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| "Like, free from labels, yaknow?" |
There will never be an American history that excludes the Angry White Man, insofar as this group has principally defined how the electorate behaves. When those Jamestown natives rebelled against the Cavaliers who sought to protect inherited power, to reap the benefits of commonplace work, and to limit farmers' ability to profit, it was the first of many soft rebellions staged on behalf of the poor white male worker. The labor disputes of the early 20th century, the battles that felled the monopoly (momentarily), were indicative, again, of the Angry White Man declaring what was rightfully his. And now the Tea Party is the millennium era shout-out to those scrappy white folks, unwilling to concede anything without severe negotiations and entrenched discussions.
The NBA boasts these heroes too, often lost accessories in a game of leaping, smiling Negro youths. Only in the modern NBA does the white male experience the wholesale physical colonization that he so often administered in history. And though many of the team owners are white, white players struggle to experience kinship with the executive who would more likely send his family packing than invite them over for dinner. When a white player is able to free himself of the class shackles, stingy stereotypes and novelty amusement puns, he creates a loving tribute to an American tradition. White men can't jump but they can get down, goes the wisdom.
