Rupp Arena: To Change The Name Or Not?

[40bill]

Mr Brooks has never came out and said something like he wouldn't play in front of a bunch of racists that supported the name Rupp. So I give him that same courtesy. He expressed his opinion as best he has one now. In thirty years, that may be different.

the biggest change is when Rupp, Hall, maybe up to Pitino was here (and all the football coaches as well), this thing called social media was just rumors from campus. The only players that spoke were the ones designated by the coaches....AFTER they had been told what they could and could not say.

I won't hold a youngster to the fire for having a different opinion than mine. My thoughts have certainly changed in 43 years since I was 19.
his may as well.

[Uncle Dave]

Interesting thread. Sooooo.... some demand changing the name of Rupp Arena because Rupp was a racist. Fair enough. IF we are going to start changing and editing our history based on racism, then when are we going to address George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, both unapologetic slave owners who bought and sold human beings like they were livestock, along with many others that founded our nation? When are we going to change the name of our nation's capitol? When are we going to level the Washington and Jefferson Memorials in D.C.? When are we going to remove their faces from our currency? When are we going to chisel their images from Mr. Rushmore? I don't even want to think about the devastation Native Americans faced. Racism, in America or elsewhere, now or in the past, is a horrible, disgusting reflection on earthlings as a whole. America did not invent this but we are clearly complicit. For what it's worth, my son in law is Indian (sand niggers, rag heads) and I don't mean Native American. Both of his parents came from Mumbai, India. My two beautiful grandchildren are....GASP....bi-racial.

[DA#23]

Response from the Rupp family:

http://www.coachrupp.com

[Lighthouse]

In an article within the above link Matt Colvin shared is this quote. -Jim Tucker, first Black player on an NBA Championship team. Coach Rupp arranged an athletic scholarship for Tucker at Duquesne University in 1954 as the SEC did not permit coaches to sign Black players.

[DA#23]

I have seen comments and posts on the Internet suggesting that Coach Rupp should’ve been a trailblazer. I think that it is easy to suggest as much, especially given the luxury of hindsight with the perspective of today’s environment. It is so easy to overlook that aspect, frankly it is fool’s gold.

Eastern Kentucky experienced a golden era in high school basketball throughout the 40s, 50s, 60s. In Johnson County Kentucky, we had four county high schools and one independent high school until the late 60s when Johnson central high school was formed and consolidated several of the county high schools.

My father told me about his experience playing against a team which already was integrated in the early 60s, Louisville Male, and how they had had an at home and at home series.
When Louisville Male came to Boons Camp Kentucky for the game here, the entire team had to stay at Meade Memorial high school. Their meals were served to them by Meade Memorial high school. The coach of the time, Wendell Wallen, had the foresight to have his team also stay at the school throughout the entire time. So both teams had meals together, had time and opportunity to commingle, and to enjoy recreational time together outside of practice and the games.

This was necessitated because at the time there were no motels/hotels in my home county which would have allowed the integrated team to stay there. Dad said that he distinctly remembered a sign entering Paintsville which had a racial epithet on it.

[DA#23]

I make this anecdotal post to suggest that the idea of integrating college basketball, even Kentucky Basketball, might have been a task too tall even for Adolph Rupp. Perhaps, also, that Adolph Rupp understood the risks therein and could not subject these young men to the threats they would have surely faced.

[Westtncat]

Anybody can say anything from the comfort of home. When the possibility of harm to you or your family is real then it's different. Would I risk harm to protect my family? Sure. Would I risk harm to myself or my family so I could be MAYBE considered a trailblazer 50 years later? No. You have to be able to conceive life at the time. There was no movements and really no reason to do anything extra. He wasn't an evil racist and was probably better than a lot of people during that time.

[Joneslab]

Rupp's family creates website in his honor to try and clear up some widely held myths. Interesting stuff in here, including a retraction written by a black writer in 2006 where he refutes a previously written op-ed of his and argues that Rupp actually was a trailblazer.

http://www.coachrupp.com/

[Joneslab]

Rupp's family creates website in his honor to try and clear up some widely held myths. Interesting stuff in here, including a retraction written by a black writer in 2006 where he refutes a previously written op-ed of his and argues that Rupp actually was a trailblazer.

http://www.coachrupp.com/

I hadn't been following this thread and notice that Matt already posted this above. My fault.

Still, I'll leave my post up only to point out that that op-ed I mentioned is really interesting.

[surveyor]

Late to the game, but I thought the movie "Glory Road" was a huge smear to Rupp and the team and was unjustly used as a poster child for racism in the 60s. Billy Reed was similarly critical of the movie after its release.

As with the Castleman Statue at Cherokee Park (now removed) people need to learn their history before they have knee jerk reactions to move on something they don't fully understand.

Keep the name.

[Catsrock]

Late to the game, but I thought the movie "Glory Road" was a huge smear to Rupp and the team and was unjustly used as a poster child for racism in the 60s. Billy Reed was similarly critical of the movie after its release.

As with the Castleman Statue at Cherokee Park (now removed) people need to learn their history before they have knee jerk reactions to move on something they don't fully understand.

Keep the name.

I didn't even watch the movie and I'm sure there was a lot of Hollywood sensationalism built into it. Doesn't make nearly as captivating a story without it. But then people take it as a totally true story.

My problem with all this is that people who knew Rupp no more than I did are trying to write his legacy despite lots of people who knew him well denying his racism. His from former players/recruits, etc. Maybe he uttered the N word every day for all I know. But black people who knew him have stood up for him. I like Keion Brooks and don't mid him speaking his mind. But I don't want his homestate Hoosiers convincing him Rupp was something he wasn't. Hoosiers don't like Wildcats is something I've picked up on.

[Joneslab]

He definitely uttered the n-word. The only question is whether or not that matters now more than a half-century later.

Some of the most salacious things about Rupp came from a book co-authored by Cawood Ledford.

[Jload]

I am still try ING to understand the reason we need to change the name. Adolph RuppWAS Kentucky basketball for decades. He put us on the map and paved the way for everything that came after. Not a perfect man but it wasn't his job to be one His job was to win basketball games something he did exceedingly well. Was he a " social justice warrior" no, he was a man of his times. To attempt to deny those times is simply arrogance and hubris by a generation that has no sense of history or tradition.

[40bill]

He definitely uttered the n-word. The only question is whether or not that matters now more than a half-century later.

Some of the most salacious things about Rupp came from a book co-authored by Cawood Ledford.

Sure he did.
different world today. Right, wrong whatever, it happened. You hear that word a lot today in a Chapelle. Doesn't make it proper anywhere, but it was a different era.