Of course, BlueKarma (and isn't that an odd choice of handles based on the comments posted here to date?) once again proves the correctness of my recent assertion regarding American provincialism. Even if you grant that NASCAR is the #1 spectator sport in the USA which I tend to doubt--lbb's point about how we'd quantify this is a good one--you can't tell me that the billions of Chinese, Indian, African and Russian sports soccer fans have even heard of it.
Discussions on racism do nothing but fuel it. While I wouldn't totally agree with that statement, I would say that most discussions solve nothing when it comes to racism, including this one. We have the same arguments, the same cliches, and most discussion has surrounded one trollish comment. Almost none of it has even touched on the topic at hand. The link was about race, Nash, and the NBA, not if security follows black people around in a store and not white people. If Nash were black no one would question if he had been 'given' the award. When it comes to the NBA, whites face some of the same obstacles blacks often face in other areas. He'd be easily compared to a black business man making it to a high level in his company, only to have whites wonder if he reached it by affirmative action, or some quota. And it really doesn't matter how good that white player is, the cloud of 'he's white, so there you go' will always be there. Remember Isiah's comment about Larry Byrd ("just another player"). Steve Nash goes to a local inner city hoop game, but no one knows he's Steve Nash. He's just some white guy. Want to guess if he gets picked last? Without anyone thinking, "hey, maybe he's good"? There's an automatic assumption that he can't play, can't run, can't jump. Much like in the NFL coaches not thinking a black guy can run the offense. Every race seems to love to make sweeping generaliztions about the next. It's a simplistic view for simplistic minds. When I was a kid, I loved basketball. I played 24/7 and wasn't bad. 90 percent of the time I was the only white player on the court. Was I proud when Byrd won mvp? You bet. It gave me hope. Just as Doug Williams gave pride and hope to black players who dreamed of being a quarterback. Somethings aren't racist, they're human. I'd be more willing to believe that that was true if I felt that the average American could tell you who Emmett Till was, explain why Muhammad Ali went to prison, state when the US Navy formally ended segregation and made all ranks and ratings open to people of all races, list the major points of the Dred Scott decision, explain the Bible-based rationale for the enslavement of Africans, or date and place this photo. I can tell you're passionate about the topic, but I couldn't disagree with you more. I was raised in a black neighborhood. My parents never made a racist comment, never acted in a manner that would lead you to believe they thought differently of black or white people. When my father started making more money and friends wondered why he didn't move us out of the "ghetto", he stayed because of our wonderful neighbors. That's what gave me my values and views towards race today. That's far more important that the date and place of that photo. In fact, I'd place ZERO importance on the date and place of that photo, or just about any other facts in your comment. History is wonderful, but knowing it doesn't guarantee a certain attitude towards race. Many other issues are far more important. Neither Europe nor Canada brought millions of Africans to their shores and set up a system of chattel slavery on their soil. The fallout from that one isn't over, and the more people say, "Oh can't we all just forget that stuff?", the more we postpone getting over it. There's a fine line between pretending it didn't happen and dwelling on it. I'd say the practice of racism today is more important than what happened in the past. Besides, nothing can be done about the past, the present and future is a different story. But try dating a person of color for a while, or have a mixed-race child, and see if you think the solution is to wring your hands and say, "Can't we all just get along?" I was very good friends with a mixed couple living in Georgia (deep south!). We went out quite a bit together and never had a problem, nor stares. Does it ever happen? Sure. Has it gotten better? Yes. And by saying yes I'm not saying it doesn't exist, or let's forget about it, it means we've made progress, and contending that we haven't is as misguided as believing the problem is solved. And Rodney King wasn't a prophet, he was a victim. Definitely a victim, and as it turns out, pretty much a career criminal as well. As for a pure victim... NASCAR is certainly the most popular redneck amusement in the world, unless you count sister bangin. Isn't hypocrisy a beautiful thing? Anyone would condemn the statement "black people love chicken", but nascar equals southern white people equals rednecks equals banging your sister goes unchallenged. Until we realize that ignorance is ignorance no matter what the skin color, discussions on race issues are pointless. Nothing will change.
It is more about culture than race. Think about it. Last year's Grey Cup championship team was coached by a black guy (Mike Clemons) and quarterbacked by a black guy (Damon Allen, brother of Marcus Allen). The player of the year was a black quarterback (Casey Printers). One of the greatest quarterbacks in CFL history was black (Warren Moon...heard of him?). Can you not see the implied racism in statements like that? As if being black was a hurdle that had to be overcome. How about just celebrating the successes of a great athlete at the top of their game? It seems that Canada can.
As if being black was a hurdle that had to be overcome. Oy, genius, maybe sometimes it is.
Not to derail, but motor sports might be the number one spectator sport in the world, NASCAR is not. I'd be tempted to put football as the number one, unless we're being cute with the stats and working on average attendence per event, where the sheer number of matches played each week would knock the average down. NASCAR barely registers here.
Again, what's the number based on? People who like it? Asses in seats? Asses on couches? Minutes spent watching? Wait, wait, does that mean that Andy Roddick and Younes El Aynaoui have the biggest fan base in the world, based on the number of minutes per athlete of spectator-watching? I love this silliness.
It's based on total amount of cheese toasties consumed as a percentage of bodyweight, during the event. Even under this criteria, NASCAR still isn't number one, regardless of how big the letters "FACT" is written in. Anyway, we now return you to your scheduled thread.
Can you not see the implied racism in statements like that? As if being black was a hurdle that had to be overcome. How about just celebrating the successes of a great athlete at the top of their game? It seems that Canada can. Actually, what I was doing was providing evidence to a previous post that implied that black people can't excel in a "thinking" position in sports. These were three quick examples to support my position. I'm not implying that they had to overcome any hurdles. I was simply stating facts.
I was simply stating facts. grum, that's so last year.
Just to be clear, are whites now deciding "if being black was a hurdle that had to be overcome?"
I was simply stating facts You forgot to use all capital letters.
It's based on total amount of cheese toasties consumed as a percentage of bodyweight, during the event. I had to do a websearch to find out what a cheese toasty is. I thought it must be something like a Cheese Doodle, but it's not, it's a grilled cheese sandwich. In that case, any European spectator sport would win hands down: we Merkins prefer our snacks pre-made, and if we've got to stir ourselves to actually cook the damn things, well, we'd really rather not. And why should we, with roughly 83 different flavors of fried snacks in bags? If, on the other hand, you want to compare Cheese Doodles to cheese toasties, we might have you, despite the fact that a cheese toasty outweighs a Cheese Doodle and the average American outweighs the average Brit.
we Merkins prefer our snacks pre-made they also have a whole different meaning for the work merkin.
Gracias. That stood out a bit.
I'm aware of the original meaning, although I confess I can't imagine a situation that would make such a...um...solution necessary, or even desirable. I guess it's a Euro thing. It's still a good phoneticization, though.
To be more accurate, NASCAR is not the most popular spectator sport in the world, or the fastest growing. But according to the folks at The Sporting News, and the folks at Nextel (surprise!), NASCAR racing (including the Craftsman Truck Series, Busch Series and the like) is the fastest growing spectator sport in America. Not the world, as was earlier claimed, but America. And I didn't use caps except for the acronym, so you know it's true.
TBH, and that's relevant how?