Newspaper Page Text
PREJUDICE REMAINS
As America proudly sticks out her chest over the 60-year an
niversary of Jackie Robinson becoming the first black man to play
major league baseball, we find ourselves caught up in a racial con
troversy of epic proportions: the Imus/Rutgers debacle.
It was Apr. 15, 1947, when Robinson took the field for the
Brooklyn Dodgers. His first steps onto the baseball diamond led to
the integration of America's game and later to everything she has
to offer: schools, employment, public accommodations, housing
and opportunities.
Chris Lamb, author of Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie
Robinson's First Spring Training, says one cannot overlook the
Cairo, GA, native's impact on both baseball and the Civil Rights
movement. "Most Americans see Robinson strictly as a baseball
figure. But if we restrict Robinson's influence to baseball, we
do a disservice to both Robinson and the civil rights movement.
Robinson deserves to be studied, not apart from, but with Martin
Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Brown v. Board of Education,"
Lamb wrote recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Martin Luther King, Jr. even credited the baseball great with
being a pioneer of the struggle for Civil Rights. "Back in the days
when integration wasn't fashionable, [Robinson] underwent the
trauma and humiliation and the loneliness which comes with being
a pilgrim walking the lonesome byways toward the high road of
Freedom," said Dr. King.
While traveling that road. Lamb said, Robinson had to endure
the racist taunts of spectators. He had to withstand being inten
tionally stabbed by the spikes of opposition base runners, and
having his black body used as a target by pitchers.
Yet, through it all, he carried himself with pride and dignity
both on and off the field: characteristics that most black ath
letes (minus Terrell Owens and
Pacman Jones) exhibit today.
This is a sense of pride and dig
nity that at least one member-
of the white-controlled media
refuses to acknowledge.
CBS radio and MSNBC tele
vision talk show host Don
Imus created a storm with
his thoughtless comments
about members of the Rutgers
University women's basketball
team. The day after Rutgers
fell to the University of Tennessee in the NCAA national basketball
championship game, the "shock jock" called the members of the
losing squad "nappy-headed hos."
Calling his program a comedy show, he attempted to defend his
comments by saying they were meant to be humorous, and he said
black males often use the derogatory terminology to describe black
females.
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer called the remarks "de
spicable." I'll take it a step further, Bro. Imus. Since you want to
act like you are from the "hood," I'll put it in street terms. "That
shit ain't funny."
. In fact, it is tragically sad. Sad because no matter how much
we want to celebrate how far we've traveled down the road of ac
ceptance, the truth is we've got a long, long way to go There is so
much intolerance of people and behaviors that are different. And it
seems like the more diverse we become, the more our intolerance
grows.
And the problem isn't just with whites (see Isaiah Washington)
nor is it limited to racial matters. We are all subject to show our
prejudice on matters of sexual preference, immigration status, pov
erty, gender, religion and lots more. It's like every step of progress
some sub-group makes is a threat to our level of comfort and way
of life. Political correctness, our desire to be accepted by polite so
ciety, and not wanting to be like members of openly hateful groups
like the Ku Klux Klan, causes us to pui a wall around our bigotry.
But sometimes a crack appears in that wall and bigotry oozes out
and with it the person we are deep down on the inside.
Imus claims he is "a good man who said a bad thing." He joins
Mel Gibson and Michael Richards in claiming their misguided words
are not a true reflection of the person that dwells within. Well,
when I go a bit over the top, my wife Mary reminds me of this
scripture. "For out of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man
brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil
man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."But I tell
you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment
for every careless word they have spoken (Matthew 12:34-36)."
It is then that I realize that my words are truly a reflection of
who I am, but not of who I want to be. The same could be said
for 100 percent of the people who wanted Imus fired for his com
ments, and 100 percent of the people reading this column.
Rick Dunn rickdunnsenior@yahoo.com
“The good man brings
good things out of the
good stored up in him,
and the evil man brings
evil things out of the
evil stored up in him.”
A COPY STORE
\ * W ■ . v *vO • Aa V TT-Vy} '
► VOUJME DISCOUNTS *• COIOR COPIES
► RESUMES ► FAX ► FLYERS
► newsletters ► binding ► oversize copies
► FUL-SERVICE COPIES ► SEif-SERVICE COPIES
► ANNOUNCEMENTS h INVITATIONS
► FREE PICK UP AND DEUVERY
Check Cut Cup
TMmiMlOWIUTJlN
WCUlMOtlfMI • DOWNTOWN Mf • 70C.CI3.0773
UMT4IM!
4JAPP0 AOU-ft UNTIL QPfTl U10N-TAI
SI CO DRAFT AOTTIFI • IAA« ULOTIOII OF (FAIONAl AFFA1
moNixnu
TiHJ-ftSWW
fe TUEUxmM
EL-IEAN
COPY/PRINT CENTER
16} EAST BROAD STREET ► DOWNTOWN ► 548)648
\6?9 5. Lumplo'n • 706.5^5*6560
SINGLE SPACE LIVING
NEW YORK STYLE STUDIOS
MODE
■ NOW ■
ACCEPTING
CREDIT
CARDS 1
ON CAMPUS A-
LUXURY LIVING
ON UGA BUSLINE
NO SECURITY DEPOSIT
OR APPLICATION FEE
SHORT TERM LEASES
AVAILABLE
RENT INCLUDES
TRASH, WATER &
LAUNDRY FACILITY
AFFORDABLE
OFF CAMPUS LIVING
• LARGE 4BR / 3BA I0WNH0USES
• SHORT TERM LEASES AVAILABLE
• POOL, SECURITY SYSTEM,
WASHER & DRYER, LARGE GREENSPACE
706-540-2829
EMAIL: RIVERPARKT0WNH0USE@YAH00.C0M
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
APRIL 18, 2007 • FLAGP0LE.COM 7