A True Leader

            

            “Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you,” are lyrics to a popular song portraying the essence of American competitiveness.  Americans are constantly striving to be better than each other; students trying to get the highest grade on an exam, interns fighting for a coveted job offer, or athletes trying to beat their opponents.  These are just a few examples of how our competitive culture pits us against each other.  Getting the coveted job position or winning the game not always decides who is better; not too long ago if a person was white they were considered better than a black person, some of this still lingers in society today.  The color of a persons skin is no measure of their worth.  The notion of equality has taken many different roads to get to this point we are currently at.   One very outspoken individual such as Martin Luther King Jr., did wonders for the movement.  Today, however, the game has changed to a more subtle approach: leading by example has a larger effect and a man who is doing this today is Tiger Woods. 

            When Martin Luther King Jr. gave his 1963 I Have a Dream speech he was raising awareness for civil rights.  The time for raising awareness has passed, people already know that there is a problem; it is now time to lead by example.  Very few people are leading by example, they are still trying to raise awareness.  One good example of this is Kanye West.  During a press conference to raise awareness for hurricane Katrina victims West said on national television, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”  This comment brought the issue of racism to light, but did little to further the cause; it could even support some negative stereotypes.  West is a celebrity and used his status to get his feelings across which in reality did little for civil rights.

            Oprah Winfrey has been a very influential figure in the past fifteen years, and will be for at least another fifteen. She has taken many approaches to civil rights and received countless awards for what she has done; one of which is the Freedom Award in 2005 from the National Civil Rights Museum.  Winfrey has done a lot of humanitarian work helping less fortunate children in third world countries. Winfrey brings light to the issue of civil rights by honoring past activists such as, Rosa Parks.   This strategy is similar to West’s in that she is trying to raise awareness for something that people are already aware of. 

            One person who will never receive any award or credit for what he has done for civil rights is Tiger Woods.  This could be because Woods is not an activist and does not openly support the movement.  He leads by example, he proves to those pathetic individuals who feel blacks are inferior, that they are not and that the color of a persons skin has nothing to do with their abilities.  Golf since its conception has been a sport for the rich and famous.  Country clubs due to location and price were limited to white membership, a black persons role at a country club for many years was limited to a caddie or shoe shiner.  Some of this can still be seen today.  Of the seven country clubs I have been to six of them have had a black man in the bathroom and his job was to shine shoes.  Up until the past two decades black individuals had not played on certain courses; many of these courses were the most prestigious and on the PGA Tour.  In 1996 when Tiger Woods dominated the PGA Tour during his rookie season this all changed.

            Woods showed country club owners and everyone that golf was not a rich white mans sport.  The issue of racism in golf, as in everyday society is still an issue.  Charles Barkley, former NBA basketball All-star,  accused Augusta National Golf Course, the home of the master, of racism.  He said that the managers extension of the course is to make it difficult for Woods to win the masters because they do not want a black man to win it.  This seems like a stretch but could be true.  Woods is not worried about this, he just goes out and wins tournaments, he is fourth on the all time list for PGA Tour wins, second to Jack Nicklaus of most majors won, and has been number one on the money list ten of the last thirteen years.  Barkley like Winfrey and West is trying to raise awareness of racism where Woods is just leading by example, doing more for the cause than the others. 

            Doing more is done by leading, Woods is doing this by, leading in the right way.  His medium for fame and leading has been and is sports others is music.  Many black rappers lead through music in the wrong way.  Rappers such as 50 cent and his G-unit crew are giving the wrong message.  They are giving off the image of thug life and being hood rich.  50 cent’s claim to fame is that he has been shot a seven times.  These rappers give off stereotypes of violence and degradation, they are not only making new but solidifying old stereotypes, hurting the civil rights movement.

            Civil Rights over the years has changed and adapted, the time for awareness has passed, individuals must now lead by example, in the right way.  West’s comments did little to help black rights.  Winfrey’s honoring of past activists is important but does little to advance black rights.  50 cent and rappers alike are leading by example but are giving the wrong image.  Woods has done so much for the movement by leading by example properly, showing people that past misconceptions are false and need to be abolished.  Woods is the perfect leader to take the civil rights movement into the next phase. 

Typical Crime Show

Critical Defense for class

            Crime 360  a crime show trying to pull a 360 on other crime scene shows, that has failed miserably.  Each week it follows a new actual crime investigation, seeing all the pieces of evidence not matter how bloody; then focuses on the technology used in the crime scene today. 

            “This should all ought to be compellingly gritty, but watching Crime 360 feels almost like going to a trade show, the grit eclipsed by geekieness and gloss,”  this is how Gina Bellafante describes her feelings about the show in her review, Cops Seeking a Clue, Digital Effects Aside. 

            Bellafante wrote, “Crime 360 is subliminal conformation of a growing societal fear that our reliance on technology is making us dumber.”  She also makes clear that the detectives of this show are not helping societies cause, “The officers in the premiere don’t seem like the kind who would get too much case-cracking done if forced to rely solely on their own intellectual facilities.”

            Despite the twist shows twist in focusing on the technology behind crime scenes Crime 360 is like any other crime show.  When writing about the pilot episode Bellafante wrote, “the younger detective is nervous; the older is unfazed.”

            Crime 360 does not pull a 360 on the competition it pulls a 180 in the wrong direction and probably wont be on the air for long.   

Holocaust Comic

The holocaust is and always has been a very difficult subject and even more so a difficult subject to teach.  Michael Kimmelman’s piece, No Laughs, No Thrills, And Villians All Too Real, discusses a new comic, text book being used in German high schools.  Kimmelman uses the book to discuss how difficult it has been for children and how times have changed.

            A subject such as the holocaust ignites many emotions for a lot of people.  He mention a recollection of a woman’s class in the 1970s.  She said, “students had to fight to talk freely about the war.” 

            Kimmelman started his piece with the comments of some children discussing the holocaust in the present.  The issue is a child getting a chance to leave or go to the concentration camp with their parents.  One child said, “her parents would have wanted her to hide;” another said, “it’s a question of whether you want to die alone.”

            The issue is still as real and emotional but children are able to discuss it more freely and get feelings across.  The comic book is a great way to do this and is really helping.  This open discussion of such a travesty Kimmelman feels is a step in the right direction and implementing the book is a good strategy. 

A True Leader

            “Anything you can do I can do better, I can do anything better than you.”  Lyrics to a popular song that portrays the essence of much of American culture.  Americans are constantly striving to be better than each other; students trying to get the highest grade on an exam, interns fighting for a coveted job offer, or athletes trying to beat their opponents.  These are just a few examples of how our competitive culture pits us against each other.  Getting the coveted job position or winning the game not always decides who is better; not to long ago if a person was white they were considered better than a black person, some of this still lingers in society today.  The color of a persons skin is no measure of their worth and society is beginning to realize this.  The journey of civil rights to get to the point we are currently at has taken many different roads.   One very outspoken individual such as Martin Luther King Jr., did wonders for the movement.  Today however the game has changed, a more subtle approach, one of leading by example has a larger effect; a man who is doing this today is Tiger Woods. 

            In 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his, I Have a Dream, speech he was raising awareness for civil rights.  The time for raising awareness has past, people already know that there is a problem; it is now time to lead by example.  Very few people are leading by example, they are still trying to raise awareness.  One good example of this is Kanye West.  During a press conference to raise awareness for hurricane Katrina victims West said on national television, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”  This comment brought the issue of racism to light, but did nothing to further the cause; it could even support some negative stereotypes.  West is a celebrity and used his status to get his feelings across which in reality did little for civil rights.

            Oprah Winfrey has been a very influential figure in the past fifteen years, and will be for at least another fifteen. She has taken many approaches to civil rights and received countless awards for what she has done; one of which is the Freedom Award in 2005 from the National Civil Rights Museum.  Oprah has done a lot of humanitarian work helping less fortunate children in third world countries.  On the civil rights issue of black rights Winfrey brings light to the issue by honoring past activists such as, Rosa Parks.   This strategy is similar to Wests’s in that she is trying to raise awareness for something that people are already aware of. 

            One person who will never receive any award or credit for what he has done for civil rights is Tiger Woods.  This could be because Woods is not an activist and does not openly support the movement.  He leads by example, he proves to those who feel that blacks are inferior, they are not and that the color of a persons skin has nothing to do with their abilities.  Golf since its conception has been a sport for the rich and famous.  Country clubs were limited to white membership, a black persons role at a country club was a caddie or shinning shoes.  This can still be seen today, of the 7 country clubs I have been in 6 of them have had a black man in the bathroom and his job was to shine shoes.  Up until the past two decades black individuals were not able to play on certain courses; many of these courses were the most prestigious and on the PGA Tour.  In 1996 when Tiger Woods dominated the PGA Tour during his rookie season this all changed.

            Woods showed country club owners and everyone that golf was not a rich white mans sport and that age old restrictions on race should be removed.  In many instances country clubs had to do this because they could not deny the best player in the PGA from playing on their course because he was black.  In this respect Woods lead by example.  The issue of racism in golf is still an issue according to some.  Charles Barkley accused Augusta National Golf Course the home of the master of racism.  He sys that the managers extension of the course is to make it difficult for Woods to win the masters because they do not want a black man to win it.  This seems like a stretch but could be true.  Woods is not worried about this, he just goes out and wins tournaments, he is fourth on the all time list for PGA Tour wins, second to Jack Nicklaus of most majors won, and has been number one on the money list ten of the last thirteen years.  Barkley like Winfrey and West is trying to raise awareness of racism where Woods is just leading by example, doing more for the cause than the others. 

            Civil Rights over the years has changed and adapted, the time for awareness has past, individuals must now lead by example.  West’s comments did little to help black rights.  Winfrey’s honoring of past activists is important but does little to advance black rights.  One could argue that Oprah is also leading by example and this is true; her success as a black woman has proved a lot to many people.  Her leading by example does far more for black rights than her honoring of past activists.  This is why Woods has done so much for the movement, showing people that past misconceptions are false and need to be abolished. The civil rights movement has taken many paths, could this be the final phase of its journey?