Customer Reviews

Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

"Black Planet" is in the same excellent league as Frank Fitzpatrick's "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down", the story of the first NCAA Division I championship team to start five blacks (Texas-Western, now UTEP). Both books probe many of the same social and psychological issues at the core of the relationship between black athletes and white America. Although the periods covered by the books are 30 years and a generation apart the social and psychological racial divide so well researched and accurately chronicled in "Walls" remains relatively intact in the 21st century.

The difference between then and now, and one of the many ironies pointed out in the book, is that the players have amassed enough power and influence as a result of legions of adoring/resentful white fans, to maintain a distance from those same fans while exercising a much greater degree of control over the game/industry of basketball.

In summary I found "Black Planet" to be a stunningly honest set of reflections on the somewhat unique historical predicament of being an American white male spectator of a multimillion dollar game/industry dominated by a super-elite group of 300 black athletes.

Unfortunately I can't see this book getting the attention it deserves, way too many uncomfortable truths directed at individuals and groups (sports media, sports advertising, white fans) who see themselves as color-blind and become stridently indignant when anyone has the temerity to even suggest otherwise.

Racial pieties are a dime a dozen, but David Shields has given us something considerably more valuable here. His book is an unusually honest look at the agonizing and embarrassing thorn in our collective sides--race. Yet he never falls into the sort of gasbag generalizations and reflexive hand-wringing that the issue provokes in most pundits (the reason being that he's not, thank god, a pundit). It's also funny, which is more than you can say for Gunnar Myrdal.

I tried. Believe me, for 108 pages I tried to read this book and enjoy it, but I finally gave up because the premise fell under the weight of the author's own anger and prejudices.

There ARE racial tensions in America and racism does exist among ALL races, but Mr. Shields was dead-set on placing racism at the heart of all things (even things that had nothing to do with race) when he wasn't sharing his pathological obsession with Gary Payton or his outward contempt of people in Seattle because of their politeness. He reminded me of King Lear raging at the winds.

Save your money on this one and buy "Counting Coup" by Larry Colton or "Eagle Blue" by Michael D'Orso instead if you're looking for a GOOD book that views race relations through the prism of basketball. They're about high school players so you won't see any famous names, but both are far better at developing their premises as opposed to being simply an angry screed long on accusation but short on understanding or compassion.

This book is courageous in attempting to take an honest look at something we're all tired of talking about, but is still a very real problem facing America: the salience of racism.

What better arena to examine the still lingering remnants of racism in this great country of ours then sports -- and more specifically, the NBA.

In a league dominated by African American players, where the term "minority" is given a new meaning, Shields begins this book by observing and analyzing the very real, but often ignored racial dynamic.

Contrary to popular belief, and as this book shows, racism is a problem in this country -- one that doesn't end just because one steps off the street and onto a basketball court.

BUT THIS BOOK ISN"T ABOUT RACISM, per se, but the power of human perspective.

Shields has a fascination with observing African American players, but documents his very real opinions and emotions as it relates to what he observes.

The twist is he goes back-and-forth analyzing how his opinions, judgments and thoughts are all shaped, in part, by who he is as a middle aged white man (not meant to sound negative, just truthful).

Truth is everybody, black, white or whatever, uses such lenses when viewing society. Sociology supports this theory (but that's another subject).

Shields uses his book to function as somewhat of a microcosm for how whites view blacks in this country by exploring how sport -- specifically here the popularity and racial makeup of the NBA -- exploits, exposes and reveals every racial attitude, myth and misconception some whites have about blacks.

Black Planet is a magnifying glass that flips the script on the mainstream while showing the power of difference and misunderstanding.

I, as an African American sports writer, also find this book humorous just to see the number of white-bread reporters whose attempts to sound more urban, hip & cool when dealing with black athletes are, unbeknowngst to the reporters, igorant, condescending and insulting.

This alone is a bold-faced reflection that books are still judged by their covers.

The astounding part of the issue Black Planet addresses is the fact that White America can pretty much live in ignorance -- involuntarily and unknowingly -- to the great divide in how African Americans experience this country.

But one of the few avenues in which White America is forced to care and at least deal with the difference in experience is sport -- and especially the NBA.

Shields' is honest and I'd say accurate in his assessment of how race does in fact play a critical part in how sports reporters interact with and interpret the actions of black athletes -- something to think about the next time we pick up our papers and read a story about Allen Iverson, Randy Moss (or for that matter, Kobe Bryant).

If you want a book that goes beyond the every day box scores and cliche quotes, and actually gets you to think about important issues such as race, this is the book for you. Shields dives into the NBA season and comes out with a perspective on how he and other white people view blacks, black athletes and the world both races live in. It had me thinking more about race than I ever have. In an arena composed of rich, white fans watching former poor black athletes rise to the top of the sporting world, Shields breaks it all down for us, and candidly reveals his own shortcomings and faults regarding this issue. It takes guts for a writer to take on himself. An excellent book on an excellent topic: race. Basketball is the sub-topic. If you want to THINK about race and have perhaps some of your own perceptions changed, get this book.

I picked up a hardbound version of this book for $0.10 at a library book sale, and would take it back for a refund if I could. It seems to me the author is convinced of his premise, then tries to use peoples' words and actions to justify/prove it, often unsuccessfully. I think one problem is his professorial way of writing: the numerous "Cf.s" were a distraction and contrived.

I tried to finish the book but couldn't take it anymore about halfway through.

I read this book several years ago and in retrospect it couldn't have come out at a better time.

Conversations on race is the larger topic of this book which uses the changing landscape of the NBA as a metaphor for the growing indifference & misunderstandings of whites of African-Americans.

The book explores the passing of the grinning, assimilationist & non-threatening generation of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas being supplanted by an increasingly urban-flavored generation not as concerned with making McDonald's commercials and appealing to Middle Class America.

(NOTE: this book is written just before the invasion of the "hip hop generation" led by Allen Iverson whose gangsta, thugged-out image, braids, baggy pants and corn rows rubbed a predominantly white fanbase the wrong way, opening all sorts of new NBA image discussions).

Shields chronicles the Seattle SuperSonics in the mid-1990s, attends games and stays up on every notable on court act or off court run-in and then examines how hoops fans make judgments based upon stereotypes or racial perceptions.

The book's premise is that the overwhelming black, overwhelming rags-to-riches tales of its majority of players combine to create the one forum in the country where whites are the outsiders and thus forced to (and ultimately resist, if you consider the standing of the overwhelmingly white media and white hoops fans) relate to a group of players from the wrong side of the tracks that otherwise had always been forced to assimilate and relate to Middle America (and thus, a juxtaposition of the two roles in the NBA).

For me, this book's topic couldn't be more relevant today given the emergence of an NBA generation that's as polarizing as any the sport's world has ever seen.

It might be a little harder to stomach though if you're a reader not in touch with your own honest racial perceptions.

This book provides a fascinating insight within the depths of the racial NBA. The book is a diary, so the disjointed stories are very much appreciated. Although the race issue gets tired by the conclusion of the book, it is entertaining throughout, clearly David Sheilds is a fanatic about his hometown team. I was fully satisfied with David Sheilds' interpretations and the manner in which he writes makes the reader draw many conclusions on his/her own. Great book for any fan of the NBA who, like me, always wants a little longer peak into the lives of the players, coaches and administration of the NBA.

Remote is an intelligent exploration of the deeper meanings of basketball. David Shields follows the Seattle Sonics during the '94-'95 season, commenting not only on the dynamics of play but also on issues of race and our need for the other, for transcendence from our lives through sports fandom.

So compelling is Shield's case for an intellectual take on basketball that I, a nonsportsfan type, began watching basketball games after reading this book. If you're up for delving into the greater meanings of fandom and the catharsis of sports, this is a great book to read. If you're a fan looking for basketball stats and play by play description look elsewhere. This is more than just a book about sports--it's a book about what sports mean to us.

In the book Black Planet the author David Shields follows the NBA's Seattle Supersonics during the entire season of 1994-95. He documents racial issues in how black players treat white media and fans, and how white fans treat black players. Throughout the season, the author points out, various reporters comment on the African Americans, and their performances with unsportsmanlike comments.

"I make my way from the locker room up to the press-row dinner buffet, I convey to my new colleagues my surprise at how chilly the atmosphere in the locker room is, how guarded the players are." This just shows how African American players were still guarded to talk to stereotypical white reporters in the interviews, and shows that racism still takes place but is just not so broadly recognized -- they just manage to keep in the shadows. In recent reviews, they state the conflict between the two races still emerges through the media and press. Shields states he's preoccupied with race, not just as it pertains to the professional sport but as a whole.

I believe that Shields is accurate in his assessment of how race does in fact play a critical part in how sports reporters interact and interpret the actions of black athletes. I recommend to readers to take a second look at the articles they are reading on their favorite African American athletes.

Senior English Student 2011