Damn...I was surprised that the NFL owners decided against Rush Limbaugh and his partners being owners of the St. Louis Rams.
I didn't know the owners were moral.
I thought their collective thought revolved solely around money.
But what happened?Other than Mercury Morris and Steven Smith sounding as though they were reciting Malcolm X's "What's the matter boss, we sick" soliloquy - many athletes and owners were repulsed by comments made by Limbaugh that were less than favorable towards 70% of the league.
It's almost refreshing to see that there are people who are motivated by principle more than money.
Everyone has heard the joke about the man who asked the woman whether she'd have sex with him for a million dollars.
Well... Mercury Morris and Steven Jackson are the prostitutes, and now we know their prices.
But can this mentality translate to the streets?
Can we Blacks boot politicians from our local areas who have shown a history of not having the best interests of their constituents at heart?
What about if they are Black?
Can we take back control of our neighborhoods from those who would do us harm?
What about if those doing harm were Black dealers and felons?
Many Blacks love to see a Black person in a position of perceived power, even if that person's only motivation is the advancement of himself.
The lesson from the Limbaugh experience has to be that we will no longer settle for money (or entitlements) if those giving these benefits are only trying to advance themselves.
Maybe we need to demand (or expect) more from our leaders too.
Maybe the Limbaugh experience in one of those "teachable moments" that brings to light the fact that there are some people who we don't wish to serve - regardless of what they pay.
5 comments:
Hmmm, I thought the Limbaugh issue was still about money. They booted him because they didn't want to lose their bid and thus own a franchise that of course makes money. If it was a moral issue they wouldn't have brought him on in the first place.
It won't translate to the streets IMO becuase they support getting your own because if they were in position they would too. So most of the time those who have might really have the moral argument because they do not see anything to gain financially. While those who do not have may know it's wrong but secretly feel bad or good as long as I get mine.
Well... I just had it out with a local Black school board member who I thought was failing our local kids.
He will always have his job because he is Black.
But half of this city is Black - there has to be someone who would increaese our graduation rates and test scores.
I told him that his constituents were too dumb to know that he was dumb and failing to look out for their best interests.
My town would make a nice case study on what NOT to do when we get in positions of power.
The current 35-55 generation got their foots in the doors to the low qualification-high income jobs.
But now these jobs require at least an AA, but the next generation of Black workers can't qualify to get the jobs their parents now hold.
Many homes have two parents who work in the refineries.
(Thats a household income of at least 250k yr in the second cheapest market in the country.)
But their children are not qualified to take their jobs nor to do better for themselves.
As long as the district has a brand new shiny football stadium and rebuilt schools (We just started spending our recently acquired 400 million dollar bond money - in a city of only 100,000.), all is thought to be well.
We have two "Black" high schools that receive more funding per student than does the "white" school, but the Black kids at the "white" hish school do better on tests and go to college more often. (Our district allows transfers that allow children from other neighborhoods to go to any school. Many families with the higher incomes opt to go to the "Black" schools and many families with lower incomes opt to go to the "white" school - so resources are not really a factor.)
When I pointed out to the Black school board members that they were more interested in keeping their positions than they were in seeing the next generation of Blacks reach a better position - those brotha's were ready to fight.
(Until I got all hood on them and they realized that I would beat their asses.)
Our local elections are coming up and people are asking me about the diferent candidates.
When I tell them that their Black representatives are failing them (and many have been for years) and that they need more than the illusion of authority at this juncture - many don't seem to understand that keeping these people in office is doing them more long-term harm than good.
Rush Limbaugh - it was about money and in order to make money they must control how they are presented and perceived. So many were offended and those offended are those that spend money and are associated with money. BIC picture - it was not going to be a good look.
As for the relation to community - some people do not value speaking up or being part of the solution. there are far too many people that are ok with riding coat tails or pointing fingers. We talk about our past and all those before us. We speak and pretend to reflect on all that they did so we could but have very little fight in us. No one wants to work in order to get. everything is very instant gratification and lacks trust, faith, respect and God. however that is an entirely different conversation.
@UBJ - What we have is the remnants of a past approach that doesn't apply to today. In the past when Black people were elected it meant we had a seat at the table and to most that was a victory. Today electing someone Black doesn't help anything unless they do something. So instead they think electing a Black person means change when whether you appreciate it or not they call it a day after he is elected.
No one has updated the Black agenda since Civil rights so we fall prey to electing idiots when the true essence of the strategy was to elect someone whose needs were intimately tied into our own!
I know the Rush uproar was about money - but, in the end, so is everything else.
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