The Ten Most Overrated White People
October 9, 2006 by Marc Lamont Hill
In honor of Columbus Day, I have put together a list of the “Ten Most Overrated White People” in American public life. here goes:
Bill Clinton – Despite bombing Africa and the Middle East regularly, approving the Welfare Reform Bill, and “three strikes” legislation, Black folk regularly regard Clinton as a messianic figure. He may be better than Bush, but Slick Willie was far from a savior.
Hillary Clinton – To be clear, Hillary isn’t overrated because she went from First Lady to Senator. After all, less qualified men –Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse “The Body” Ventura immediately come to mind– have made larger leaps with no such critique. Rather, Hillary is overrated because she’s been named the frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination despite her ridiculously conservative politics and lack of personality. Such traits are sure to disappoint Clinton loyalists in the primary and the big dance.
Babe Ruth – While there is no doubt that Babe Ruth was the most dominant player of his era, he was also the beneficiary of smaller playing fields and a segregated league. Still, Ruth, rather than Barry Bonds and Willie Mays, is the single most celebrated player in the history of the sport.
Elvis Presley – Elvis didn’t write his own songs, barely played the guitar, and was a worse actor than the entire cast of Belly. Despite being a cheap facsimile of Little Richard, he is still known as the “King of Rock ‘n Roll.” Only in America.
Eminem – Without question, Marshall Mathers is a dope MC. His first two LPs (particularly the second) will go down as classics. Still, the genius label is too quickly attached to Em at the expense of more significant old school rappers like Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane, as well as contemporaries like Black Thought, Kool Keith, and Common.
Bill Walton – More than any other player in the history of the NBA, Walton embodies hyperbole. In his current role as an announcer, Walton regularly refers to at least eight different players as the “best player in the league, bar none” and refers to routine turnovers as “the worst play in the history of Western civilization.” As a player, Walton put together one of the greatest college careers in NCAA history and led Portland to a championship. Still, a career full of recurring injuries and his sixth-man role in Boston make Walton’s placement on the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list dubious at best.
Justin Timberlake – Yes, he can dance. Yes, he can sing. But is he any better than dozens of Black R&B singers? NO
Paris Hilton – What does she do again?
Anna Kournikova – In 130 singles tournaments, Kournikova only reached 4 finals, never in a Grand Slam event, and never actually won. Still, she is one of the most heavily marketed and celebrated tennis players of all time. Hmm… It must be her aggressive baseline play…
Eli Manning – Peyton’s younger brother has plenty of potential, but the media has already inaugurated him as the next Joe Montana despite his wildly inconsistent play. This season, his Giants were supposed to win the division. Instead, they’re barely a .500 team. Where’s Rush Limbaugh now?
Of course, this list is far from exhaustive. In fact, the ten people who made the list are not necessarily more overrated than the ones I left off. For example, Joe Dimaggio is probably just as overrated as Babe Ruth and Brittney Spears is certainly giving Paris Hilton a run for her money. To make it more complete, PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN PEOPLE TO THE LIST. Be sure to give an explanation!
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50 Comments
1. Hal wrote:
I TOLD YOU!!!! LMAO!!!! hahahahhaha!!! 
2. Hal wrote:
ohhhh, Rachel Ray… now THATS a good one.
October 9, 2006 @ 12:49 pm3. ting wrote:
Halley, I’m sure you don’t think ANYONe will live up to the majesty and prestige of Paula Deen. BTW, what makes one cooking show better than the other? Have ya’ll ever actually TRIED any of these cooks food? I mean, seriously, they could be puttin out some dog food for all ya’ll know. People in the audience could be paid to say stuff tastes good.
October 9, 2006 @ 12:57 pm4. ChgoSista wrote:
Yeah, Star may have brought SOME of that on herself, but still, it was pretty janky how it all went down—wouldn’t you agree? Star’s presence, or a sista’s presence period, is very-much needed on that show. When Star was still on the show and any of those ‘heffas’ tried to “go there” when it came to a subject about African-Americans, Star did NOT punk out/back down. For that, she will always get ‘a point’ from me.
Shannon Doherty was a **it starter at just about every TV job she’s ever had—how does SHE get rewarded? With show after show after show…
October 9, 2006 @ 1:00 pm5. Hal wrote:
NO ONE can live up to Pauls or the Barefoot Contessa and yes, I have tried several of those recipes and they work perfectly!
October 9, 2006 @ 1:11 pm6. Hal wrote:
Paula.
October 9, 2006 @ 1:12 pm7. RWS wrote:
and Eli Manning aint shit.
October 9, 2006 @ 2:23 pm8. RAD wrote:
Perhaps.
October 9, 2006 @ 3:02 pm9. Uhura wrote:
RAD…I sense that you are holding back…
October 9, 2006 @ 3:11 pm10. ChgoSista wrote:
((SIGH))… No need for the transcripts–I’m pretty sharp–I can catch up–despite being new to the blog.
11. RAD wrote:
Thanks ChgoSista. I knew you were sharp!
October 9, 2006 @ 3:32 pm12. ChgoSista wrote:
RAD—> 
13. Uhura wrote:
How about Colin Powell?
October 9, 2006 @ 8:56 pm14. omodiende wrote:
add me to the list
October 9, 2006 @ 9:13 pm15. RAD wrote:
LMAO to #53!!!!!!
October 10, 2006 @ 8:06 am16. Marc Lamont Hill wrote:
you need to let that MJ shit go, bruh
October 10, 2006 @ 10:08 am17. gatamala wrote:
Desiree – I respect your opinion. But Elvis??? I didn’t think any of US liked Elvis (& I’m a Cure fan)! I don’t see what HE did that was so damn special??!!
Listen to BIG MAMA THORNTON’s Hound Dog!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s like they are not even singing the same song!!!!!!
Doc Hill – I’d like to add GISELLE BUNDCHEN. Representative of Brazilian beauty? b@#*$ please!
October 10, 2006 @ 2:25 pm18. girl stop wrote:
Ting–they’re overrated, not entirely irrelevant.
October 11, 2006 @ 12:44 pm19. Jakub wrote:
GF
February 7, 2007 @ 10:35 am20. Jakub wrote:
HEIL!!
February 7, 2007 @ 10:37 am21. white guy wrote:
stupid posts like this, and stupid posts slanted at blacks by whites is why we will never get along. bottom line is we will i dont think ever trust each other race to race. and thats a sad thing. and mostly its because those who champion a voice for our race somehow feel its our moral duty to slander others in a bid to uplift our own. the whole cyclical process is sickening and one of us should stop it. its a shame it clearly wont be you.
February 7, 2007 @ 10:47 am22. RatNig's wrote:
Kinray Best inepter in ac nigger’s
February 7, 2007 @ 11:58 am23. jimmy wrote:
you know who’s over rated? black people in general. seriously, what are they good for?
February 7, 2007 @ 1:24 pm24. king pleet wrote:
10 overrated white people? good job to segregate, you’re a racist. no worse than ‘an american’, imo.
if you would have maybe put just 10 overrated people and made them all white you wouldn’t of looked as ignorant, maybe….
February 18, 2007 @ 11:12 pm25. Drone wrote:
I heard that Hilary is going to outlaw Black History Month. Guess she isn’t so overrated now, lol.
February 19, 2007 @ 12:07 am26. Overrated Black People wrote:
You know, the guy who helped discover the double helix structure of DNA is in hot water now, simply because he revealed the outcome of scientific studies. The studies he referred to, determined that blacks are not the same as whites with regard to intelligence. He wasnt saying that every single white guy is smarter than every single black guy – the studies merely said that in general, on a whole – whites have a higher percentage of intelligence, than blacks. Whether the study is wrong or right isnt the point – the point is that nobody is allowed to even so much as ask the question, run a scientific study, and objectively analyze the outcome of such a study, without being smeared as a racist.
October 27, 2007 @ 10:54 pm27. mister x wrote:
Some of the most overrated famous people in my opinion would include Nathan Hale (America’s most famous spy, but not very successful), Abner Doubleday (His supporters falsely claimed he invented baseball), Ronald Reagan (Some consider him to be the greatest american in history. Give me a break!), Betsy Ross (Sometimes dubbed as the herione of the American Revolution. OK, she made flags!), just about every monarch (being a king really isn’t that tough a job if you can luck into it.)
July 30, 2008 @ 4:03 pm28. niggers wrote:
Marc Lamont Hill – You are a fast talking dumbass nigger whose every position is predictable before you even open your nigger ass mouth. Every time you appear on TV, it’s like a no brainer -”I wonder how Dr. Hill will respond, I wonder what his position will be on this one ?” NOT. Predictable ass nigger.
September 5, 2008 @ 6:59 pm29. Laura wrote:
30. joshua wrote:
you sound like one mad angry black man.
March 30, 2009 @ 9:27 am31. Ludacris wrote:
Talk about racist. If this column was reversed there would be riots in the streets.
October 9, 2009 @ 9:41 am32. James Beloncis wrote:
While I agree with most on your list,im curious why you don’t have one for blacks.Currently the most overrated American is a black man.His name is Obama, he’s accomplished nothing and receives endless praise for it.Not to steal your Paris Hilton explanation of the list but “what exactly does he do again”?
October 9, 2009 @ 6:41 pm33. Cornelius wrote:
Tom Cruise. We can’t forget the very celebrated Tom Cruise. A good actor at best. But is he worth 60 million dollars a movie.
October 9, 2009 @ 8:46 pm34. AGR wrote:
“A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis.”
Jackie Wilson
Ouch, hard to argue after that one.
October 12, 2009 @ 1:57 pm35. David wrote:
Congratulations. You’ve now graduated from top ten liberal commentator to top ten sensationalist contentious media whore. Very disappointing.
October 12, 2009 @ 2:03 pm36. Cesar arizpe wrote:
you are a racist son of a bitch. you don’t like columbus because the 3 ships were named la nina, la pinta and la santa maria instead of yo moma, the biatch and the Hoe.
back then black people got to ride for free in ships and today they still want to get free stuff.
you attack anyone who does great things if they are not black, that is racism my darkly friend.
you are a bad bad man
October 12, 2009 @ 5:13 pm37. HarshTruth wrote:
Barack Obama. He may only be half-white, but he’s easily the most overrated person of the last 100 years.
October 12, 2009 @ 6:57 pm38. stupid wrote:
Babe Ruth you dont know shit.the feilds werent any smaller some of them like fenway park and wrigley field were actually bigger at that time and yankee stadium was 490 feet to dead center field look it up.bet you didnt know alot of white players would play exhibition games against negro league players in those days and ruth took the great satchell paige deep once and even the old negro league players said he was one of the best players they had ever seen.elvis yeah,paris hilton definately,but Babe Ruth.o yeah he was on the way to the hall of fame as a pitcher before he started hittin bombs.muhamad ali is the most overated black athlete ever.
October 14, 2009 @ 7:21 pm39. my nizzle wrote:
why does mike Tyson talk like a lil girl. why does Obama drink beer and smoke cigarettes on the WHITEHOUSE lawn? why does Bill Cosby now look like Fat Albert? Why dod kunta Kinta get whipped-because he deserved it……
October 14, 2009 @ 8:23 pm40. Big J wrote:
Yeah! I have a list of overrated Black Americans!
Barrack Obama- The only man to receive the Nobel Peace prize with zero Accomplishments!Aside of 10percent unemployment!
Dr Martin Luther King- Wife beater and cheated on his wife as well.
Rev Al Sharpton- No reason needed-Racist
Jesse Jackson- No reason needed-Racist
Donovan McNabb- He is not that good.
Kanya West- No talent Bum Thug!-Racist
Flavor Flav- Must I elaborate?
Tupac Shankur- Yep another thug!
Oj Simpson- Glorification of a killer
Johnny Cochran- Sure its warm where he is at right now!
41. Mike A wrote:
I hate this f*ckin guy! He’s so damn racist. Probably one of the biggest racists on tv today. He’s such an Obama lovin shill! If Obama said dogsh*t was healthy and good to eat, this idiot would be talking about how many servings he eats a day! Everything Obama does is wonderful is this morons eyes. Where in the hell did he get his PhD?? Must have been one of those mail in services. If a white guy said any of what this guy says, there would be rioting in the streets! Keep lickin Obama’s skinny *ss while the country goes down the toilet!
December 8, 2009 @ 9:21 pm42. JAMES EARL RAY wrote:
BABE RUTH OVER RATED?!!? MAYBE YOU SHOULD DO SOME RESEARCH BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH. THE PARKS WERE BIGGER, THE BALL WAS DEAD, SPITBALLS WERE LEGAL AND THERE WERE ONLY 8 TEAMS IN EACH LEAGUE. SEGREGATION NOTWITHSTANDING, ONLY THE CREME DE LA CREME PLAYED BIG LEAGUE BALL BACK THEN. AND BY THE WAY, THE BABE DIDN’T NEED STEROIDS TO HELP HIM HIT HIS HOMERUNS LIKE BONDS DID, AND OH YEAH, HE HIT MORE THAN WILLIE MAYS. BLACK AMERICANS TAKE NOTE- IF YOU WANT TO BE TREATED AS EQUALS- STOP THESE WHITE VS. BLACK CONVERSATIONS. THEY ONLY SERVE TO OPEN UP THE WORLDS EYES AS TO HOW IGNORANT AND UNEDUCATED YOU REALLY ARE. FA-SHIZZLE! HOLLA! DUMB ASS MONKEYS
December 9, 2009 @ 10:19 pm43. Brutus Cobb wrote:
10 most overrated:
1. Thomas Jefferson 2. George Washington 3. Norman Mailer 4. Frank Capra 5. Bill Clinton 6 Mick Jagger
7 Alan Dershowitz 8 Ben Franklin 9 Napoleon 10 Jesus
Elvis is not overrated–he’s just not Roy Orbison
Ruth overrated? Pleeez–1 of the greatest pitchers and hitters who ever played the game
I suggest you listen to Elvis’s rendition of “Early Morning Rain.”
January 15, 2010 @ 6:10 pm44. Sasha wrote:
The poll, “How would you rate President Obama’s Job Performance?” is a bit premature. One of the choices should be “Too soon to tell.”
February 24, 2010 @ 12:45 am45. Sasha wrote:
White people invented racism not anyone of color. White people commit racism; people of color react to it. White people only deal with the issue when it is expedient and convenient for them… especially when there is another election on the horizon and they need votes from people of color. “As I said, and I reiterate, people of color did not start racism and they cannot stop it. Only White people can stop racism.”
February 24, 2010 @ 12:49 am46. liam wrote:
Sasha: I would suggest that just as many white people feel our president is caucasian as do black people feel he is african american. Thats the beauty of being biracial. Is he only partly a person of color? Perhaps he would be on Marcs list today. Of course i have to assume you would agree with me because if what you say is true then Obama would never had ascended to his position without the aid of White racism. Correct?
February 25, 2010 @ 11:57 am47. Sasha wrote:
liam: Obama, as most mixed raced people have the ability to call themselves whatever they want. Tiger Woods, who is Black, refers to himself as ‘Camerasian.’
We are all catergorized by our physical appearance and characteristics.
Mixed race babies with one Black parent, are Black. The history of this nation has dictated the same, evident in the “One Drop Rule” which was an enacted law in many states.
About half of the White electorate did not vote for Obama and they never will vote for anyone of color. It’s sad to say that it took Whites as a group more than 200 years to begin to seek out, support and elect candidates of color. Blacks have always obliged, choosing the lesser of two White evils in most elections.
February 27, 2010 @ 2:46 pm48. liam wrote:
Interesting analysis. All voters have had to choose the lesser of two evils in most elections. I sense something very disturbing with your analysis. It feels like quicksand in cement.
March 4, 2010 @ 3:54 pm49. Sasha wrote:
liam: Quick sand in cement? That’s probably what it felt like to most Blacks who did not have full voting rights until the early 1960s. I find 43 White males being sought out, supported and elected president not only disturbing but racist and sexist too. I find the historical marginalizing and once too often denying Blacks the right to vote disturbing too.
March 5, 2010 @ 10:01 am50. liam wrote:
I agree with you. You are correct in saying “thats probably what it felt like to most Blacks who did not have full voting rights until the early 1960s.” And… the “quicksand in cement” refers to today and how people are attempting to live their lives without disrespecting the baggage and heaviness of yesteryear.
March 5, 2010 @ 3:05 pmLeave a Reply
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