He was an old, pompous, cantankerous man who had worn the last nerve of those who employed him but he was in no way a racist. He made a very inappropriate comment when he called Alvin Garrett a "little monkey" on MNF, the only problem was that it was a term he'd used many times before in reference to white players. Not to mention what he called his own grandson.
All anyone has to do is look at the way he interacted with Ali, at a time when the initial reaction for most in the media to a loud and opinionated black athlete was not a favorable one, to know that Cosell was far from a racist.
Whoa whoa whoa. It disgusts me that anyone would take a harmless comment and turn it into racism with absolutely nothing to base it on. First of all its a message board, I have no idea whether someone is white, black, Asian or orange so if I ever wanted to make a racist comment, that would be tough. For all anyone knows Im a native american anthropologist that refers to all humanity as monkeys because I believe thats where humans came from. It was said in complete playfulness, I call my nieces and nephews monkeys for Christs sake. So for someone to take an innocent comment and take it the racist direction with absolutely no reason to says a little about yourself. I hope in the future people think a little bit before letting their mind go that direction.
Word of advice if you're ever in Alabama don't call anyone a monkey. It says nothing about me though. I accused you of nothing. I posted "Monkeys???" and waited for you to explain yourself. There was nasty incident with me and another poster a couple of years back on this board over some racist comments that were said. Then the Riley Ferguson wigger comments further pissed me off. But I accused you of nothing. :hi:
He didn't mean any harm, just an explanation to make sure you weren't taking that route. No harm, no foul. Go Vols!
Maybe because during slavery that was a common term describing African Americans. Along with other negative words. The meaning of those words just don't go away because you think it should.White folks call White folks monkeys and nobody thinks anything about it. Other folks are over sensitive about that word for some reason. Just don't hide my lunch and call me Hungry.
Maybe because during slavery that was a common term describing African Americans. Along with other negative words. The meaning of those words just don't go away because you think it should.