I remember the shift and change when it came to black “masculinity”. Michael Jordan at one point was the apotheosis of it: a tall athlete, well spoken, married, no tattoos, respectable and as far as we knew, no drama. His only vice that we heard of was his gambling.
Then comes Tupac with his Thug Life persona. He dies then DMX takes his place. And once Allen Iverson arrived in the NBA with his braids and tattoos, it became a wrap.
I’m not blaming those individuals solely for the shift in the “culture” but they definitely contributed towards it. Simply being an athlete isn’t enough… just look at clowns like Ja
Moron and his antics and yet another NBA player got clowned for being frugal with his money.