Race in Sports & Life
Race continues to be the elephant in the room that people feel uncomfortable discussing in a reasonable, intelligent, civil manner. It seems that most prefer for the topic to merely be ignored at all costs.
Many people in Arizona want profiling, with regards to immigration. as long as it doesn't impair their personal liberties...just harass, embarrass and inconvenience the other guy.
Birthers, Tea baggers, the million or so members of Facebook sites that pray for the President's death or murder and a growing number of talk show pundits in many instances are just politically correct euphemisms for who and what they truly are.
Derogatory T-shirts continue to be openly sold outside Wrigley field in Chicago and racist chants and slurs during soccer matches throughout Europe seem to be an integral facet of the sport.
When I write about race in sports I am dismissed as an 'angry Black man' that "should stick to what he knows...if anything".
Sports in many instances are a microcosm of life. We can learn many valuable lessons on the field of play and address some of life's most important and complicated issues.
But the dialogue must begin somewhere.
Many people in Arizona want profiling, with regards to immigration. as long as it doesn't impair their personal liberties...just harass, embarrass and inconvenience the other guy.
Birthers, Tea baggers, the million or so members of Facebook sites that pray for the President's death or murder and a growing number of talk show pundits in many instances are just politically correct euphemisms for who and what they truly are.
Derogatory T-shirts continue to be openly sold outside Wrigley field in Chicago and racist chants and slurs during soccer matches throughout Europe seem to be an integral facet of the sport.
When I write about race in sports I am dismissed as an 'angry Black man' that "should stick to what he knows...if anything".
Sports in many instances are a microcosm of life. We can learn many valuable lessons on the field of play and address some of life's most important and complicated issues.
But the dialogue must begin somewhere.
Fair enough.
This Arizona BS is a major concern. I think it's simply highlighted the immigration argument. Some people feel if you've gotten in the country illegally, you deserve to be deported. Others that the border should be open, and anyone who wants to come here, has a right to.
I completely agree with you though. The problem is that racists and race baiters will use the argument to further their own agenda and it pollutes the argument, and any rational discussion.
Personally, as a young white man, I don't enjoy talking about race, because if you hold any view against a given race, you're automatically a racist. Don't agree with slavery reparations? Racist. Don't like Obama? Racist. Agree with Arizona's new law? Racist.
Difficult to have a discussion when any view can get you immediately dismissed and demonized.
Reply to this
I feel the term illegal immigrants is a joke. Who ask Christopher Columbus for immigration papers when he sailed the deep blue sea, making a claim on land which was already occupied. Not to mention his actions of nearly wiping out an entire race. His selfish actions clearly makes every individual in America an illegal immigrant. Now to briefly cover the topic of race. I really hate to be a fire starter, however, when this world was created by God everyone was dark-skinned. Because of the greed of Gehazi, white skin came into existence. It is written in 2 Kings 5:27 (King James Version) The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. And he went out from his presence a leper, skin as white as snow. From this stand point I empathize with misguided anger.
Reply to this
The irony of the Arizona law is that the same non-Latino Arizonans who voted for the profiling law were for DECADES quite happy to have Latinos work for a pittance doing the most difficult and lowest-paying jobs, legality be damned. It is only when the proliferation of drug-related murders and kidnappings started over-taxing police resources that the outcry erupted.
I feel that, in many regards, the arenas of sport provide opportunities to break down racial barriers. Particularly with regard to complicated, skill-intensive sports like tennis, basketball, and mixed martial arts, audiences and competitors alike get to see that practice, skill, and strategy count for more than whatever genetic traits one was born with. Also, athletes of every race and with every conceivable attribute provide a constant stream of stories that exemplify values, both good (e.g., courage, honor, discipline) and bad (e.g., cowardice, unfairness, laziness). These behaviors also break down -- though also sometimes reinforce -- racial stereotypes.
Finally, with regard to Tim's comments, I personally believe the examples cited as triggering accusations of racism should be taken in context. I'll illustrate with the examples given:
1. Slavery reparations. If you disagree with reparations to injuries suffered by black people at the hands of white people but not with reparations to Native Americans (during colonialization) or Americans of Japanese descent (internment camps during WWII), yeah, you're a racist. If you disagree with them for some objectively unbiased reason (e.g., there's no way to effectively sanction the people or the descendants of the people who did the harm), you're not being racist.
2. Obama. If you don't like him because he's half Black, yes, you're racists. If you don't like him because you thing he's a smooth-talking spendthrift like Ronald Reagan, you're not racist.
3. Arizona's law. If you think people with dark skin should be antagonized in the hopes of either catching or driving out those who are here illegally, you're a racists. If you think everyone -- regardless of color, regardless of the kind of music blasting out the stereo, regardless of the suspension modifications to the vehicle -- should be ID'd, well, you might be crazy, but at least you aren't racist.
That's just my .02...and worth every penny!
Reply to this