up in a family just like mine. Antrel Rolle said it best, that Sean had left his friends behind down in Miami, he was doing different things with his life than them, and some of those individuals were hating on him for doing that. I'm a young middle class black male and I've had friends who dealt drugs and were "thugs". Fortunately, they were good friends who didn't have the opportunities that I had, but they also didn't turn on me when I decided to go to college. One of the saddest parts about this is the people who use his play on the football field as an indicator of how he was as a normal everyday person. Did people assume Ronnie Lott, or Jack Tatum, were thugs because they were hard hitting safeties? No! I ever read one article based out of a paper in Idaho, that said you could expect this because Taylor was living with his girlfriend( his probably financially well off, prep-school(just like him), college athlete sweetheart) that he had been with since high school. This writer(who I can't name since I can't find the link to the article) alluded to the fact that if Sean Taylor was married and had a child in wedlock that he would be alive. Then people are blaming this on hip-hop. Firstly, most of hip hop culture is consumed by white suburban young males. Secondly, Cranking that Soulja Boy isn't the reason why schools in the inner cities are in disarray and people in places like Detroit can't get jobs. They have shitty schools and live in poverty because all those people who are quick to blame hip hop for urban crime, are the same assholes who look down upon these people instead of looking at the bigger picture.

[snuffbox 0]

Heaven needed a 15-yard personal foul and disqualification for disorderly conduct.

 

Fuck yes.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Nobody's getting it. Yes. We know he turned his life around, but that doesn't mean that his past was lost and gone forever. His friend says there were people out to get him. I believe it. Doesn't matter what he did to change his life. Other people won't just forget.

[Guest Smues]

 

Is he crying over Sean Taylor or littering?