Reverse Racism

[Martrae]

Actually, I am. I take pride in my "Indian" heritage.

Perhaps if you left your bubble and experienced the real world you'd understand such idioms.

[Phlegm]

There are more than 10% African-Americans in the major league.

[Zanchief]

Make sure you paint your face red the next time you see the Cleveland Indians play.

Show your support for "your" people.

Or you could head back to India. That's where you're from, right?

[The Kizzy]

Zanchief, you wear your title well.

[Zanchief]

Zanchief, you wear your title well.

I know, I'm totally a legend.

[Lyion]

Zanchief, you wear your title well.

I agree.

[Zanchief]

Zanchief, you wear your title well.

I agree.

Well thank you Lyion. You are very pretty in your own old man kinda nerdy sort of way too.

[Haylo]

I actually agree with Lyion here. The issue is not that there are no blacks in baseball, but rather that black kids don't play baseball. How can you get upset that a team doesn't have more players that just do not exist? My older sister and I have this conversation all the time about how in black culture certain things are just not "cool". The majority of black parents that I know push their kids to play two sports, football and basketball. If you go to almost any school and ask a black boy what sports they play or would like to play, they will almost never reply with anything other than those two sports.

My younger sister has twin boys and I was talking to her about having them play soccer and baseball when they are older, their father walked into the room, heard the conversation and said "The only sports they'll have the option to play will be basketball or football".

Jesse Jackson and Sharpton and all their ilk are idiots who just want to stir things up. They talk about doing things for "the good of their people", and i'm sure that they do some things behind the scenes that help a lot of people, but anytime they do something like this, it's all about making the news, selling books, and lining their pockets.

[Xaiveir]

The large majority of the issue is money. Baseball costs ALOT of money to play. If you want to play basketball, you buy a basketball and go to a park. If you play football, you have your league cost and generally all the pads, helmets etc are furnished.

For baseball you need, bats, gloves, batting gloves, above league fees. To play you also need 9 guys minimum. You cant just go play 1 on 1 baseball, you can with basketball. Thats the reason i believe that there are such small numbers of african americans in the game of baseball.

For Jesse Jackson to contact a GM of baseball, asking this is just for headlines. Its not their fault. Its just dumb.

[Yamori]

Why does anyone even pay attention to this dink?

[Harrison]

Some dinks, like Zanchief, eat it like candy.

[Zanchief]

Some dinks, like Zanchief, eat it like candy.

I've never said I even like em let alone listen to what they have to say. But since in your mind racism is a dead issue, I suppose we have no need for people such as them.

[Harrison]

I agree with your supposition. We have no need for people who perpetuate a hypocrisy.

[Lyion]

The large majority of the issue is money. Baseball costs ALOT of money to play. If you want to play basketball, you buy a basketball and go to a park. If you play football, you have your league cost and generally all the pads, helmets etc are furnished.

Actually, I disagree. Baseball is actually cheaper than basketball. A glove and bat can be bought at most garage sales for a buck apiece. New stuff at Wal mart is also dirt cheap.

The cost for 2 gloves and a baseball is much, much less than for a basketball hoop and a basketball.

When I was pitching, all I needed was a fence and a ball to practice. Likewise, two people with cheap gloves and a ball can play catch.

No, cost is not the inhibitor. Many of todays modern baseball professionals come from dirt poor latin countries, and had much, much less money than the bottom of the US welfare bucket, whom can afford those 150 dollar Air Jordans, but you say 2 $5 Dollar baseball gloves are out of their reach. No way.

The issue which Haylo referenced is cultural. If all your friends in your downtown neighborhood play hoops, and don't toss around baseballs, that probably won't interest you as much, and you won't have the skills later on.

The infuriating thing is there are areas we still need a ton of work in regards to race and equality, but they don't garner the headlines like complaining about pro sports.

[Zanchief]

The silly thing is they are basically going after other minorities, some that don't have the voice that black people do.

It's not white folks that repalced all the black people on the braves, it was most likely people from south america or some such place.

[Tossica]

Baseball sucks.

[Haylo]

It's definitely not the cost. The school I work at is made up of kids who are for the most part living with a parent/guardian who is on welfare or is very low income. But these kids are sporting the brand new shoes and expensive clothing that they see on TV.

It's all about the culture around them. Baseball isn't cool to them, it's not something that black people "do". If Jackson really wants to get black people back into baseball he'll start a youth initiative to promote baseball to black kids. However this makes entirely too much sense so of course Jackson will never go that route.

[Yamori]

Jackson is basically a race-troll. :P

[Lyion]

If Jackson really wants to get black people back into baseball he'll start a youth initiative to promote baseball to black kids. However this makes entirely too much sense so of course Jackson will never go that route.

Warning, tangent incoming.

A better fix would be to change the urban culture to not revolve around basketball and gangster rap, and promote morality, hard work, and professional careers.

[Zanchief]

Now basketball is immoral?

I don't understand why anyone should fixed into liking baseball? It's a retarded sport.

[Gaazy]

Fuck yeah Lyion. People like fucking MTV and those idiots need to stop making heroes and role models out of dipshit 'gangster' nigs and give them someone worth a shit to look up to. Like its ever gonna happen though, they have to go where the money is, c'rap'.

[Lyion]

A better fix would be to change the urban culture to not revolve around basketball and gangster rap, and promote morality, hard work, and professional careers.

My point was moreso how to change the current urban culture to allow for a better life for millions of inner city kids in the future, Zan. The millions who emulate someone based on their hoops ability, but do not see the big picture, that 99.9% of them won't ever get within a sniff of the NBA, or a rap record deal but live their lives in that vein.

I was a sports nut growing up, and played them in school, but with my family it was more about succeeding, playing by the rules, and working hard. The hobbies were recreational, not what defined me.

[Zanchief]

I agree with you, but it's not a very realistic goal. You just can't find role models in the media. White celebrities that young people look up too are just as toxic as the black ones. I don't think ANYONE should be looking up to celebrities of any kind.

[Evermore]

jessie jackson and al sharpton are wastes of flesh.

[Lyion]

I agree with you, but it's not a very realistic goal. You just can't find role models in the media. White celebrities that young people look up too are just as toxic as the black ones. I don't think ANYONE should be looking up to celebrities of any kind.

Perhaps not, but it should be the focus of these discussions, instead of there are only X amount of black baseball players.

What were the elements that helped you get through college, get a job, and be a law abiding citizen? How do we translate that to urban areas?