Welcome To Our World Kevin Durant

I don't patronize sports but I saw that NBA star Kevin Durant got himself into some trouble for some remarks he made in India, and then was of course forced to apologize for them (1.2 billion consumers in India). What did he say? Things like this:

“It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience,” the website quotes Durant as saying.

Durant also described the conditions in the area near India's famed Taj Mahal monument.

He said he was expecting “holy ground, super protected, very, very clean.” But instead, he saw “(m)ud in the middle of the street.”

In addition, “houses were not finished but there were people living in them. No doors. No windows ... stray dogs and then, boom, Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world.”

The area around India's famed Taj Mahal did not meet the expectations of NBA player Kevin Durant, he said in an interview. (Jim Richardson) He said the area reminded him of distressed neighborhoods where he grew up, in Washington, D.C.

So he went somewhere new and made some honest evaluations of what he saw. Well he got the "We wuz kangz" treatment, India style from someone named Chhaya Nene (from linked story):

-- The Indian subcontinent was home to the Indus Valley civilization which has been around since the 3rd millennium B.C. America became a nation in 1776.

-- There are over 1.2 billion people in India. America has just over 324 million.

-- India has the most populous democracy in the world.

You can't talk about us that way, we have been around a long time and have a bunch of people! She even accused him of living a "very privledged (sic) life"!

The apology is nice but yeah, comments were ridiculous. You live a very privledged life. You visited a place with 1 billion ppl. @KDTrey5 https://t.co/5Lvd1MY4GZ

— Chhaya Néné (@ChhayaNene) August 11, 2017

Hey, welcome to our world Kevin! You can't say anything true because truth is irrelevant, only the narrative matters. What is important to note is that she didn't say that what Durant said was factually incorrect, it just lacked perspective and nuance because of his privilege. It is dirty and impoverished around the Taj Majal but you have to pretend that this simply enhances the experience, not be distressed by it.

If he was being honest, he might realize that White people feel the same way when they visit his hometown of Washington, D.C. and see the monuments to the great White men who built this nation and the magnificent buildings that house the three branches of the government White men created in a city overrun with crime, homelessness and violence. He would also realize that anyone who says anything about our cities like D.C. or Baltimore or Detroit like he said about India gets the same treatment.

Welcome to our world Kevin Durant. Speaking the truth, even when you and everyone else knows it is the truth, is a Thoughtcrime and it doesn't matter how rich and famous you are.