Like I said, their racism isn’t even that thinly veiled.
As in, all black people are natural born thieves, are all naturally dumb and can only talk about 5 rangz, etc.
Look. I know these people. It’s not hyperbole. It’s true.
Again, I’ve had to spend time in Gainesville. It’s part of their culture still, among MANY of their alumni. FACTS.
A healthy portion of Bull Gators, the same ones making payoffs to Gator recruits, are stone cold racists.
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100% agree. And I am (also) a UF alum (it was just an 11-month LL.M. in Tax Law program).
Here's the thing. Many of us who are "older" talk about how every single SEC program (and, hey, a few of the ACC programs too) have a "plantation mentality".
Then, some of the "younger" white guys (especially rival trolls) on the board freak out, because they hate "being accused of racism when they aren't racist". But what they don't understand is the implicit and centuries-old mentality that arose on the plantations. That blacks are to be owned/controlled/dictated to, and must live by the standards set by the white man. And that if they don't like it, the "benefits" that have been bestowed upon them can be taken away. And don't even get me started on the use of coded language.
The bottom line is this. A substantial minority, if not an actual majority, of white SEC football fans in the south view their football programs as a proxy for their whiteness. That, somehow, if 85 (mostly) black guys representing the Alabama A can go out and beat 85 (mostly) black guys representing the Georgia G, then somehow Alabama is superior to Georgia. And even though it is (mostly) black guys going into battle, they actually have an attenuated "ownership" of their players due to "bestowing" them with full-ride scholarships that will help to lift them out of their abject poverty.
And if one of those 85 commits a petty crime? Yeah, well assuming he's not a star on the team, he will be kicked out, labelled a "thug", and taught the lesson of what happens when you don't do what you're told.
That's the plantation mentality. The (mostly) white coaches are paid $5 million a year. The players are supposed to be grateful, respect their elders, work hard all day in the hot sun, and then thank everyone for what they have been "given".
Nobody wants to admit this, of course. Even some on this board will howl with protest. But that is exactly how many of the SEC fans view the relationship between the fans who fund the programs and the players who toil in the programs.