Dr. Dolen Would Like To Air Herself A Grievance

A guest grievance courtesy of my homegirl Dr. Dolen:

So James Blake won last night! Congrats to him for pulling out a grueling 5 setter. It was hard to believe that he's a top 10 player and is just now winning his first 5 setter. As he said, he finally "got that monkey off his back."

But this is what I want to know: James, why is your J-Block all white? Sure, I've heard all the arguments. You grew up in Connecticut so most of your friends are white. You went to Harvard so most of your friends are white. You grew up in the tennis world so most of your friends are white. I say, Whatev! You say that these are 25-50 of your closest friends. Are you going to tell me that you don't have a single friend of African descent to join your J-Block crew?

I mean, am I asking too much for Mr. Blake to have one black friend in the box? Just one?

Comments

[Ocho Ocho]

He is from Fairfield. It is a pretty homogeneous place. And its tennis for Pete's sake. Not the most integrated sport overall.

[Ocho Ocho]

All the African Americans are writing letters to Goodell for leniency in the Michael Vick case

[jackie]

"All the African Americans are writing letters to Goodell for leniency in the Michael Vick case.

Not to mention all that waiting by the mailbox for the O.J. Prize.

As for the J-Block, insofar as Blake has any black friends, perhaps they're embarrassed to sit there. If you've ever been to one of his matches at Arthur Ashe, and had the misfortune of sitting anywhere near the block, I'm sure you know of what I speak.

[Dolen]

Maybe I should have spelled African with a k (Afrikan) to reveal my nationalism.

[Art Vandelay]

Heh. I was thinking the same thing while watching that. What is that 5th set thing about anyway? He's been around forever. Perhap's he should adopt Aaron Krickstein's old posse.

[E-Boogie]

I blame his black father. He should have given that young man more of a sense of his black identity. The sad thing is, there will probably come a time where he will feel just how black he is and wish he had soem black friends.

[Assman]

Yeah, but if he added some friends who were black just so he could say he had them, wouldn't that be even shittier? I'd rather he just invite the folks that're his friends, all white or not, rather than have racial quotas.

[Art Vandelay]

Yeah, but if he added some friends who were black just so he could say he had them, wouldn't that be even shittier? I'd rather he just invite the folks that're his friends, all white or not, rather than have racial quotas.

As long as he doesn't start taking all the white women, I'm fine with it.

[jackie]

that're

Is that legal?

[Dolen]

That's true, Assman. I'd hate for him to go around saying, "Hey will you be my black friend?" like (some) white folks do.

[jackie]

I'd hate for him to go around saying, "Hey will you be my black friend?" like (some) white folks do.

You mean like these guys?

[Jack Klompus]

Maybe the problem isn't that Blake won't befriend other black folks. Perhaps blacks don't want to be his friend (aside from Jackie). Who knows, he could be just a turd. Wouldn't be a first from Connecticut.

[Art Vandelay]

Classic. Not too many things funnier than blackpeopleloveus.

Sally's always saying: "You go girl!" while "raising the roof" to mainstream hip-hop tracks at cheesy bars. That's fun! I relate to that.

[Ocho Ocho]

Can James just be James? Without any pre-conceived notions of what should or should not be?

[Jack Klompus]

"Can James just be James? Without any pre-conceived notions of what should or should not be?"

No. Plus, he's a celebrity -- so there's absolutely no chance of that. And, people would still be judging him if he had an all-black entourage. They'd be wondering why, since he grew up surrounded by whites. That's just the way it is.

[M. Butler]

I feel like I've made some black friends from this site. If I'm ever cornered, can I name Jackie and Assman as friends and feel safe if its checked for confirmation?

[jackie]

"I feel like I've made some black friends from this site. If I'm ever cornered, can I name Jackie and Assman as friends and feel safe if its checked for confirmation?"

Hey Butler:

You're good.

Cyber Black People Love You Dot Com, brutha.

[Jack Klompus]

"If I'm ever cornered, can I name Jackie and Assman as friends and feel safe if its checked for confirmation?"

Well what if it's Assman and Jackie who are cornering you? What then, genius?

[Jack Klompus]

"I feel like I've made some black friends from this site."

And I feel like I've made a lot of cyclist friends on this site.

[Joe]

"As for the J-Block, insofar as Blake has any black friends, perhaps they're embarrassed to sit there. If you've ever been to one of his matches at Arthur Ashe, and had the misfortune of sitting anywhere near the block, I'm sure you know of what I speak." -- Jackie Chiles

I saw James play at the Pilot Pen in New Haven a few years ago, and I completely agree with you. Those guys are intolerable.

[E-Boogie]

There are black people in Connecticut and even if he grew up in an all white environment, which it sounds like he did, it is up to the parents to expose their children to people like themselves. It can be done. I've seen it. My niece and nephew attend an mostly-white high school in a suburb of Atlanta and they have they have friends who are both white and black. They are even considering (God-forbid) going to a black college. Again, his father sucks for not making sure he was exposed to more than just white people. An Asian, Latino, bi-racial, something. James is who he is now, but that's because of his parents.

[Shawn]

They are even considering (God-forbid) going to a black college.

Why God forbid? Did you go to a HBCU and have a less-than-pleasant experience?

[SL22]

Welcome back to the Airing of Race Cards.

And Butler...everybody knows that when confronted by a group of intimidating black men, you don't mention Assman and Chiles. You have but one choice...suck your way out.

[Eli]

I think you may be asking too much- how black kids have ever heard of Arthur Ashe?

[Eli]

That is how 'many' black kids.

[Dolen]

Okay. I take it back. I just spotted two Asian fans in the J-Block (in an online pic). I can sleep peacefully tonight.

[howard in nyc]

this is pretty damn stupid. to critique a man's circle of friends on the basis of race, and on the basis of the racial composition of the 'j-block', which i assume is an organized group of fans who root for him.

you really care if he has black friends? or ones that sit in a designated section of the stadium? does it matter an iota to anything?

maybe he has black friend who have better things to do than watch him play tennis. or choose to sit elsewhere for any number of reasons (i missed jackie's reference above; don't know what is embarrassing going on up there).

i am sensitive to this because of my experience. i lived the first ten years of my life in a black area, and i had black friends. the next ten, in a very white area. and depending on how closely you drew a circle defining my closest friends, there were periods when the population of that circle would be 100% caucasian.

the last two of those years were on a college campus. on occasion, i was challenged by black acquaintances, "why don't you have any black friends? why do you hang with those white boys?"

i found such challenges incredibly insulting, ignorant and more informative of the narrow attitudes of the questioner than of my choice of friends. and this post and several comments reminds me of those same attitudes.

who the fuck cares whom mr. blake chooses for his friends? and how can any stranger reasonably attach any meaning based only on the skin color of those friends?

[Jack Klompus]

Um, I kind of assumed nobody here was really disturbed about no black friends in the J Block. I thought it was just tongue-in-cheek humor. Did I misinterpret? If that's the case, me need read more better.

There are black people in Connecticut and even if he grew up in an all white environment, which it sounds like he did, it is up to the parents to expose their children to people like themselves

What, like BMW driving yuppies? I actually have no idea about his background, and as a fan who watches only watch women's tennis, and then only if the players are hot, I don't really care. But maybe skin color as a stand alone issue doesn't enter into the criteria.

[Art Vandelay]

Um, I kind of assumed nobody here was really disturbed about no black friends in the J Block. I thought it was just tongue-in-cheek humor. Did I misinterpret? If that's the case, me need read more better.

I had that as well and I don't even have a sense of humor.

[M. Butler]

I have black on-line friends! USA! USA! USA!

[jackie]

"I don't even have a sense of humor."

Nobody said that. Klompus just said that Eli has a much better one.

[Art Vandelay]

If he only knew.

[Gardener]

Dr. Dolen,

My sentiments, exactly.

[E-Boogie]

"They are even considering (God-forbid) going to a black college. Why God forbid? Did you go to a HBCU and have a less-than-pleasant experience?"

I did go to a black college and had a great experience. I was being facetious, as it seems like many people responding to this blog are not conscious at all.

[howard in nyc]

sorry then jack, and doc. missed the tongue in cheekiness. i gave my sense of humour the night off yesterday.

[Schmoopie]

SL22: You're right. Particularly if there's lightning out there.

[puddy]

An absurd Grievance. Sorry, Dolen. Does Blake need to keep it real, thereby eliminating some of his real friends? In my opinion, you made a compelling argument as to why he had few black friends.

You could have made a tremendous argument that 1)Connecticut needs some integration 2) Harvard needs some integration 3) Tennis needs some integration. Instead you chose to rail on one black guy for being true to his roots, if not true to Roots.

[E-Boogie]

Actually, her grievance is very valid. There are black people in Connecticut, many black people at Harvard, even though you white people will find that hard to believe, and quite a few in tennis. I think Dr. Dolen's point is questioning how someone gets to a point where they exclude their own. If a white person had no white friends at all, people might question, what's up with that? Why? Because the total exclusion of your own usually means your issues run really deep. You have some kind of fetish. I have a friend from Alaska, and she said she was one of two black people in her high school. And she was friends with that one other black girl, as well as the white people in the school. Now, I'm not saying every black person can be friends with each other. All black people are not alike, of course, but over the course of his entire life thus far, he has not found a black people who he has something in common with and becomes friends with? I completely understand Dr. Dolen's grievance.

[puddy]

I don't doubt that there are black people in those spots. I'm not that ignorant. If, say, Andy Roddick had a bunch of black people in his box, and no white people, would we be saying 'Where all the white people?' No, and to suggest as much would be gauche.

Who are we to tell anyone who they can invite? Excluding their own? I say, Whatev!

[Jack Klompus]

@E-Boogie: "I think Dr. Dolen's point is questioning how someone gets to a point where they exclude their own."

You're making the assumption that Blake is primarily responsible for the exclusion. As if there are scores of black applicants on a "James Blake's friendship waiting list." The infantilization of the black community lives on.

@Puddy "If, say, Andy Roddick had a bunch of black people in his box, and no white people, would we be saying 'Where all the white people?' No, and to suggest as much would be gauche"

Puddy, get real. Roddick has a black entourage, you know damn well people are going to make a deal out of it. Especially in tennis.

[puddy]

I guess I don't follow tennis enough to make that assumption. My bad. But I suppose Dolen might had a good point, but that I have a hard time fully getting why this is so bad.

[Kristal K]

I'm sorry, but this entire thread is ridiculous.

Clearly, it is important to be friends with people who are of a certain race, creed or ethnicity. I'll make sure that the next friend I make only fits the Pacific-Islander category, because that group is not properly represented in my circle of friends.

[Art Vandelay]

I'm sorry, but this entire thread is ridiculous.

Really? 43 comments and not one valid point? Damn. Tough crowd.

The Samoans, by the way, make wonderful friends. I'd go that route.

[Dolen]

This will clear it up right here. A quote by Blake that appeared in an interview with him on SI.com. The boy's mama gets "antsy":

"It's definitely something I think about. It's funny because it's always "first African-American to do this or that" or "first African-American since Arthur Ashe." It's great to mentioned in the same sentence as him but I -- my mom especially -- gets antsy. "Why can't I just be American? Haven't I achieved enough on my own to just be James Blake: American?""

[Kristal K]

Sorry Art -- the only salient point was:

Welcome back to the Airing of Race Cards.

Let's crucify James Blake and any black man or woman in the public eye for not being "black enough" -- wtf that means...

I apologize for only seeing him as a guy from Yonkers who plays tennis -- I don't give a crap who is in his entourage or the color of his skin -- but this is the aofg & colorblindness is not acceptable.

[jackie]

"I say, Whatev!"

Killing me.

[jackie]

"Clearly, it is important to be friends with people who are of a certain race, creed or ethnicity. I'll make sure that the next friend I make only fits the Pacific-Islander category, because that group is not properly represented in my circle of friends."

All due respect Kristal, but that's retarded rebuttal right there.

[Jack Klompus]

"but this is the aofg & colorblindness is not acceptable."

Leave it to Jackie Chiles. Mr. Race Baiter himself. Jorts are okay, but Blake can't have an all-cracker circle of trust. Crap.

[E-Boogie]

So his white mother gets antsy when he is called African-American??? If that's going to make her antsy, she should have not had a child with a black man. It kills me when people in the majority try to act as if race does not exist when a minority does something good, but when they do something bad, "Castrate those N-words!" You can't have it both ways. Blake's entourage is white, his friends and girlfriend are white because of his "antsy mother." And his dad sucks for not making mom and son understand how fucked getting "antsy" about his race is.