March 20, 2006
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.
March 06, 2005
Media Bias
No, it's not what you're thinking. Do you know who Rashawn Brazell was? Do you know who Matthew Shepard was? Unless you're from the New York metro area and/or gay, chances are you know who Matthew Shepard was but have never heard of Rashawn Brazell. Go read the story about his murder and see if you can figure out why.
January 13, 2005
She Should Have Named Him Ronald
Or maybe not, otherwise she would have doomed the poor kid to a life of ribbing. Yet when a woman named Ann McDonald gives birth outside a (fill in the blank), it would be fitting.
December 24, 2004
Freudian Slip?
I use the Sage RSS feed aggregator to access some blogs and media sources. Imagine my surprise when I clicked on my Guardian ("Intelligent news and comment throughout the day") RSS feed to see this (click for even more intelligent size):
