Sports Illustrated: Out of the Running

There was a great article by Phil Taylor about the lack of white running backs in college and pro football. He talks about how in the 70's, 80's, and even 90's there was a lack of black quarterbacks because the perception was that they were not "intelligent" enough to lead a team. Well, he argues that white running backs are not getting opportunities because coaches and teams are literally picking black players over them. The stereotype that white players are not fast enough is unfounded yet somehow it is being practiced. Why is it ok that these players are perceived this way? Try and name one starting RB in the NFL in the last 15 or 20 years that was white. Can't do it either? It would seem that it is a problem that needs addressing then.

Brockton High

Well I'm sure everyone heard the news about the shooting on the Brockton High campus on wednesday. I have kids I mentor who were pretty shook up over this and see it as a wake-up call. Until they hear the media and other people's opinions. There is the usual "well i'm not surprised it is Brockton." And it really pisses me off. I don't understand why my city gets the reputation. Yes, plenty of bad things happen in my city. Amazingly, they happen elsewhere too. Bad things happen in Weymouth and Sudbury and West Roxbury too. I'm just so tired of hearing how Brockton is all thugs doing drugs and shooting people. Not everyone here does it. 99% of the kids at that school are good kids who just wanna make something of themselves. So before you go around labeling these kids and this city, why don't you spend a day here and walk around. Let me know and I will be your tour guide. Maybe you will be surprised at what you see.

Tiger Woods

Now most of us are away of the ongoing Tiger Woods saga. My personal opinion is that his personal life and his decisions should be his and his family's alone. Obviously, that's not going to happen in this age of media combined with his exorbitant celebrity. But he is now being vilified in the media for his transgressions, especially in the sports world. People are saying "Well he has always been a jerk so this is karma." People don't know him. When he yells at a fan who is taking a picture while he is swinging, that's not him being a jerk. It's him being an ultra-competitive athlete. The point is we can't act like we know someone like Tiger when we hurl insults his way. Sometimes I wish that we remembered that athletes, no matter their popularity are still human and are entitled to a small piece of privacy still.

Spotlight skips cases of missing minorities

I found this article very interesting. People are often hesitant to bring race into a debate, especially one involving a tragedy like this. However, it has to be at least discussed here. When we look at Amber Alerts and stories on the news, how many times are there white children missing and the world seems in a panic. But when children who are minorities are missing, there just never seems to be the seems sense of urgency or widespread panic. Tamika Huston's family sure has done everything in their power to get some publicity in order to help find their daughter, their niece, their sister. Does anyone have a good reason not to give it to them? Didn't think so. So why don't we?

here is an excerpt and the link:

Spotlight skips cases of missing minorities

By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY

Tamika Huston's family reported her missing a year ago this week.

When police in Spartanburg, S.C., began investigating the 24-year-old woman's disappearance, her loved ones swung into action. They distributed fliers, held news conferences and set up a Web site. Huston's story became a cause célèbre in the local media.

Huston lived alone and obviously hadn't been home for days, if not a week or two. Her dog, Macy, had given birth to puppies.

Rebkah Howard, Huston's aunt and a public relations professional in Miami, tried to get the national media interested in the case. "I spent three weeks calling the cable networks, calling newspapers — even yours," Howard said this week.

Not much happened.

Last August, Fox News Channel's On the Record with Greta Van Susteren briefly noted Huston's disappearance. Fox network's America's Most Wanted did a story about the case in March (it will be repeated this Saturday). National Public Radio did a report last month that, like this story, focused on the lack of interest in Huston's case.

Now, the disappearance of Alabama high school student Natalee Holloway, 18, in Aruba is getting lots of airtime on the cable news networks and morning news shows. Those networks, which drive such stories, are being asked a tough question: Do they care only about missing white women?

Holloway, like "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks, murder victims Laci Peterson and Lori Hacking, kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart and several other girls and women whose stories got significant airtime in recent years, is white.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-15-missing-minorities_x.htm

The Blinside

This movie was pretty good. Often, I find sports movies like these that are ticketed as "heart-warming and inspirational" pretty annoying because the directors dramatize the little things and completely distort the sports aspect into just plain stupidness. But they did a good job with this. They decided it was gonna be about a black kid's story who just happens to play football instead of a football story that includes his story. The only reason I say a black kid's story is that is how Michael Oher, the person who the movie is about. It was definitely a quality film where the fact that he is black is almost an after-thought as opposed to it being over-emphasized in most sports movies that somehow involve a black or minority character.

Thanksgiving Football

Brockton High football is pretty much a stable of every Thanksgiving here in the city. However, the starting QB, Kicker, and an offensive lineman were suspended for this year's Thanksgiving game along with their first round playoff game because they were caught drinking, obviously underage, and driving around a Stop & Shop parking lot ramming their car into shopping carts. My issue is that a few years ago the coach threw two players, who were both black, off the team for possession of marijuana. Yes the two infractions are different but this happened in the beginning of the year so those kids missed 8 or 9 games and never played again. The players this year were white. It was talked about a little on the local radio as "boys being boys." I'm not accusing anyone of being racist or anything but isn't it clearly obvious there is at least a huge double standard here?

World Cup

Countries have just finished up their qualifying for the World Cup and it has started to bring up a lot of issues. As many people know, apartheid was a huge issue in South Africa, the site of the long-anticipated 2010 World Cup. Thierry Henry, a star French player who is also black, expressed some trepidation in an interview about playing in a country with such a long-standing reputation for violent racism. He talked about some of the things he has dealt with playing in England and he worries that it might be worse in Johannesburg next summer. A few other minority players have questioned the selection and it was interesting to me because it shows the contrast in sports internationally versus here in the U.S. Here players get heckled. In some countries, like South Africa, players are killed literally for own goals and the like. It is startling.

Black Santa

As the holiday season rolls in, and certainly not fast enough, I was thinking about and hoping he comes to my house. But how come there has never been a black representation of Santa? I'm sure someone has used a black male as Santa but certainly it has never come anywhere near catching on in the mainstream. I guess I want to ask the basic question of why? Santa is completely socially created so why have we excluded all minorities from this? I understand there is a story behind St. Nick but we could have at least altered it to make it more inclusive. We can have flying reindeers but not an African-American Santa?

Vince Young

Vince Young is having a resurgence as QB of the Tennessee Titans. He was a golden boy at Texas and won them a national championship in 2006 in one of the greatest college football games ever played against USC. However, last year he had some depression issues after he struggled during games and it all became very public. However, he was called a headcase and another "one" who couldn't make it. It was interesting to me because at the same time Matt LEinart, a white QB, was struggling yet was not getting anywhere near the level of criticism. A lot of commentators kept saying another "one." Leads me to this question: Is anothe rQb who failed or black quarterback who failed? Certainly they mean two different things.

Fort Hood

This story out of Fort Hood is horrifyingly sad. Whatever end of the political spectrum you are on, this is the definition of a tragedy. Condolences to all the families of the victims. One of the general's involved, General Casey, has said that, “It would be a shame -- as great a tragedy as this was -- it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.” Look I understand diversity in the military and with the Islamic faith viewed with skepticism by some. I don't think it is right at all to portray all Muslims as radical extremists or terrorists. But this case is different. Major Hasan was a terrorist. He did kill innocent Americans and committed a crime. Diversity and everything has to be pretty low on the list of priorities in this situation. Why are we more worried about offending other people instead of helping the victims of this shooting and helping the families get through this tragedy. Seems backwards to me.

Nas & Controversy

Continuing on the subject I touched upon with Jay-Z, Nasir Jones, better known as the legendary rapper Nas, stirred his own controversy last year when he realized his new album. Originally, he wanted to title it "Nigger" in order to break the perception that this word carried the same meaning it once did. He was trying to remove it from that list of forbidden words and put it on the one that says it is outdated and no applicable. But the outcry, from "experts" like Bill O'Reilly, and the general public was a concoction of shock, dismay, and outrage. For a few weeks, Nas held firm saying that he was doing this to convey his message. However, a couple weeks before the album was dropped, he relented and changed the title simply to "Nas." He was attempting to show that the way it is used is simply stupid now and calling attention to it would help erase it from our current vocabulary. But the public said that we aren't ready to do that and that is simply a shame.

Jay-Z & Oprah

As some people may know, on September 11th Jay-Z, one of the greatest rappers ever, realized his anticipated album "The Blueprint 3." On the same day he also performed a benefit concert for the families of 9/11 victims. This connects to Oprah because recently she talked about how great some of his songs are but she really is "disappointed by his use of the word 'nigga.'" And Jay-Z took some heat because he said that that is Oprah's right to not listen to his music then. Oprah really portrayed him as just another rapper saying it to get attention. In reality, Jay-Z is very well spoken and unlike many rappers, there is a lot of substance behind his lyrics. I'm tired of people generally criticizing the use of the word. Jay-Z uses it in a different manner, not to draw attention behind himself. There is a difference between "nigga" in the sense that Oprah has a problem with and how Jay uses it. She should know that.

Tru Life

So I somehow was suckered into watching an episode of Tru Life on MTV about single mothers. The most startling thing waqs how the show clearly followed the "scripts" and "stereotypes" that we so often see in society. We have the 21 year old white girl who goes out and parties while her mom and sisters watch her daughter. Then there is the black mom who had a baby at 20 and her fiancee is locked up for drug possession. Yeah, stereotypes are often based on reality. But MTV consciously picked these girls and their stories for a particular reason: they just happened to fit into a nice, neat stereotype.

Athletes and Thugs

There was recently a player on the University of Florida football team who was suspended 2 quarters for eye gouging an opponent. Brandon Spikes is a good player but did a pretty stupid thing. Eye gouging is one of those "unwritten" things you just don't do. But I heard a lot of analysts describing his behavior as "thuggish." It got me thinking to why the majority of black athletes who do something stupid are "thugs" while white athletes often are referred to as only "dirty players." Granted, there isn't a positive to either description but is it race related? Think about Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, and Stephen Jackson, all black players involved in the brawl at Auburn Hills in a 2004 game between the Pacers and Pistons. They were villified as thugs yet the white fan was "classless." He was never a thug. Pretty interesting to me.

Phil Ivey: Poker's Phenomenon

I'll admit I was originally sucked into the world series of poker wave that swept the nation a few years ago and I enjoy watching it. Suck at playing it but do enjoy watching it. I recently read an article on Phil Ivey, arguably the best poker player in the world, ini ESPN the Magazine. Phil is black and it did get me thinking about how in the events televised on TV, very few are black. They do have an influx of minorities, including Asians, Latinos, and women if you want to look at them as minorities in a predominanlty male sports domain. (I don't agree they should be looked at as minorities but one could make the case that women are.) But there is a glaring lack of African-Americans in these WSOP events. IS it just a lack of "good enough"black players? What is the disconnect here?

NBA and Diversity

I was watching an NBA preseason game and was interested at the diversity. The vast majority of players are black yet there never seems to be many black coaches. It's interesting to me because I came across this article when I started to look around and research this issue.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/01/22/nba_leads_this_race/

Maybe it's me but I just don't see the diversity in positions of power in the NBA. There are few black General Managers and there has been 1 black owner in the league's history- and he is trying to sell his share in the team.

I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in the NBA.

Rush, Part 2

Now the story will not end. Rush Limbaugh has now come out with his full conspiracy theory. He released statements on his radio show that DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFL Players Union, threatened to "take this all the way to the White house" if necessary. Limbaugh went on to say that he had no trouble believing one of Obama's "cronies" would look to blackball him from the league. He said that we as Americans have no idea how much trouble we are in with Obama as president. At what point does his spewing off become just annoying? Look, I'm a liberal. But I would be interested in hearing anyone on the opposing sides' opinion on him. Is he someone who many right-leaning conservatives support? Or is he just a radical similar to Al Sharpton in that he seems much more interested in causing problems than finding solutions?

Rush Limbaugh

Ok, I'm a huge sports fan so I had to comment on Limbaugh and his futile attempt to buy a minority stake in the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. The man is an unrepentant racist. I don't care about politics, left-leaning right-leaning. Really doesn't matter. You cannot say things like this if you are not a racist:

" I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed. "

And this one is the kicker for me:

"Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

The racism aside, this one is the kicker for me. You insult, criticize, demean, whatever you wanna call it, the ORGANIZATION YOU ARE TRYING TO JOIN. I mean seriously Rush. You have your right to your opinion, however sickening. But don't blame you not receiving the bid on "Obama's America" as you did. Put it on you for putting your on foot in your mouth. And I have the sources for anyone if they are questioning or unsure of the veracity of any of these quotes, just as a sidenote.

Stereotypes Continued

Continuing on with the discussion regarding racial stereotypes, there is the issue of Latin America and soccer. Somehow there is a stereotype that all Latin Americans are savages about soccer. Yes, it clearly is a passion in the vast majority of these countries. And there are certainly some who go to far. But anytime you see an image of soccer and Latin America on TV, there is the issue of fans rioting and deaths and killings. Yet, in the movie Green Street Hooligans, a film about rabid soccer fans in England, the English are portrayed as passionate yet somehow still civilized about it. Stereotypes- how exactly is a common Latin American supposed to dispel the myth that everyone of them are savage beasts?

NFL and Jackie Robinson

In a recent piece on ESPN as well as an article in Sports Illustrated, Jackie Robinson was discussed. Almost everyone can name Jackie Robinson as the first black player in Major League Baseball. But how many of us can name the player who broke the National Football League's color barrier? The article shows how we somehow get focused in on one idea or concept and forget about the other history that has happened as well. It got me thinking again how African-Americans have become synonymous with "minority." How many of us know who the first Latino to play in MLB or the NFL? It was interesting to look at. And for the record the first African-American to play in the NFL was Kenny Washington in 1946. Ironically, he was Jackie Robinson's teammate at UCLA.

Obama & Nobel Peace

Sometimes we all get frustrated with what we perceive is a lack of progress. We all suffer from it, and I am certainly guilty of it. But then we have little reminders that there is still hope. 25 years ago how many people would have predicted that our black president would have been selected to receive the Nobel Peace Prize? Or 10 years ago? We are impatient for the change we want to see. But when stories like these come out, it is a chance to celebrate our collective success. Honestly, it really shouldn't matter whether your liberal or Rush Limbaugh. Will it? yeah probably. But this is such a momentous occasion for us as a people we should all take pride in it.

The West Wing

One of my favorite shows for a long time was the West Wing. It was one of the great political shows that gave viewers a unique view on what it is really like to be in the White House. Towards the end of the series, Jimmy Smits becomes a major character in the show as a candidate for the vacant President spot. It was definitely groundbreaking because how often has a major network selected a minority for its star of a show like this? He eventually wins. I just think it was really groundbreaking.

Chicano vs. Latino

After thinking about Noriega and the readings some, a random thought crossed my mind: which term is more acceptable: Chicano or Latino? I guess I'm not sure what is politically correct here and maybe that's half the problem: we are all so worried about being PC? Why is there such an emphasis on this? I understand not offending people but now someone is offended no matter what the term we use now. Where is the endgame in this?

The Cycle Continues

I'm in a mentoring program on campus. They are all sophomores at Brockton High that I mentor. They are talking a little bit about the Jamie Foxx movie and how at least we know "the black dude ain' gonna die first." All 3 of my specific mentees happen to be black. I was walking to the bus with them today and an older, white couple walks up to me. Pretty harmless and they seemed to be enjoying their evening. The lady then asks "Are you all right?" I'm taken back by the question. I say "yes ma'am, why wouldn't I be?" Her response, "well you know..." and she glances to each of the 15 year old boys I'm with. To their credit they said nothing that could have made the situation worse. But it's like What the Hell? Seriously, I don't understand. These boys did nothing. They were laughing and talking and were quite content. You can see it in their eyes though: it has happened before and it wears on you. Sometimes people just suck.

Immortal Technique

Me and a couple of my friends were talking about musicians who have appeared on TV. I have no idea how we got on the subject but somehow we did. Then that turned into the ever-popular who is the most overrated/underrated debate. And Immortal Technique came up. Now, there is no debate that he is very controversial. His song, Dance with the Devil is just messed up in a lot of ways. But he also has stayed true to his beliefs. It made me think about him vs. Kanye. Not the run-up-on-the-stage-because-I-need-attention Kanye. The one who used to rap angry about racism and inequality. It was a stark contrast to see two people who used to be very similar in completely different directions. And yet going mainstream and maybe compromising your beliefs for money works. Show of hands: how many of you have listened to a Kanye song? (everyone). How many have listened to Immortal Technique? The defense rests your honor.

Lil' C

Another night just watching TV and "So You Think You Can Dance?" comes on and Lil' C is a judge. Now as a part of my mentoring program im in on campus, FAM For Change, we watched a movie with the kids about "crumping" and Lil' C was an original pioneer in the dance style. Well as a judge on the show, he is very articulate and intelligent. However, I feel like it is almost like he was acting. In the film, which was made well before his role on the show, he was still articulate but there was this rawness to him. Now he comes across as the buttoned down exec. I don't know if it's just a natural maturity but I feel he is either being asked to come across a different way or is doing it to appease the "bosses." Interesting to see real people portray themselves.

Cold Case

So I was up into the wee hours of the morning and caught an episode of Cold Case. I like the show, it's pretty solid without being ridiculously over-dramatic. But the episode went back to a case in 1963 where a black boy was found murdered in the street. Eventually they traced it to 4 white men. Zeke, the black boy, played chess at the house of the white lady. The husband assumed he was doing something evil, so he and three "buddies" beat him senseless while his daughter watched. Eventually the husband feels bad and starts crying with his daughter as the other 3 lynched the poor boy. At the end of the day, we have the "I Have A Dream" speech ending the episode. It really sent chills down my spine thinking that only 46 years ago that speech was made.

Judge Mathis

So I must cofess that occasionally I watch shows like Judge Mathis and The People's Court simply for the comedic relief of some of the people that waltz into the "courtrooms." However, there was one observation I made. Every judge has a bailiff of a different race. So after some research I found these judge shows:

Judge Judy - black baliff
Judge Mathis (black) - white bailiff
Judge David Young - black, female bailiff
The People's Court - Judge Maria Lopez- black bailiff

these are just a few. My question for thought is this. Does this bother anyone as a transparent attempt at political correctness or is it an over-analyzation of television?

Jim Brown

I recently heard an interview with NFL Hall-of-Fame running back Jim Brown where he discusses race and black athletes taking prominent roles in their community. One of the more interesting things Brown went on to say was that "he doesn't always want to identify himself as a black man but as simply a man. But how many people will make that distinction for me? that's right. not many." It was very interesting to me as it is connected to our discussion over Obama as a "black leader." Brown, a prominent figure in the black community, doesn't necessarily want to be perceived that way. Was very intersting to me.

Princeton & Diversity

After reading the article on Princeton and diversity it made me think about minorities and television. Often, many people think of minorities and immediately think of blacks or black shows. Sometimes, Hispanics are forgotten. A prime example of a great show that gives a look into Hispanic life is The Goeorge Lopez Show. I was never really a fan of his comedy but the show does deal with a lot of issues from a Hispanic perspective and sometimes it was really eye-opening. It's interesting to see how this article spurs the mind to other connected subjects.

Fresh Prince is Still Fresh

So it's 11:00 on a Saturday night and I'm watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As funny (or sad) as that may be the episode really connected to the paper I wrote. I talked about how great this show was at bringing up social issues and providing a fresh and unique perspective while doing it. this was the episode where Kellogg gives Will "speed" to help him deal with finals and basketball and Carlton accidentally takes them at Prom. The episode brought up drugs and the struggles that go with being a student-athlete. Despite the fact I knew about all this already I was still watching it pretty intently. The show is so relatable to a myriad of audiences even to this day.

NWA & Rodney King

So, I was watching VH-1's documentary on NWA, the rap group consisting of Eazy-E,
Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre. One of the more interesting aspects of the piece was when they discussed their motivation behind the song "F*** the Police." It was a controversial song, even today, that they said needed to be recorded because of the prejudice the police had against blacks. Whether that was or is perception or reality is not important here. What happened subsequently, the Rodney King beating and riots, lended a huge amount of credibility to the group and their song and was one of the instrumental forces behind the emergence of Hip-Hop and black culture. It was really interesting to look deeper into how music can influence the masses.

Race Debate, Part II

Interesting debate today in one of my English classes: When you first walk into class on your first day what do you notice first? There were two answers from everyone: the race of the teacher and the gender. It was interesting to see just how connected classes are and ow race is somehow at the forefront of some many conversations. I went with race as my answer by the way.

Online Class

Well seeing I'm new to this whole blogging thing I guess this is where I will give a little bit of introduction. My name is Tim, as you probably managed to figured out from the title of this esteemed blog. I was born and raised in Brockton and went to school with a grand total of 4,800 students, give or take a few hundred. It was honestly one of the best experiences. I am a huge sports fan and played, baseball, soccer, and ran track in high school and love football and basketball. I play soccer here @ BSC. I have never taken an online class before and am unsure how I feel about the whole no physical interaction thing but I do love the course material and topics. Being from the urban city I am, race has always been a big piece of my life, for better or worse. Look forward to getting to know some of you better through this class.

FSU & Miami

Big college football game tonight. I hate the Seminoles but have to admit that their offensive line is gonna make this one lopsided in their favor. Just kidding haha. 34-13 Miami. As a sidenote, FSU's star free safety Myron Rolle will not play on the team this year. He is pursuing a medical degree and studying @ Oxford this year after being selected as a Rhodes Scholar. He is also gonna be a 1st round draft pick. Impressive. Yet the two announcers have said at least 3 times that he is "black." Hmm....why the need for that?