Having been on various sports teams in the past and seen a few (black and white) exceptionally athletic guys referred to as "silverbacks" or "gorillas", it's incredibly obvious that this is an endearing moniker, similar to calling a very strong guy a "beast" or something like that.
Reading racism into it just says more about the reader than anything else.
Having been on various sports teams in the past and seen a few (black and white) exceptionally athletic guys referred to as "silverbacks" or "gorillas", it's incredibly obvious that this is an endearing moniker, similar to calling a very strong guy a "beast" or something like that.
Reading racism into it just says more about the reader than anything else.