America in a cycle...of racism?

In my American Studies class today in school, we talked about the use of black slaves on the labeling of tobacco products, perhaps as a means to sell it to the English market. But the use of black images to reinforce white privilege was not just a product of the 1600s.

During Michael Jordan’s reign as king of the NBA in the 1990s, Nike and other sponsors used visual representations of his black muscle to make millions. The way Jordan has his defined arms stretched out resembles the Vesuvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. The symmetry shown by Jordan connects to da Vinci’s perfectly proportioned human specimen. Although there is no denying that Jordan is the ideal athlete, is there a subtext to this ad that is unsettling?

Historically, the black slaves who were in peak physical shape were valued highest at slave auctions. Jordan’s image, at least at some level, suggests that America might not have progressed as much as we think it has. Just as blacks were objectified on tobacco packaging by showing that slaves were the fuel that kept the settlers in business, corporations such as Nike were using black muscle like Jordan’s to fuel their profits as well. Think about it: how often do you see black men portrayed as intellectuals in modern advertising?

Over the past few weeks, a couple of appallingly racist ads were released and quickly dropped. A Mountain Dew commercial featured a badly injured white woman and a police lineup featuring five black men and a goat. When I saw the article, I did a double take, unwillingly to believe that a major company like PepsiCo would release an ad like this:

As if that weren’t bad enough, a Uni-Ball ad showed an extremely muscular black man in a jail cell reading a letter from one of his “homies.” Here is a snippet of the letter:

What up, homie. It’s wack that 5-0 bust you shifting bricks of da funky buddha. . . .  But word up, me and my homie T-Bone, we got a hood snitch up in the pen. We gon’ cut you loose like a noose, my dukes. And you be chillin’ in the crib knocking boots with some hoodrats. Gotta bounce, dawg.

In addition to exploiting the mass incarceration of black men in America, this ad and letter portrays a stereotype about blacks that they are lawbreakers and cannot speak. You don’t usually hear folks in Winnetka calling someone a “hood snitch” or even uttering the words “da funky buddha.” However, the management of Uni-Ball felt it fitting in the context of their commercial, degrading blacks and making them seem inferior to articulate white America.

Why do you think black muscle sells in America?

Latinos fill the role of blacks?

Yesterday night, I caught a 10:10 showing of The Great Gatsby movie. I thought it was a solid film, not excellent. One component of the movie that stuck out to me was the contrast between the rich white class and the poor blacks. It definitely sought out to explicitly show the disparity between whites and blacks in the 1920s America.

Tonight, on Mother's Day, I had dinner at my country club, the Glen View Club. I could not help but notice the overwhelming amount of employees who were Latinos. It made me think about the increasing amount of Mexicans and hispanics immigrating (legally or illegally) to America.

Just as blacks came to America during the ages of Slavery, granted unwillingly, this generation of working class Americans seems to be composed largely of Latinos. An article from the Center for American Progress shows how "only about one in six employed Latinos above the age of 25 holds a college degree, which is less than half the portion of employed whites."  Latinos seem to be stuck in a position inferior to whites as shown by the lack of higher education. This is similar to blacks in the 1920s, many of whom served for the rich white like in The Great Gatsby.

This ties back to implicit racism that might still exist in America. I think a slave owner-slave dynamic between whites and blacks exists in professional sports such as the NBA, which I wrote a large paper on in my American Studies class in high school. There could also be this dynamic with whites and latinos in country clubs and other situations where white America enjoys the service of working class America.

Why does "White America" stay exclusive and continue to suppress minorities? What does it say about America?

An evolution in sports, but not in religion

As most have heard, earlier this week Jason Collins, NBA player for the Washington Wizards, openly came out as gay. He is the first player to come out in the "Big 4" sports in America (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL), making it a monumental step forward for gay rights and acceptance.  Sports are generally considered masculine, and a stereotype of gay people is that they are fluffy and not tough. So, with Jason Collins coming out as gay, this can hopefully help change that stereotype.

However, gay rights are not accepted in many churches, making the issue more complex. An article from USA Today talks about how LeRoy Butler of the Green Bay Packers gave support to Collins through a tweet, and in turn a Wisconsin church revoked Butler's event he was set to speak at.

The tweet from Butler was "Congrats to Jason Collins," a nice nod to a player who took a risk for a greater cause. The Wisconsin church, which remains unnamed, immediately told Butler if he did not apologize to God and take back his congratulation, he would have to pay a $8500 fine and his event would be cancelled. Butler said no.

I am a Christian myself, but the response of this church is ridiculous in my opinion. I like to think of myself, as well as other Christians, as being open and loving people. I have been taught that everyone is loved by God, and the response of this church is out of line in my humbled opinion.

Gay rights is the next big social movement in America, and hiccups like this show that not everyone is in favor of the movement. Jason Collins is a brave man, coming out in the testosterone heavy world of sports, and LeRoy Butler did the right thing too by not taking back his comment. Religion needs to evolve, and discriminating against gays is not a step in the right direction.