Brian Davis, OKC Thunder announcer suspended.....

[CTOkie]

for what was deemed a "racially insensitive" remark towards Thunder player Russell Westbrook....saying that Westbrook was "out of his cotton-picking mind" following a nifty assist that he made.
When is this insanity going to end ?

 

[Oklabama]

Davis must have been out of his cotton-pickin mind when he said that. What ever happened to “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”.

 

[iasooner1]

Too much nah nah boo boo bs in this country obviously

 

[Trojanhorse13]

All I can say is wow. How did this country become what it has become? An innocent comment like that should never be construed as racism.

 

[soonerdad2002]

Too many people with a chip on their shoulder in this country. Should have just said out of his fu@$ing mind.

 

[Schoonerman]

On one hand, it does seem excessive that someone is taking offense at what appears to be a harmless phrase, and on the other hand, I can also understand how someone could find the reference offensive since most cotton picking was done by slaves. However, my deal is, who uses this tired, old phrase anyway? "Cotton picking?" What time warp did this occur, 1934? I couldn't tell you the last time I ever heard anyone use this phrase and be serious about it. Gimme a break Grandpa.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

On one hand, it does seem excessive that someone is taking offense at what appears to be a harmless phrase, and on the other hand, I can also understand how someone could find the reference offensive since most cotton picking was done by slaves. However, my deal is, who uses this tired, old phrase anyway? "Cotton picking?" What time warp did this occur, 1934? I couldn't tell you the last time I ever heard anyone use this phrase and be serious about it. Gimme a break Grandpa.

I agree Schoonerman that the phrase is dated. But perhaps where he was raised had something to do with it. It appears that there is no doubt that his use of the phrase is/was innocent. Both of my parents picked cotton in different parts of Texas. This was a pretty common phrase used when I was a kid. But what concerns me is that Westbrook could have easily difused this situation but he didn't.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

So I think if he said pea picking mind he'd been ok, but the fact he said 'cotton' some assume he meant slave picker. And what's w/ a one day suspension? LOL

 

[CalSooner]

Why did he use a figure of speech that was outdated?

I figure it's the same reason John Brooks used to say "JIIIIIIMINY CHRISTMAS ...."

It's a part of his sports pitch for broadcasting.

Doesn't bother me.

People are too touchy.

They look for ways to become offended.

 

[CTOkie]

Reminds me of a time when I worked for HL&P in Houston back in the early 1980's....I made the statement "Boy, is it hot today!", and a certain someone tried to take me to task about it.

 

[veritas59]

I'm going to publish a book on what what words and phrases white people are allow to say.

It'll be short.

 

[CTOkie]

I'm going to publish a book on what what words and phrases white people are allow to say.

It'll be short.

Good luck.

 

[Oklabama]

Growing up in Alabama as a young boy, I heard cotton pickin’ used a lot as well as “dang it”, “gosh darn”, “dad gum” and “dad gummit” in lieu of more common curse words when adults were in the presence of children or ladies. So if I heard my grandfather say “wait just a cotton pickin’ minute” and knew he really meant “wait a goddamn minute”. In fact, my mother wouldn’t allow us to say doggone because she felt that was just a way of getting around the no cursing rule. The term Cotton pickin’ had nothing to do with slaves as far as we were concerned. Picking cotton was hard work that many of my relatives had to do it. Schools were closed during certain times of the year so children could help their family harvest crops. What I didn’t know that was a racial slur was the term Cotton Picker, which referred to blacks and low income whites that hired out to cotton farmers. But none of that matters in today’s world.

 

[mcbrider]

Growing up in Alabama as a young boy, I heard cotton pickin’ used a lot as well as “dang it”, “gosh darn”, “dad gum” and “dad gummit” in lieu of more common curse words when adults were in the presence of children or ladies. So if I heard my grandfather say “wait just a cotton pickin’ minute” and knew he really meant “wait a goddamn minute”. In fact, my mother wouldn’t allow us to say doggone because she felt that was just a way of getting around the no cursing rule. The term Cotton pickin’ had nothing to do with slaves as far as we were concerned. Picking cotton was hard work that many of my relatives had to do it. Schools were closed during certain times of the year so children could help their family harvest crops. What I didn’t know that was a racial slur was the term Cotton Picker, which referred to blacks and low income whites that hired out to cotton farmers. But none of that matters in today’s world.

I am 74 and I can remember as a kid hearing my dad and grandads using the term cotton pickin. Especially the phrase, “wait a cotton pickin minute”. How incredibly stupid our society has become with all its PC and sensitivity. I remember using the term “Boy Howdy” many years ago to express amazement at some remark or event. I am just glad that it didn’t offend Howdy Doody. Oh wait a minute. He was fu$&ing puppet.

 

[Senior Sooner]

All I can say is wow. How did this country become what it has become? An innocent comment like that should never be construed as racism.

Operative Word here is innocent...Any thinking person would realize Brian's remark was a comment tossed off, in the heat of the game, and meant WOW!

A Personal 'Rule' of mine is 'Don't take offense, where none is intended'. If my intention is to offend someone, there will be no doubt about its meaning...

 

[OUSOONER67]

Have lived in the South my whole cotton pickin life and have heard that phrase many times, never once was it used or directed at anyone as a racist slur. I heard my parents talking many times about having to pick cotton when they were younger and how hard it was. When my Mom would say to my Dad, are you outta your cotton pickin mind, I can say without a doubt she was not using it as a slur. Good grief people need to just stop being so sensitive. I have no doubt racism is alive and well within all races of people I have seen it but mostly now days playing the race card is overused and most times its used to push agendas.

 

[Sunburnt Indian]

I once watched a white guy state a cold hard fact. "Equatorial Guinea has the lowest average IQ in the world." He was immediately attacked by other whites and charged with racism.

Growing up I picked cotton. When a sports announcer says "cotton picken" I've never given it a thought until a handfull of white guys explain it to me and tells me how I should feel. I'm red-white-black.

 

[JConXtsy]

http://www.newsweek.com/why-do-some-nations-have-lower-iq-scores-74797

Diarrhea makes people dumb.

The Idea

The brain, say author Christopher Eppig and his colleagues, is the “most costly organ in the human body.” Brainpower gobbles up close to 90 percent of a newborn’s energy. It stands to reason, then, that if something interferes with energy intake while the brain is growing, the impact could be serious and longlasting. And for vast swaths of the globe, the biggest threat to a child’s body—and hence brain—is parasitic infection. These illnesses threaten brain development in several ways. They can directly attack live tissue, which the body must then strain to replace. They can invade the digestive tract and block nutritional uptake. They can hijack the body’s cells for their own reproduction. And then there’s the energy diverted to the immune system to fight the infection. Out of all the parasites, the diarrheal ones may be the gravest threat—they can prevent the body from getting any nutrients at all.

 

[Senior Sooner]

http://www.newsweek.com/why-do-some-nations-have-lower-iq-scores-74797

Diarrhea makes people dumb.

The Idea

The brain, say author Christopher Eppig and his colleagues, is the “most costly organ in the human body.” Brainpower gobbles up close to 90 percent of a newborn’s energy. It stands to reason, then, that if something interferes with energy intake while the brain is growing, the impact could be serious and longlasting. And for vast swaths of the globe, the biggest threat to a child’s body—and hence brain—is parasitic infection. These illnesses threaten brain development in several ways. They can directly attack live tissue, which the body must then strain to replace. They can invade the digestive tract and block nutritional uptake. They can hijack the body’s cells for their own reproduction. And then there’s the energy diverted to the immune system to fight the infection. Out of all the parasites, the diarrheal ones may be the gravest threat—they can prevent the body from getting any nutrients at all.

Do that include diarrhea of the MOUTH?

 

[iasooner1]

Yes, yes it do, did, does

 

[JConXtsy]

I guess it means that if you experience diarrhea as an infant, you're probably going to experience diarrhea of the mouth as an adult.