Is "posse" a racially charged word?

[Roy H.]

Apparently this is a thing?

"You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland," Jackson said in the ESPN interview .

The word "posse" struck a chord with James, who has surrounded himself with childhood friends during his career.

Jackson's language also touched a flash point at a time of heightened racial tension in the country.

"We see the success that we have, but then there is always someone that lets you know how far we still have to go as African-Americans," James said Tuesday following the Cavaliers' morning shootaround. "I don't believe that Phil Jackson would have used that term if he was doing business with someone else and working with another team or if he was working with anybody in sports that was owning a team that wasn't African-American and had a group of guys around them that didn't agree with what they did.

This is the first time I've heard it suggested that "posse" is somehow exclusive to blacks, and has derogatory connotations.

[Who]

Nope

[alldaboston]

i had no idea that "posse" was a word.

[celticsclay]

No. Not from anything I heard. I think it was used heavily in the 90s by teenagers hanging out

[BudweiserCeltic]

No. It's LeBron being an idiot.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm a white guy in Iowa. I am not sensitive to remarks like this, but that doesn't mean it's not potentially offensive to a black guy from Cleveland, especially an extremely successful one.

I've heard the term "posse" used down south of white guys and girls. I don't think of it as a racially charged term. If Jackson said "gang," that would be different, but I've even heard white people call to their "gang" in the scooby-doo type way.

The thing was, I'm not sure Jackson was talking about his business associates. Maybe he was, but it seems like Jackson was talking about Lebron's friends and family (some of which are his associates, but that was not the context in Jackson's mind). In that context, it seems like a normal comment from an old guy who is not really thinking about race at all, but speaking of a group of people in a old-timey way.

If I'm Jackson, I would call James and apologize for being insensitive. I would assure him that he respects James' success as a business man and that he was not belittling his accomplishments.

Even if he says that, Jackson does not have to back off the idea that James wanted to have special treatment from the Miami organization, and that was inappropriate.

[mqtcelticsfan]

I don't think it is overtly racially charged, but I will say I don't really ever hear of a white person's group of friends being referred to as a posse. I wouldn't say there's nothing there for LeBron to take issue with.

[Roy H.]

I don't think it is overtly racially charged, but I will say I don't really ever hear of a white person's group of friends being referred to as a posse.

[Vox_Populi]

I don't know about the racial aspect, but I've heard "posse" used with definite negative connotations. Usually to suggest that certain people surrounding a more well-known one have little merit of their own.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't think it is overtly racially charged, but I will say I don't really ever hear of a white person's group of friends being referred to as a posse. I wouldn't say there's nothing there for LeBron to take issue with.

I don't think you've heard posse being used much at all then.

[LarBrd33]

I see it as interchangeable with clique or entourage in this context.  It's definitely said with a bit of flippant disrespect, but I don't see it as racial.  Had Phil said "homies", I think the reaction would be warranted.

Also, in reading what was actually said... Phil was kinda quoting Pat Riley.

Jackson: "It had to hurt when they lost LeBron. That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland and he wanted to spend the night. They don’t do overnights. Teams just don’t. So now (coach Erik) Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, ‘What do I do in this situation?’ And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, ‘You are on the plane, you are with this team.’ You can’t hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland."

"I always thought Pat had this really nice vibe with his guys. But something happened there where it broke down. I do know LeBron likes special treatment. He needs things his way."

[Celtics18]

It seems to me that the word is almost exclusively used to describe friends and associates of black celebrities.  It also seems to me that the term generally carries some negative connotation.

[LarBrd33]

It's not racist, but it's definitely anti-gigantism.  LeBron has a right to be offended.

[pearljammer10]

No. It's LeBron being an idiot.

This. Always this.

[csfansince60s]

No. It's LeBron being an idiot.

This. Always this.

Agree.

Also, posse can have some very positive connotations.

The Posse Scholarship program is just one example:

Founded in 1989, Posse identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multicultural teams—Posses—of 10 students. Posse partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships.

http://www.possefoundation.org/about-posse