For as extended as I can bear in mind the require to concentrate on school and the cultivation of a positive attitude has been proclaimed from the hill tops but has sadly only been embraced by a handful of in the trenches.
Right now, it’s all about becoming “cool” or “hip.” It really is about presenting the proper “image”, about becoming able to impress the girls or one’s peers. It’s about generating the group, about being the coolest looking player on the basketball court or football field, the dude with the snazzy haircut or braids, or gangster style tattoo, or Fubu outfit, or pricey Nike trainers, or gold chains, or rings, or saggy pants, or sports car.
Of course girls are not immune, they as well are enticed with “bribes” of fantastic instances and pregnancy! But it is mainly our boys – the subsequent generation of Black guys – that are in real and in some cases mortal danger. It may possibly be an overstatement to say that sports can be seen as a new kind of mental and physical slavery. But is it? It is probably correct to say that because it is eye-catching and linked with stardom, that sports exerts a effective influence on our youth and that in some respects its influence is insidious.
Okay you say, let’s keep things in appropriate perspective. No point scare mongering right? After all it really is only a game. And can we definitely offload this sports issue onto the media moguls, sports magnates or fashion homes? Accepted, they do have the energy and the influence but are not we the ones who willingly acquire their merchandise, their solutions and who enable ourselves to be employed?
As highly effective as the media is as seductive as the lure of immediate good results through Nike trainers or an NBA or NFL contract might appear, the reality is that most parents and young children are not caught up by the hype or fooled by the lies. In other words, the selection is ours. And lots of of us have taken a stand against the enticements of sport realizing that one particular Michael Jordan, or Venus or Serena Williams, or Tiger Woods does not an entire generation make.
The overwhelming majority of young black males who rally to the contact of the sports and fashion media are drawn either to basketball or football. Nearly undoubtedly these are the “coolest” sports and the black presence is clear. The few players who, either due to the fact of their efficiency or earnings (the two normally go collectively), make it into the superstar leagues are the new emblems of success and have grow to be the part models of each and every young black male who fancies his chances and sees sports as an straightforward ticket out of the ghetto, the classroom, or the boring life dictated by those of his parents’ generation.
What I discover most worrying is the way in which the educational opportunities of quite a few young black males are seemingly getting hijacked. Of course, those who make it into the expert ranks realize the value of a scholarship and a college education. But the stories of cooked grades and stars who can barely read or write are as well true to dismiss as fantasy.
But, perhaps far more important even than this, is the “easy believism” that may possibly be paralyzing or otherwise infecting our neighborhood by way of our kids. Hey, they say and assume, you don’t have to function also difficult. Just play a little basketball. Don’t be concerned about college. There’s nothing at all incorrect with practicing that jump shot all day at the park. Lawrence Bloomberg BloombergSen ? What’s that?
Overlook it, who demands grades anyway? Just function on these Harlem Globetrotter skills, slam, dunk, dribble, do not pass, drink your milk and Oreo cookies and believe of Michael Jordan’s achievement. No trouble. You happen to be gonna make it!
And my prayers are with you. But the reality is that you in all probability have a much better possibility of making it to the White Property and appointing an all-black cabinet as you do of becoming the next Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, or any of the other presently top-rated basket ball stars.