Riley Cooper is really, really dumb. (Deadspin article)

[mrcunning15]

In thinking about it...Cooper made these comments about a month ago, right?  Is the only reason why he's remorseful b/c he was caught? 

 

Getting caught does make people finally face consequences.  I think he is remorseful.  Don't underestimate the shame and humiliation he felt when he had to face his teammates, especially since most of his teammates are black.  It's probably one of the hardest and uncomfortable things he ever had to do. 

He possibly didn't know it was recorded or if he really even remembered doing it since he was drinking heavily.

[Hazel-Ra]

I'll keep the same opinion I did during "Rob Parker-gate". Homie ****** up, and deserves the heat he's taking now and will continue to take until a more interesting scandal comes our way (Somewhere in a cell block, Aaron Hernandez is thinking, "Thanks, I needed that, Coop") But should he lose his right to make a living in the field he was trained in... no. However since Parker ended up getting cut loose then Cooper may as well, but I really doubt his career is over. See Collins, Kerry.

 

As far as McCoy goes, it actually sounds like him and Cooper did have an off the field friendship and he's genuinely disappointed, hurt, and angry. But in time he may be able to forgive, overcome, and have a friendship again with him. But now he's not interested and that's his right.

[SkinsFanRob]

@TheDiplomat. I dont appreciate what you are implying. Just because I despise the word and believe that noone should use it in any capacity doesnt mean im a racist who is angry because im not allowed to say it. Thats just about one of the dumbest, shallow minded things i have ever heard.

[CrabR]

Howard Cosell called Alvin Garrett a little monkey on MNF, it virtually ended his career. You knew he was referring to the way he moved and not about race. As i recall Ali came to his rescue. Cosell was not even close to being a racist he had spoken out against racism for years

 

some time people say things and don't mean anything by it. People do and say all kinds of thing they find repulsive when they are drunk, my family had first had knowledge about that when i drank

 

To many people are ready to condemn people for making a mistake. If anything Cooper needs AA if he does these kind of things hen he drinks

[Ricky Tan]

I'm black. Both of my parents are from North Carolina; Fayetteville,  and Concord respectively. They were both children during the Civil Rights era. I am also the great grandson of a black woman who dared to have a relationship, and start a family with a white man in Virginia, during the 1920's. My last name is the name of my ancestors slave owner, and my ancestry has been traced all the way back to the Mandingo tribe in Africa. I have been told enough stories about the pain and suffering that my relatives and ancestors have endured to write a book almost. This is an issue that really hits home for me.

 

Another issue that hits home for me, is the word ""n-word"." It's an issue that I've come around on, after years and years of using it around friends of mine who were black, and friends of mine who were white, hispanic, or asian. I have not used it in 3 years, ever since a white guy that was around my age stupidly called me that because he assumed I'd be cool with it. It is not a word used by black people to bring other black people down. It is a word that  is used to signify brotherhood among black men, particularly young black men such as myself, but is also a word that is now used more by the ignorant, that has now been perpetuated throughout pop culture and entertainment, which have paved the way for modern day stereotypes that I fight every day that I walk out of the door. It is also a word not to be used by anyone who isn't black, ever. Period. No matter what any individual black person may tell you otherwise. It is not cool.

 

I decided not to use it anymore, because I no longer wanted to use that particular word to describe myself, or anyone else with my skin color, and because there is a troubling trend where people of other races feel that it is okay to use it. My generation is the first generation of black people who do not have to live under the dark cloud of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, and the fight for Civil Rights. Things are not perfect, and won't be for a long time. I have had people follow me in stores. I have been called a "n-word". I have seen other black men called "n-word". I have had a banana thrown onto the hood of my car for talking to the white daughter of a past neighbor. I have had people pull up to me at a light and shout racial epithets Regardless of that, there has never been a better time in this history of this country to be black, no matter if you want to look at that positively or negatively.

 

I feel that the young black men of this generation have an obligation to eliminate the word altogether. Too many people have fought and died, and would be appalled today throughout our history in this country for us to use that word the way that we do now, carrying on in ignorance. I agree with the person MLSkinz. We need to change this. Maybe this can be our own little legacy. As for people of other races who feel we should not use it, it isn't your place to tell us what we should or shouldn't do with it. That is our issue to handle and discuss, not yours. The two words are night and day as far as I'm concerned. One is of ignorance, one is of hate and intolerance.

 

I don't post much. I mostly read. But I figured I'd share my thoughts on the matter.

[Popeman38]

Powerful post, Ricky Tan. 

[CrabR]

I have been the eagles message board on this issue and they are having a melt down. My first time there and some of the threads are hilarious especially the ones about McNabb. In one they were saying how he was cheered and booed when he came back with the skins and one reply said we were cheering because he was the Skins QB and not ours any more. They really do not like  him

 

Its nice to see another team besides us in turmoil for a change, we were the laughing stock for so long

[Boss_Hogg]

So Mike and Mike claim that the Fecals' brass knew about Riley Cooper racial tirade long before it went public? Can anyone confirm that the Fecals knew about it but decided to keep mum from the players and fans?

[Zazzaro703]

Cooper has been excused from the team. He would have been cut if not for Macklin going down IMHO.

[Darc Requiem]

I'll keep the same opinion I did during "Rob Parker-gate". Homie ****** up, and deserves the heat he's taking now and will continue to take until a more interesting scandal comes our way (Somewhere in a cell block, Aaron Hernandez is thinking, "Thanks, I needed that, Coop") But should he lose his right to make a living in the field he was trained in... no. However since Parker ended up getting cut loose then Cooper may as well, but I really doubt his career is over. See Collins, Kerry.

 

As far as McCoy goes, it actually sounds like him and Cooper did have an off the field friendship and he's genuinely disappointed, hurt, and angry. But in time he may be able to forgive, overcome, and have a friendship again with him. But now he's not interested and that's his right.

The Kerry Collins situation wasn't the same. One of his best friends from Penn State, who just happens to be black, had been crashing at his house for over year when his situation happened. He also didn't use the word in the same context as Riley Cooper. I don't think Cooper should get cut.

 

Rob "Cornball Brother" Parker had made several stupid statements in the past. As for as I know this is Cooper's first incident. I won't pretend that I wasn't offended by what he said. I think he's sorry that he got caught personally. Be that as it may, I don't thnk he should be cut over this one incident. Now if he gets cut because he's the 54th best player on the roster then I'd be fine with that. Of course, I don't share a locker room with the guy. If his teammates can't get past this, he's done. If Tebow can barely find a job because of a rabid fanbase distraction. Cooper doesn't stand a chance at another job if he's cut by the Eagles.

[Spear]

I can see how someone who isn't really a racist can say something like that if they're just really really dumb plus drunk. He may very well be a racist, but I think we would need video of him actively in pursuit of that agenda and not just lashing out at people who were pissing him off -- unless the fact that they were black was what was pissing him off, of course.

 

The guy is a stupid jerk-ass, clearly. But I don't know that he's a card-carrying racist. Given his profession, I'd say that he's probably not. As human beings, we unconsciously take on different characteristics in different situations. We try to behave according to how we think the people in our company perceive us. So the locker room Riley Cooper may not have a racist bone in his body, but the flannel-wearing, beer-swilling, country-music concert attendee Riley Cooper, among his posse of other white associates might kick into total redneck mode and start slinging thoughtless racial remarks, even if he doesn't really mean them.

[ABQCOWBOY]

The word is terrible and holds a terrible history.  I accept the history of it and can say that I am ashamed of it's origins.  The word and it's usage only serves to divide all of us.  You can not have anything that is only acceptable for one race or class and not acceptable for another.  I hope that one day, we can come to a point in our social development where we can look at an individual like Cooper and see him for what he is.  A person who has not taken advantage of the opportunity given him.  A person who has failed to overcome petty racial divides.  We can pitty him, perhaps smile at him and ultimately move on in our own lives.  It is not worthy of the attention and the fact that we continue to treat these kinds of issues as relevant only helps to further the divide.  I would rather we treat it as you might a child who is misbehaving. 

 

I know that there are those who would say that this is a mistake but I don't believe it is.  I do not believe that in this country today, there are more people who are racist then there are people who are not.  I don't believe that racism is gone in this country but I do believe that the number of people who are racist, on both sides, are smaller.  They are the minority yet, we allow the minority to control us through the use of these kinds of terms.  The NWord is inflamitory so it's used by the minority to stir the pot.  The term cracker is used by the minority to stir the pot.  They use these things to divide us and as a result, a small number of people are able to prevent us from moving forward in our social evolution.  That's just sad to me.

 

We are better then this.  We should recognize the fact that we do not have to allow ourselves to buy into this rediculous sharade. 

 

I hope that there comes a day when we all realize that these kinds of words are not necessary, by anyone, in our society.  I hope we come to a point when we can truly realize that words like these only have as much power as we allow them to have. 

 

Right now, in our society, they have too much power and they should not.

 

That's just my opinion.

[bowhunter]

I'm afraid that the more we post on this subject, the more power we give to the word itself. Like cracker, retard, faggot, they're all just a bunch of letters. We choose how much power we give to them. 

[wysknz1]

So, after reading through 5 pages of this, does anyone concure that if even one Native American is offended by the word "REDSKINS" the name should be changed???

 

Not trying to change the topic because that's been discussed to death. But explain to me the difference.

 

I know I'm in for a blasting but I think it's a legit question. Go through these posts and replace "N" with "RS". Is it so different?

 

I really like the name Redskins and the logo. But............

[Hitman21ST]

So, after reading through 5 pages of this, does anyone concure that if even one Native American is offended by the word "REDSKINS" the name should be changed???

 

Not trying to change the topic because that's been discussed to death. But explain to me the difference.

 

I know I'm in for a blasting but I think it's a legit question. Go through these posts and replace "N" with "RS". Is it so different?

 

I really like the name Redskins and the logo. But............

 

If you've read any of the discussions on the topic, you'd know that "Redskins" isn't derogatory at all.

[ABQCOWBOY]

So, after reading through 5 pages of this, does anyone concure that if even one Native American is offended by the word "REDSKINS" the name should be changed???

 

Not trying to change the topic because that's been discussed to death. But explain to me the difference.

 

I know I'm in for a blasting but I think it's a legit question. Go through these posts and replace "N" with "RS". Is it so different?

 

I really like the name Redskins and the logo. But............

 

That's an interesting question.  Would you say, and I'm just asking to see what your opinion on this might be, that if a racist were offended because he could not use a word like the NWord, would he also have that same right?

 

It's an interesting delima.  Good thought though.

[Dallsux]

Wow. What a dipstick.

 

Racism across the board is ridiculous. Having a discrimination against certain people because of something we didn't choose makes no sense whatsoever.

 

And for the record, that particular word is the worst word in the English language, IMO. White, hillbilly bigots use it as a way to fuel their hatred & black, urbanites who are describing each other in such a way don't recognize that "owning" the word doesn't empower them, but helps the white, hillbilly bigot in his stance. Brothers describing or calling each other this word is just as offensive to me as a white person using it. I don't care that they replace the "er" with an "a". Makes no difference to me.

So, after reading through 5 pages of this, does anyone concure that if even one Native American is offended by the word "REDSKINS" the name should be changed???

 

Not trying to change the topic because that's been discussed to death. But explain to me the difference.

 

I know I'm in for a blasting but I think it's a legit question. Go through these posts and replace "N" with "RS". Is it so different?

 

I really like the name Redskins and the logo. But............

Well, the difference here is we're talking about a real racial slur, not one made up by ignorant people who are trying to be politically correct without actually being historically correct.

[Dallsux]

The word is terrible and holds a terrible history.  I accept the history of it and can say that I am ashamed of it's origins.  The word and it's usage only serves to divide all of us.  You can not have anything that is only acceptable for one race or class and not acceptable for another.  I hope that one day, we can come to a point in our social development where we can look at an individual like Cooper and see him for what he is.  A person who has not taken advantage of the opportunity given him.  A person who has failed to overcome petty racial divides.  We can pitty him, perhaps smile at him and ultimately move on in our own lives.  It is not worthy of the attention and the fact that we continue to treat these kinds of issues as relevant only helps to further the divide.  I would rather we treat it as you might a child who is misbehaving. 

 

I know that there are those who would say that this is a mistake but I don't believe it is.  I do not believe that in this country today, there are more people who are racist then there are people who are not.  I don't believe that racism is gone in this country but I do believe that the number of people who are racist, on both sides, are smaller.  They are the minority yet, we allow the minority to control us through the use of these kinds of terms.  The NWord is inflamitory so it's used by the minority to stir the pot.  The term cracker is used by the minority to stir the pot.  They use these things to divide us and as a result, a small number of people are able to prevent us from moving forward in our social evolution.  That's just sad to me.

 

We are better then this.  We should recognize the fact that we do not have to allow ourselves to buy into this rediculous sharade. 

 

I hope that there comes a day when we all realize that these kinds of words are not necessary, by anyone, in our society.  I hope we come to a point when we can truly realize that words like these only have as much power as we allow them to have. 

 

Right now, in our society, they have too much power and they should not.

 

That's just my opinion.

I totally agree.

 

I'd like to add that it is clear on all sides, that we are all different in some ways. We were created with these differences to embrace our strengths in those differences, but all too often, we allow, as you stated, the minority to consistently disrupt our directive in becoming a community. As long as those people (whether it be someone like Riley Cooper or a vast majority of media outlets who seemingly would like nothing more than to ignite a race war in this country by bringing race into situations where it has no place) continue to drive a wedge between us, we're going to be dealing with this. But, we need to, at our level, in our everyday lives, live like we are accepting of all peoples because we truly are. 

 

The color of a person's skin has no bearing whatsoever on that person's character.

[HeluCopter29]

Riley Cooper is dumb. Drunk or not he does not have the right to use that word. That being said nobody has the right to use the word. The statement that the N word has been claimed by black people and its more acceptable for them to say it is absolutely ridiculous. The word needs to be buried forever and not used by anyone. Everyone should be held to the same standard. You cant pick and choose when the word is acceptable.

 

Judging by the fact you say "claimed by black people" I think it's a fair assumption to say you are not black.  And therefore you don't get to decide the fate of the word.  I'll agree with you that long term the word either needs to be dropped or have it's meaning changed completely but right now we have to accept that we're only 40 years removed from the civil rights movement.  And we still have direct racism and don't even get me started on indirect/subliminal racism.

 

(But perhaps this is more of a discussion for the tailgate forum)

 

That said, the Eagles need to cut Riley Cooper.  He's not good enough to keep around with this type of thing going around in the locker room.  Of course, as a Skins fan competitively I'd love to see another TO situation unfold 

[Dallsux]

I'm black. Both of my parents are from North Carolina; Fayetteville,  and Concord respectively. They were both children during the Civil Rights era. I am also the great grandson of a black woman who dared to have a relationship, and start a family with a white man in Virginia, during the 1920's. My last name is the name of my ancestors slave owner, and my ancestry has been traced all the way back to the Mandingo tribe in Africa. I have been told enough stories about the pain and suffering that my relatives and ancestors have endured to write a book almost. This is an issue that really hits home for me.

 

 

I feel that the young black men of this generation have an obligation to eliminate the word altogether. Too many people have fought and died, and would be appalled today throughout our history in this country for us to use that word the way that we do now, carrying on in ignorance. I agree with the person MLSkinz. We need to change this. Maybe this can be our own little legacy. As for people of other races who feel we should not use it, it isn't your place to tell us what we should or shouldn't do with it. That is our issue to handle and discuss, not yours. The two words are night and day as far as I'm concerned. One is of ignorance, one is of hate and intolerance.

 

I don't post much. I mostly read. But I figured I'd share my thoughts on the matter.

I agree that it is a word that must be eliminated from our vocabulary altogether, but I also believe that it is the responsibility of all of us, not just young black men. Maybe you won't care about my opinion on this matter because I'm white, but because I'm white should not remove me from the equation. We need to work together on this issue, instead of trying to segregate ourselves more. This needs to be a community effort.

[Tarpon75]

Wonder what he was so mad about?  There's a video of him confronting some people in the parking lot after the concert too.

 

What a racist hick moron.  From Oklahoma no less.  Hillbilly trash.

Wow,way to keep it classy. Was what Cooper said any worse than the words you used to describe Cooper?

[skinsmarydu]

I'm afraid that the more we post on this subject, the more power we give to the word itself. Like cracker, retard, faggot, they're all just a bunch of letters. We choose how much power we give to them. 

Hubby said yesterday that the rest of the world is probably laughing their asses off at us & how worked up we've gotten over a word...but said he read that the word is used on a more than regular basis on the field, whether it be during team practices or games.  I've never been close enough to the action to know, neither of us have.  But what Cooper said WAS meant in anger...no way to interpret it differently, imo. 

[CommanderDOOM]

What a lot of people might not understand is that when whites and others use words like that("n-word"....bcuz "n-word" is a different word) to demean people of color they are put in the same catergory as those who would have their dogs tear us apart. That is why Mr Cooper is looked at differently than Vick.

[Bubble Screen]

First off, it goes without saying that Cooper used terrible judgement. But this doesn't have to spell the end of his career. I remember Kerry Collins doing something similar in his earlier days with Carolina, and he recovered from it and went on to have a decent career.

And I hate to agree with Wilbon, but he's right. Goodell should have suspended Cooper. He shouldn't have left this up to the Eagles.

Lastly, NO ONE should EVER use the N word. This notion that somehow its ok for blacks to use it is ridiculous. It's hypocrisy at its finest. And I also think using the N word with the A on the end, is stupid, too.

[CommanderDOOM]

So, you saying black people STUPID! j/p  

But for real. Just as of and off are two different words so are "n-word" (man,boy,homie,dude,person) and "n-word"(a derogatory term used by racists to describe people of color). As man came from ape and is now different....

And its not only black people who use the word. 20 years ago I witnessed younger white kids using the term to each other like 'dude'. Shocking at first but it is what it is.