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The Newest Reasons to Hate Duke

These ones have nothing to do with actual basketball.

By Joe Tuohey
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

I've been trying to let this weekend go, but somehow, it keeps reeling me back in. The latest reason is a particular tweet that got to me. I'm going to break this tweet down, piece by piece. The tweet:

OK, there's a lot to take in here. Before you get too revved up, let's go point by point.

"The only possible thing to be unhappy about today..."

Let me stop you right there. There are plenty of reasons to be unhappy this morning. Global warming, AIDS, or the NSA spying on you would all be understandable reasons to be unhappy on the morning of April 7th, 2015.

But this is a Duke blog, so let's restrict just to Duke. You could be unhappy about the fact that a student hung a noose on campus within the past week. That would be understandable, also.

But well, it's a Duke basketball blog, so let's restrict further. Still, you could be unhappy that Rasheed Sulaimon was dismissed from the team earlier this year for sexual assault allegations. You could also be unhappy that officials within the athletic department knew about the allegations for 10 months before the dismissal.

Let's just say, a Duke basketball observer could have plenty of reasons to be unhappy.

"...is the need for everyone to pin the "hated" tag on Grayson Allen..."

Perhaps this is a semantic point, but people aren't pinning the hated tag on Grayson Allen. People actively hate Grayson Allen.

Michigan State fans specifically hate Grayson Allen for throwing down a mediocre dunk on a broken play, screaming in Travis Trice's face, and then avoiding a technical for no apparent reason.

This semantic difference makes a difference when the sentence is finished this way:

"...just because he’s white."

This is just actively false. As an example, Matt asked this question last night:

Frank Kaminsky. White guy. Not hated (generally). Would be hated, though, if he went to Duke. The important variable here is not race, it is whether or not somebody attends Duke.

Tyus Jones? Hated. Austin Rivers? Hated. Infinite Plumlee loop? Hated. Jabari Parker? Yeah. Hated.

Here's a weak response:

The problem with this retort? Justise Winslow... hated!

Elsewhere

Duke Basketball Report, why are you getting up-in-arms about Bo Ryan's comments about a "rent-a-player" when he wasn't even talking about one-and-dones. He was referencing how it will be tough to let go of his seniors, because he's known them so long and they don't take graduate transfers. It's not about you.

Why are you taking a Rolling Stone article out of context:

And now take this horrible slam on Grayson Allen for being white and going to a Christian school.

Oh and this quote is horrible, too:

Well there's not much he can do about being white and being ripped for being white - how is that different from being ripped for being black or Hispanic or anything else? It's sick.

Whatever Grayson believes is his business. How did we get to the point where ripping someone's religion is acceptable? It's completely offensive. Diversity is fine apparently, as long as you're not, you know, too diverse.

Read the Rolling Stone article here (from Michael Weinreb, a great college football writer, not that Duke fans would know). Allen is not being ripped for being white, or for being Christian. He's being ripped for being from Duke. Weinreb's conclusion:

All these years we've tried so hard to will our hatred onto Duke's success, and this is what we've come away with: They are better than us. They're not just obnoxious; they're boldly obnoxious. In the end, there ain't a damn thing we can do. The Grayson Allens of the world will always win.

Oh, and by the way, if he was being ripped for being white it still wouldn't be as bad as being ripped for being a minority. Because minorities have been, you know, systematically oppressed. It's why hanging a noose from a tree on campus is a horrifying act that needs to be met with severe concern.

Just take your trophy and go home, Duke. It seems you've got a lot to think about.

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