“Parents don’t let your kids grow up to be the one percent” - Melissa Harris-Perry
So I’m watching this documentary about the White family in West Virginia, & it’s mosty focused on the trials and travails of members of this one infamous family. Its interesting, & kind of sad. There’s this “look at the strange ways of poor white people” tone to it. And then there’s the comments from local officials on the family dynamic (words like entitlement culture come up a lot), as well as one official admitting that West Virginia and its citizens are routinely exploited by outsiders who own most of the state and exploit its resources. He drew a comparison to the exploitation of people and resources to Africa & America’s history of slavery that was almost genius, but then he either backed off, or they cut away because it didn’t go far enough. Watching this it is very clear (again) that the real underpinnings of fostering racism in America isn’t about any real belief in white superiority.
It’s really about making sure each group is fighting for a very tiny slice of the pie & having to do so much just to survive is blamed on easy pre-made targets. Keeping up race as a barrier to communication means that the conversation is eternally about fighting each other instead of the people who poison whole populations, enslave them in deed if not word (paying miners in scrip, forcing sharecroppers to use credit in a way that leaves them eternally in debt, importing labor & taxing their pay only to blast them for wanting to be treated as citizens in the country where they work etc.), and use their money as a club to stay in power. Again, I wonder if we ever do get to be post racial what kind of world will we live in? What kind of economic system would be implemented?
“Javier Vaquez booed as Yankees can’t rally - Staring at the ground and booed as he made his way off the mound, http://su.pr/4W4Kab”
I am well aware of my Mets’ many flaws but can we once and for all put an end to the idea that somehow Yankee fans are classier or better than any other fan base? Fans boo, it’s mean-spirited and unkind. It happens in all sports in every state. So, please Yankee fans zip it.
The Yanks could not draw 3 million when they had good (not great) teams in the 80’s, with stars such as Mattingly, Winfield and R. Henderson. Bottom line, they fill that stadium because the Yankees win and for that reason only. Not because of tradition or the holy pinstrpes or because they don’t wear names on their uniforms. And of course it was nice that the Yankee fans gave Hideki Matsui two standing ovations on opening day but that was because of performance, not because of Yankee fan class that was claimed yesterday, yeah, I’m looking at you ION . Please, people booing and jeering is not called a ‘Bronx cheer’ for nothing. Baseball rant over. thx.
