Enough Already
Time for a good old fashioned rant.
The sports media is all abuzz today because Bill Lester, an African-American, raced in a NASCAR race and because Candace Parker out of Tennessee dunked twiced in an NCAA Tournament game. These are supposed to be big deals, significant milestones. Why? Because women hardly ever dunk and because African-Americans hardly ever race in NASCAR events. It's the first time since 1986 that an African-American has raced in a top series NASCAR race.
And the media trumpets these moments because somehow they're significant achievements for American society. No, they are not significant achievements. Who the frack cares about a woman dunking or an African-American racing?
We're supposed to applaud these moments? The only people who applaud these moments are people who need to show how advanced they are and how non-biased they are because they get it, because they see the big picture and appreciate how these moments show we have advanced as a society because women and African-American men can compete in the same arena as male basketball players and white men. It was the same bullshit with Danica Patrick when she raced in the Indy 500.
You know the day when we will have advanced as a society? When no one gives a shit about moments like these precisely because we're a free and open society and it should be no big deal that women basketball players and African-Americen racers compete in the same arena as their counterparts.
When Rosa Parks sat in the front seat of a bus, when Martin Luther King marched on Washington, when schools were desegregated, when the military was desegregated, those were big deals. When the first woman dunked, when the first African-American raced in a NASCAR event, when the first woman raced in the Indy 500, those were big deals. Because barriers came down, because the world became more integrated. But those barriers are already down. They've been down for a long time.
Let's stop applauding thse phony moments and let's focus on the bigger picture: that there are still people in this society, white, Hispanic, African-American, whatever, who are still disenfranchised and something should be done about it. Let's treat Candace Parker and Bill Lester as true equals by letting them have their moment with no public notice. Then we've grown as a society. Only then.
Comments
Except we don't live in that society. Just because someone else did it first doesn't mean there aren't still tremendous barriers to equality in these sports. Or in other parts of society. Barriers don't come down just because a few people breach them.
You also have no idea how the celebration of these events impacts the disenfranchised groups you mention. Why are you speaking for them? You're not a member of any of them. Rather than presume to know how they might feel, ask. You are totally speaking from a position of white, male privilege on this one.
Posted by: Lesley | March 21, 2006 07:11 AM
I will cede the point on Bill Lester. Maybe African-Americans and women just don't get the same opportunities as white males to compete in NASCAR and Indy events. I am not, however, going to get jazzed by a woman dunking. It's been done before on the college and pro level, and what Parker did was more of a glorified lay-up than an actual dunk. She didn't get above the rim on the play.
Posted by: Jon | March 22, 2006 12:53 PM
Do I really need to point out that women are not competing equally in basketball? The WNBA is not the same as the NBA. Ergo, I think the latter would depend on reasons given why women can't compete in the NBA, as opposed to having a separate league. I'm not saying that most women would be able to compete in the NBA, but surely there are a few who could. If one of the reasons given is that "women can't dunk", I can see why this could/should be a big deal.
Posted by: Lesley | March 22, 2006 07:15 PM
Did I ever say that woman are competing equally in basketball or that women or African-American men are competing equally in auto racing? I was merely pointing out that I believe we've come far enough as a society that we shouldn't make a big deal out of moments like these. That in some ways we do a disservice to these athletes by singling them out.
As to your point about women competing in the NBA, I don't think their inability to dunk is a factor that's holding them back. The reality is that women are not physically strong enough, fast enough, or athletic enough to compete against men in the NBA. Perhaps some women could compete at guard, but I don't see them competing at the bigger positions such as forward or center given the size and physical strength of today's forwards and centers.
When African-Americans and Latinos were held back in baseball, they were held back purely because of prejudice. There was no doubt that they were good enough to compete in the Major Leagues. While there is some degree of prejudice going on in keeping women out of men's leagues - they are clearly not welcomed by some percent of male athletes - it's more the fact that they're not good enough to compete against men. Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie have both competed in PGA events, and I don't think either one of them has even made the cut. Do you also honestly believe that Lindsay Davenport or any other top woman player could beat one of the elite male tennis players? There's no doubt that they would kill me or even lesser quality pros, but you'd likely have to go pretty far down on the ranking list before you could find a man they could beat.
I think what's more important is that we've advanced as a society to the point where women have leagues of their own that thrive. I think women's tennis does better than men's tennis (the Women's U.S. Open final is televised in prime time, while the Men's goes up against football), the NCAA Women's Tournament is now a major event that's televised on ESPN, and the WNBA, while not on the par of the NBA, is a successful league that draws the interest of both women and men, myself included.
Sure, there are more barriers to come down, but I'd like to believe that the barriers have come down enough where we don't have to celebrate every time a woman dunks a basketball. To treat women players as true equals, we should let the moment pass without surprise at what they've achieved.
Posted by: Jon | March 23, 2006 10:03 AM