I stumbled on some foolishness on the internet and I just had to share it with y'all real quick.
Check out this link.
The article is about a 9-year old boy who is so good at pitching in baseball that the other teams refuse to play against him and the league he participates in has decided to eliminate his team. Oh, and this decision came after his team was 8-0 and headed for the playoffs.
Now, at first glance, this seems fairly shady, particularly since the rumors are that the kid is being punished because he wouldn't play for the team of one of the league administrators. The story is moving quickly through sports blogs as people express outrage at what appears to be more evidence that our society is rewarding mediocrity and refusing to allow children to compete.
I had a different take.
I looked at the picture of the little boy. I looked at the comments attributed to his mother, and the comments made about his mother by league officials, and well I started to get that feeling. I have no proof to justify that feeling, but the feeling is still there. Y'all know the feeling, it's like a sour sickness in your gut.
This is about race.
I know, I know, it's irresponsible to bring race into a discussion in America without overwhelming proof that race is a factor. That's like rule Number One in the "Black People's Guide to Assimilating into American Society." But, you know what, screw the rules. I think this kid is being discriminated against because he's young, black and dominant. I can't shake the idea that the other people in this league don't like getting smashed by this kid from the wrong side of the tracks, and they are taking steps to remove the problem.
One of my friends said that you never hear about little white boys being forced to quit leagues because they are too good. He compared it to the way you never hear about white men getting shot 41 times after reaching for their wallets. That made sense to me.
The league officials are telling the little boy he should move up an age group because the kids his own age can't handle his skill level. They claim that the league he is in is a "developmental league" and that kids are just scared, even though the little boy hasn't hit anybody. That all sounds very reasonable, but like James Brown, I've got that feeling.
I really wish I didn't.
Pay Attention
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
15 comments:
Give me a fucking break. I think the reason it rains sometimes is because you're black. That must be it. God is racist.
You realize we're about to have a black president right? Whether everybody is racist or not, I'll remind you African Americans make up 15% of the population. Not since JFK, an Irish Catholic, have we had a minority president.
I don't want to hear any of this crap anymore, the virtuous victim game. A black president mandates you to shut the fuck up and stop attributing everything bad to race.
You, the poster, are more educated than me, probably make more money, so what does that say? Have I kept you down? Fuck you. Call me a racist if you want, that's the get-out-of-the-convo-free card.
Not quit your bitching.
Geez, I was just reading this before I looked at your blog.
Being a computer geek, I searched for some info on average fasball pitch speed and came up with this:
1. Comment taken from Sports Filter:
"...the LLWS (little league world series - my addition) seems to have a top speed of ~70mph at 13/14, so if your 13 year old is hurling it 69-70mph, he's probably going to get drafted if he works on his form and control, and avoids injury from trying to force the curveball too early, etc.
So if 90+mph in high school is "massive outlier, possible draft pick", and 70mph at 13 is "probably going to be hitting 90+ when he's in high school"... where does 40mph at age 9 match? Because unless that's way ahead of the curve... I don't see the fuss. 40mph is pretty damn slow- it's about the slowest speed you'll find in the batting cages outside of the slo-pitch softball cage."
2. Physics and Acoustics of Baseball & Softball Bats - compares bats using a speed of 40mph for a ten year old.
So, in other words, not so incredibly fast, but damned good enough that this kid should be lauded and encouraged. I think it might be better to move the kid up one age group so that he can be challenged and play to his best ability. On the other hand, his coach and teammates seem to be behind him and want him to stay.
I'm not sure what this is about, but it didn't sound fair to me either. Go with your gut.
Anon, you seem upset. Would you like a hug?... Does it really bother you that I have a blog about race? That's terrible.
Thanks for the comment and info on pitch speeds Aegil.
This could just be a case of people cheating to put themselves ahead or it could be a case of discrimination. I honestly have no idea.
What would you say if _I_ had a blog on race Big Man? If I used the the language to describe black people like you do? You'd flip out. Say it was a KKK site or something. It offends me in this day and age to hear this ridiculous bitching.
Nah, I just wouldn't care if you had a blog. See, I don't visit Stormfront, I know what it's about.
But, you're welcome to call my blog racist and you're welcome to get offended. Where you display some very real arrogance is assuming that it matters to me whether you want me to write about something or take a certian opinion.
See, I'm a grown man. As such, I can write or speak about anything I please. Now I want you to re-read your post and ask yourself "Did I speak to Big Man as if he were a grown man, or a child that needed to be corrected?"
Take your time.
I suppose the child, a petulant one at that.
Sorry but the other day you wrote "Is this nggr high?" I don't know why but that has really been stewing in my head and making me angry, more and more, like now _really_ angry. I just don't appreciate you thinking you can write that just because you're black, to disrespect the next president of the United States to that extent is just astonishing to me, or any black person for that matter.
You want me to leave you alone? Not read anymore so you can just rant unchallenged? I can do that, but I like reading different stuff, I'm not interested in hanging out anyplace I agree with all the time. This place feels like a pity party sometimes though.
I think I do need that hug.
I don't know if I should email this or what but I've been meaning to share this "essay" I wrote about a year ago, never put it anywhere. It's just a perspective on blacks in America that occurred to me one day and I wanted to write it down but I don't have (nor want) a blog so I never did anything with it. But perhaps you can see that I do, indeed, (somewhat) understand... and I'd be very interested to hear what you folks on this forum think of it. Thanks.
The legacy of slavery
Imagine if you will that a race of sophisticated aliens invades the earth. They are physiologically identical to us, but instead of being different shades of beige and black, they are blue and green. Now say that they decide that they want to take some of us aboard their space ships to take us back to their home world so we can perform slave labor for them. Of course we are powerless to stop them from doing so, their technology is far superior to ours. We have jets, tanks and nukes while they have laser guns, power shields, and interstellar space crafts.
Now imagine if you will that we arrive on their home world and several generations pass, that they continue to breed us amongst ourselves so as to continue the supply of slaves. We are property, bought and sold as such, with no rights in their society. We are seen as being less than alien (they are alien!) Our owners can rape and kill us with impunity, and back on earth, some unscrupulous people have set up businesses to facilitate the transfer of slaves to the alien home world.
Now imagine that after two centuries of this, the aliens have a crisis of conscience and decide that it is wrong to enslave us, and to set us free. Now suddenly, we are part of their society, but we are still looked upon as if we were slaves, that our distinct beige and black skin means we are inferior to them. We are harassed, beaten, and lynched by their citizens, all while their law enforcement and courts look the other way. Although we have voting rights, we are intimidated and prevented from voting. Although we do commit a disproportionate amount of crime, we are blamed for all of the problems in their societies, and accused and convicted of crimes we do not commit.
Now one hundred more years pass, and finally the government decides to enforce our human and civil rights, to treat us as equal citizens under the law. By then though, this inequality has taken its toll and we live in poverty, huddled together in ghettos where we commit crimes against each other, perpetuating violence and ignorance.
Now, it is decided that to give us a “hand up”, they will give us preference in educational and professional institutions. Some exceptional people among us take advantage of these new found rights and benefits to lift themselves out of poverty, and begin to prosper in the society. Most of us squander this well-meaning attempt as our under qualification in institutions ultimately leads us to failure, making our lot worse and giving us a sense of perpetual victimhood.
Although there is a definite momentum building, our population remains disproportionately poor and many of us end up incarcerated for committing crimes. In our sub-conscious attempt to find an identity that goes beyond the anonymity of our slave ancestry, we have unwittingly created a sub-culture that conspires to keep us segregated and outcast from the society at large. Back on earth, conditions are quite terrible. Earth’s evolution has been thrown off balance and is stuck in endless cycles of civil war and unrest, preventing it from fully adopting the technology and newfound enlightenment of the alien worlds. Our lot on the alien world is far better than it would be on earth, but still we live beneath the standard of the average alien.
Some aliens complain that we haven’t gotten over the legacy of slavery quickly enough. Some even say that if we cannot do so, we should return to earth. Return to where on earth, and to whom, is completely foreign of course, we have no place that we can really call our original homeland. We are not nomads, we are actually as “alien” as the aliens are, since it is all we know, but yet we are treated as if we were nomads.
As the decades pass, however, it is clear that we are overcoming the barriers to prosperity. Slowly but surely, attitudes are changing, and in fact, many go out of their way to accommodate us, and treat us with great caution, in fear of being called a earthcist. Over time things will equalize, but it will take time. We cannot force it, it will just take time. But it is important to understand that it is not easy and that the legacy of slavery continues to take its toll.
Anon, you are free to read or not read this blog at your leisure. I don't believe I've ever told you to stop reading. I just told you your arrogance was showing in thinking you can come on my blog and tell my what I should and shouldn't write.
Also, I'm going to have to ask you not to post really long essays in the comments. Long comments are fine, but long pre-written essays are a problem.
My apologies for the long post.
I'll be reading and criticizing what you write. So better watch out. heh.
Big Man,
I suppose you should be intimidated that someone will be "reading and criticizing what you write" anonymously. Please don't lose much sleep over it.
As for your "essay," what's the damn point? Slavery happened, racism exists, vestiges remain, and life for a Black man may or may not be hell-- I suspect we're well aware of that. If you were trying to show that progress has been made to the point that we no longer need to point out racist behavior, then the best decision you have made is to not start a blog. You can't even make a halfway decent argument now.
Well I'm not a skilled writer like yourself. The point was simply the angle of comparing the abduction of slaves to something appreciable by everyone and it makes the after effects more striking or something. That's all, no point.
Anonymous if you don't have the guts to put your nameout and say your peace STFU, I wouldn't waste my time on a site that does not appeal to me or my politcal thought to me is idotic. Go on Stromfront or some Black Conservative Site with the rest of your "white homies" and complain about "the darkies" WRITING RACIST THINGS ABOUT WHITEY.
Good Grief, some of you white people are worse than 3 y.o. crying at the top of their lungs.
I'm not sure moving him up an age level in the leagues is the right choice. After all, he'll probably kick their asses too. And then they'll move him up another age level or two and THOSE people will be afraid to go up against him.
Not because of fear of losing; they'll be old enough to give him a run for his money.
It's just that he'll be short enough and they'll be tall enough that those fast balls will always be on level with, well...the balls. And THAT would be scary.
Quite the exchange today, the simple fact is because racism has existed for blacks forever it is very hard to tell blacks they are crazy to suspect racism in things that don't add up. If there was a record of young white boys being pushed up a league because of talent Big Man wouldn't have a point. He said he suspected it might be race and I don't think that is a far fetch thought. It might be racist as many acts and since no one reads minds I believe its a valid explination,especially instances where the reasons given for actions don't add up or seem logical.
I think the thing is frustrating is that many non-blacks want to tell people to get over it or we have progressed beyond race, when actuality living in the world as a black woman, I personally have been a victim of both overt, covert, conscious, and sub-conscious racism and sexism. Some would seem silly to someone who wasn't actively a racist or sexist.
You can't believe that because black man MAY be president that it is now fine and over. Its funny because my friends and I often have talked about the Obama presidency would be the majority's new quit your whining card. It doesn't work that way. I live in MA and Duval Patrick is governor of the state and I tell you his governorship doesn't has stopped racism here in Boston one bit. It just doesn't work that way.
The vestiges of slavery will impact this country for a long time. The thoughts of who blacks are and aren't will long be tinged by 200 years of oppression. A legacy of having a foot on the neck of a race, metaphorically and physically will not just disappear in 60 years. Sure things have progressed, however they have not progressed so far that race can be ruled out when things don't add up or seem logical.
Big Man, I think this could be race, after all this kid can not be the first to be talented. If leagues are set up by age that's fair. Sometimes in life there are people who are more talented and as the less talented we have to learn how to deal with it. Taking a child out who enjoys playing with his peers and is not trying to move up and competitively seems a it much. Why is there a worry of him getting angry and hitting a kid, seems he hasn't in the 8 games his team has played.
-OG
OG, this was a great thought.
If leagues are set up by age that's fair. Sometimes in life there are people who are more talented and as the less talented we have to learn how to deal with it
Seriously, that's something everybody needs to learn.
Post a Comment