Who knew? I always thought that he was the team's token white guy (granted, a token white guy who is probably the best perimeter defender in the NBA and is one of the league's best role-players, but token nonetheless).
Obama's candidacy (and subsequent election), as well as Shane Battier highlights how fucked up our views on race are. Both Obama and Battier are as white as they are black. Why are they "black," then, in the public's eye?
But issues like these should show us that not only does race not matter, it's entirely a social construction. Yes, there are people with dark skin and people with light skin, but these categories are not made up of real criteria. There is no such thing as a "pure" people - no people simply appeared on this earth, interacting with no one else. Every ethnicity has "interacted" (read: sexed up) with many other ethnicities, and each ethnicity emerged from others. It seems wrong to subscribe to this racial notion, particularly when all racial groups are "tainted" with one another. These categories, if they exist at all, do not exist in the fashion that racists believe them to, nor do they exist as publicly believed. They are simply creations of the mind, an attempt to categorize the world and order it for ourselves. And the quicker we do away with such notions, the easier it will be to move beyond humanity's shameful history on the subject.
EDIT:
Oh, and the comments on the linked article make me ashamed to be from Houston. That's just horrible. Whenever anyone mentions that Obama's election was, in fact, a big deal partially because the man is black (or at least identifies himself as black; see the above screed), people freak the fuck out. Idiotic.
And Shane Battier has a blog! And it's in Chinese (my roommate informs me that, in China, Battier has a massive shoe deal and appears in numerous commercials. This is amazing to me. The Chinese apparently love the dude - just as Houston does - and he is very popular over there. Cool). I frankly wouldn't doubt it if Battier could speak Chinese - he seems like a pretty smart dude.
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I am absolutely in love with Shane. My favorite player for years has been Chauncy Billups hands down, when he got traded to the Nuggets they became my new favorite team. Then the other night I was looking at the score of the Rockets vs. Trail Blazers and saw this tall gorgeous man...it was Shane and since that night I have googled everything on him. I know more about this man than anybody! He is absoluetly the most gorgeous man I've ever seen in my life. His wife is an extremely lucky lady cuz I'm a 5'9 148lb. blonde too and if I ever got my hands on him I would never let go. My cell phone screen saver is Shane topless...my computer screen saver is Shane....everything now is Shane. He is just so adorable no matter what his race is. If u love somebody (or like for that matter) race has nothing to do with it so all these racial remarks towards him and his wife need to stop. He (as I'm sure her too) is a very intelligent man and he carries hisself greatly. He has and shows great respect to not only his teammates but his fans too. I love you Shane....if it ever doesn't work with Heidi call me:) (but I really wish u both the best in life) CONGRATS on the BEAUTIFUL BABY....lil' Zeke is gorgeous!!!!! Jennifer Hall
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