Charles Barkley: "If you're not a thug or an idiot You're NOT BLACK ENOUGH"

SWISH! Charles Barkley scores a big one.

The retired basketball star declared, "If you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person..."

"There are a lot of black people who are unintelligent, who don't have success. It's best to knock a successful black person down...it's just typical BS..."

Indeed, just last week, a mediocre stand-up comic, unknown anywhere except maybe Philadelphia, got up in front of his homeys and began ripping at Bill Cosby. Cosby...intelligent, successful...has openly criticized "black culture" and the image of the nigga...the thug with the pants halfway down and the spastic hand signals and the tough-guy grimaces.

Barkley is right, of course. As was Spike Milligan ("Stir up mediocrity and you stir up venom.") It's easier for a low class monkey bastard to stomp around his neighborhood being anti-social than to sit in a chair and concentrate on learning the rudimentary things that could make him even a high school graduate.

Naturally the blacklash has been on Barkley for daring to be such a spoil-sport. He's ruining the fun of being a stereotypical gangsta. If you say that the gangsta is just a dumb nigga...that's puttin' him down, yo. Let's not deny the obvious...certain ethnics LOVE a tough image. Most Italians seem to LOVE the idea that if they say their last name in conjures up the Mafia and makes people circumspect. Turks, Arabs...they also like the idea that their people are known for savagery, not intellect or peace.

On the reverse, you have whites who are afraid to even get up and dance: "I'm white, I can't dance." Forget about Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly or Edward Vilella...that's old school. You have the Jews...saying "I'm Jewish" as almost a straight line for some kind of apology or self-effacing joke. And in the middle, there's, oh, that song, "Sure we're Irish, and proud of it, too..." indicating that another word and you'll get a whack with a shellelagh.

Sad to say, these days there's not a color nor ethnicity that can't provoke some kind of stereotype image. Blacks have a LONG way to go, because it's quite true...people just don't expect to see a black man in a suit and tie...guys like Obama are viewed with suspicion and derision...like, is he a faker, or does he eat that watermelon and fried chicken in secret? If it's Cosby or Jesse Jackson there's a probing for scandal, as if being well-dressed is a con. If it's Charles Barkley or Magic Johnson or Muhammad Ali or any other black athlete...that's ok because people know them by their boxer shorts or sports uniforms and know this is just "dress up" for a special event.

And it's true...for one reason or another, some of the worst racism will come from your own race.