Originally Posted by
marleyisalegend
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Genetic differences aside, it could well be that black athletes in the US are so ubiquitous because, on an economic level, athletics is one of the few fields open to them. I know a lot of white-ass rednecks who don't have a prayer like a snowbell in hell when it comes to learning/economic opportunity. The local factory/garage is their only choice in life. Whose fault is that?
Amen.
The US is a racist society (though not more so than many, if not even most). Opportunities for young men of color, especially those suffering from a sub-par education (and, its accompaniment, a less-than-stellar intellect), resort to athletics because they can find real success there, as opposed to accounting or medicine. Yep, some goes for a lot of white-ass rednecks, except athletics is even out the door for most of them.
PREACH!
I am not saying that they are less intelligent (not even a little bit, not at all), but no American with a shred of understanding as to how our educationsl system operates is clear that it rewards some at the expense of the many. The American educational system is highly flawed and unfair because it encourages schools to focus primarily on sports programs, not academics.
HALLELUJAH
TAKE EM TO CHURCH!!!!
And denigrating the real work required to excell at sports by labeling it "genetic" is condescending and...well...a little bit racist. Americans of all races idolize athletes - white or black - a hell of a lot more than your white-ass acountant/chemist/translator/doctor.
Let the church say amen. Brother Bucko will now lead us in a rendition of "We Shall Overcome".
Life is hard for most people, not matter what your race, religion or creed. No one has group has a monopoly on suffering. As soon as we start to give more sympathy to one group over another, bitterness ensues. Unity doesn't begin with saying, "I suffer more than you." We are all humans who suffer. Amen.
I'm not sure how much of your quote from Marley you think was him, and how much was me. I did notice that you seem to have addressed all of your comments to him. He was agreeing with what I said, but the bold-in-black comments were/are mine.
Your responses carry a heavy whiff of Angry White Guy, and I'm sure that there's been much in your life to make you feel justified taking that stance.
I grew up in a working-class, white town 15 miles south of Boston. When I say "white", I mean that, until 10th grade, I had no classmates in the entire school who weren't white. There were three AAs in my graduating class (of over 500 in 1978) and one Latino. People think of Boston-area residents as Frasier Crain, but of my neighbors were much more Archie Bunker.
Well over 60% of my classmates came from households that today would be labeled "disadvantaged", if not downright dysfunctional: alcoholic, abusive parents disinclined to foster any interest in academia. I know mine were. The percentage of those who went on to college after graduating was abysmally low and the drop-out rate was really high.
I paid little attention to school sports because, as I've said earlier, they never interested me. But I can say that in my Junior year the school play was almost canceled because the budget didn't allow for cheerleader uniforms
and the play. Our faculty adviser/director forewent whatever pittance they'd have paid her, and we had several bake sales to raise the required funds, all without administration involvement or support.
Despite being the pride of the school, none of the sports teams actually won much, or at least very often. Maybe they didn't try enough, or maybe they were out-matched by teams in the (equally white) district. Despite having a terrible record, "pep rallies" and the like were still held every year, interrupting classes. To suggest that the student's time might be better spent actually learning things seemed pretty much absurd.
I left Weymouth immediately after my last day of school (going back to attend commencement for my parents) and never looked back. But life plays funny games sometimes, and in 1995, 17 years after leaving Weymouth, I met someone who grew up there, less than two miles from where I did, in fact. He was younger enough than I so that I'd never actually met him (though I do remember his sister, who was my age). He'd stayed there until he was 28 before moving to Cape Cod, but kept so many friends from Weymouth that, one we started seriously dating, I was quickly reacquainted with many I hadn't seen in years.
Their jobs (when they had jobs) were totally dead-end, mindless sorts of things, or honest trade jobs that were not always steady. Many had been in and out of jail (or prison). Most still smoked weed every day, which did little to help their motivation to better their lives.
But to the last, whether male or female, I'd hear stories about how their lives had been wrecked by Affirmative Action or other types of minority preferential situations. It was never that they were overweight, unmotivated slobs: it was the "f*cking n*ggers" who'd robbed them of their chance in life.
I'm not drawing any undue comparisons here. I don't know you personally and don't pay much attention to your posts: there's always too much to read here at LPSG. What I am saying is that, contrary to popular myth, the playing field in the US has
never been level. But opportunities await those who have the creativity and curiosity to find them.
I never went to college. In my first years of independence, I was a security guard, a dishwasher, a short-order cook and a barback at a disco (and I only got the last job because the manager found me attractive), and stocking shelves at a liquor store.
Finding retail, even on that level, the most appealing, I went to work at a department store. Two year's experience there got me in a menswear boutique. Two years there got me a shot selling furniture with a company that "took a risk" on me.
Within five years of working (very very hard) for that furniture company, I went from "new recruit with no training or experience" to managing their flagship store on Madison Ave in NYC. Because I was never anything but unapologetically gay, I suffered from extreme homophobia (denied promotions due me because I was "too far out of the mainstream": code for too gay) but also benefited because other people within the organization presumed that being gay meant that I had a "flair" for design.
But I do have to say that if I'd been a black kid with the same personality, advantages and shortcomings, I sincerely doubt that I'd have found someone who's "take a risk" on me.
