I believe the apt phrase would be "even a broken clock is right twice a day." At HuffPo, of all places, editor and author Rob Kirkpatrick channels Richard Spencer in noting the conspicuous reason why everyone hates Duke basketball.
And as a Duke fan, I've become quite familiar with Duke Hating, a favorite pastime of fans of pretty much every other college team in the country. I've heard all the reasons why we should hate Duke: Duke is to be hated for its success -- though, for some reason, we need not hate other winning programs like UCLA or North Carolina. Duke is to be hated because it's a private school -- though, for some reason, not other private schools like Syracuse or Wake Forest. Or the four-time national champions are to be hated because they're perpetually "overrated" and "get all the calls" -- something that has yet to be quantified, but which seems to stem from a fuzzy conspiracy involving the referees, the Selection Committee, Dick Vitale, and, I think, Oswald's ghost.
But what's increasingly disconcerting is the racial element that often seems to be at the heart of antipathy toward Duke. Over the past two decades of Duke dominance, the haters have had one thing conspicuously in common: The slick-dishing Bobby Hurley? Hustling overachiever Steve Wojciechowski? Sharp shooter J.J. Reddick? Duke haters especially hated these guys. Yet you almost never heard the haters go after a Grant Hill or a Chris Carrawell or a Nolan Smith. It's been the white players at Duke who've usually drawn the most venom... especially from white fans...In this climate, Duke's white players would make politically correct targets.
Parker didn't like how these white guys played the game. Lest you think I'm reading into his comments, Parker drew criticism in March 2008 for questioning the NBA potential of then-prospects Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love based on their being white. Although Hansbrough has been slow to establish himself with the Indiana Pacers, Love made the All-Star team as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves this year.
There's even more in the first part of the article that I cut out. And note that when I say he channels Richard Spencer, I really mean it. The article reads like it's straight outta the reactionary rightosphere, including candid accusations of reverse racism and noting how the popularity of hip-hop implicitly sanctions the demonization of white men. I don't really have much to add to Mr. Kirkpatrick or Richard Spencer's discerning analysis, so go read the linked articles for discussion. One addendum: many anti-racists often condescendingly reject the notion that white men have lost all social power, that white men are not worshiped as the default entity of power and prestige. The ubiquity of Duke hate, with sports a reflection and very powerful motivator of our social landscape, provides a potent counterexample.
Kirkpatrick then segues into Jalen Rose's insult concerning Grant Hill "acting white."
Via http://onestdv.blogspot.com/2011/03/connection-between-duke-basketball-race.html
