Men Behaving Badly

Last weekend all of America witnessed the shameful behavior of supposedly grown men gone out of control at 2 sporting events. First was the Detroit fiasco, which displayed the sad state of American sport both on and off the court. Then came the South Carolina/Clemson brawl, which added to the display of brainless behavor.

As bad as the behavior on court & on field was, I was even more disappointed at the off court attitudes in response to inexcusable behavior. People that should know better, people who have acted better, were making excuses for the inexcusable.

Last week's displays should not really have caught us by surprise. This type of behvor has been brewing for some time. We have seen close calls in baseball and hockey for the past 2 or more seasons. It was just a matter of time before it blew up.

The difference in last week's events and those in the past are seen in the response by those closest to the sport. Players, owners, coaches, sport writers have shamed themselves, in my opinion, in their excusing of this behavior.

I have to go no further than the NBA playoffs of 1976. It was Philadelphia vs. Portland. Dr.J vs. Bill Walton. In Game 3 a fight broke out on the court. Things looked out of control. As the camera swept the court, at the opposite end sat a lone figure looking away from the action at the other end. It was Dr. J, all alone an sending the message that he was not in this, this is not what he does. He was committed to playing the game and this ws not a part of the game he loved. We need some new Dr. J's

Swimmming Upstream

Swimming Upstream In A Downstream World

I was tempted to name this piece Irrelevance Part 3 in reference to my prior two articles on Black irrelevance. I do ask for your indulgence in my beating a dead horse, but I truly believe that if I harp on this point long enough, more people will understand and help me bring a change.

In order to refresh your minds on what I am talking about, each election Black Americans are told that their vote is what will make the difference and that, of course, they must vote Democrat. This is now the 4th election in a row that has shown the error of this thinking. No other group has voted more monolithically than Black Americans and no group has gotten as little for their vote as Black Americans.

Let’s look at some very interesting demographics. In 2002, when President Bush decided to go to war in Iraq 72% of Americans supported that decision. Conversely, 73% of Black Americans opposed the war. Every demographic supported the war by far more than did Black Americans.

Then in the 2003 California recall election I pointed out that with a Hispanic candidate, Cruz Bustamonte running for Governor, less Latinos voted for him than did Blacks. This was in spite of Bustamonte having called us the “N” word publicly. Conversely more Latinos voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger than did Black voters. Furthermore, more liberals voted for the Republican than did Black people. In every category, fewer Blacks voted for the Republican than did any other group.

Let us fast forward to the Presidential race of 2004. In voting demographics just released there are some astounding results. The 2 most staggering statistics are among Latinos and Homosexuals. In this election President Bush carried only 11% of the Black vote. Although the percentage was higher in states where a marriage protection initiative was on the ballot the national average still ended up being 11%, which is up 2% from 2000. But when we take a look at the Hispanic vote in this election we will see that the President received 44% of that vote up 11% from 2000.

As amazing as that stat is, there is an even more amazing statistic. That is the statistic that among Homosexuals President Bush got 20% of their vote. Sen. John Kerry only managed to get 27% of that vote. That is 9% higher for President Bush than the Black vote, in spite of the fact that President Bush plainly said he opposed Gay Marriages, which is their #1 issue currently.

What does this tell us? It tells us that Black people are now voting against the GOP on GP (general principle). This is not only nonsensical; it is down right dangerous and detrimental to our political health. We are being herded like dumb sheep in one direction. If one sheep strays he or she is set upon by the sheep dog to get back in rank. I will allow you to think of who the sheep dogs are.

I do not even want to get into the history of the parties here, as it is not necessary in this discussion. Even if we forget the history, we still need to look at the benefit, or lack thereof, in monolithically voting for one party over the other. The result of this monolithic voting pattern makes us an easy prey to manipulation. We no longer respond to issues; rather we respond to symbols. Republican equals evil, Democrat, while not doing much for us, equals our only hope. Conservative or Christian equals racist, Liberal equals good friend.

I can only cry out with all that is within me and ask my people to please wake up. Please understand the world we live in. Let us begin to reject the Pavlovian stimuli that cause us to respond the same way each time we hear certain names, words or issues. Nazi Germany was manipulated in this way and it let to their demise. Let us show that we can go beyond the expected response. Let us study the issues and make informed and intelligent decisions based upon those issues.

Let us join the mainstream of America and work together to build a better nation for ourselves and others. This is great time for a new beginning and a bright future.