{"id":61136,"date":"2014-01-24T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T14:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=61136"},"modified":"2017-09-17T16:09:34","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T21:09:34","slug":"richard-sherman-responds-to-being-called-a-thug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2014\/01\/24\/richard-sherman-responds-to-being-called-a-thug\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Sherman Responds to Being Called a “Thug”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Immediately after the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Richard Sherman gave an intense, boastful post-game interview<\/a>. \u00a0This triggered the always-present racism, as illustrated by many tweets that followed. \u00a0Here is just a sample from Public Shaming<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a>\"3\"<\/a> \"4\"<\/a> \"5\"<\/a>\"7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These are obviously cruel and full of hate, but the ones in which he was called a “thug” got somewhat less attention:<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a> \"3\"<\/a> \"4\"<\/a> \"5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In interviews about the racist response, Sherman made some really nice points about what this means about the state of America and the specifically racial insults. \u00a0In a press conference<\/a>, for example, asked about being called a “thug,” he argued that it’s just “the accepted way of calling someone the n-word these days.” \u00a0He points out that, in no way was what he was doing thug-like:<\/p>\n

\n

Maybe I’m talking loudly, and doing something… talking like I’m not supposed to, but I’m not… there’s a hockey game where they didn’t even play hockey, they just threw the puck aside and started fighting. \u00a0I saw that and I said, “Aw man, I’m the thug? What!? What’s going on here?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wPSiOCC8nvc[\/youtube]<\/p>\n

In another video<\/a>, he expands on this point, saying: “I’m not out there beating on people, or committing crimes, or getting arrested, or doing anything; I’m playing a football game at a high level and I got excited.”<\/p>\n