IrishNinja
Member
as in pastime or most racist sport? cause i can't really argue with either take
hoooooooo
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"Racism is as American as Baseball" -
- Thread starter FallingEdge
- Start date
as in pastime or most racist sport? cause i can't really argue with either take
hoooooooo
Prototype Viktor
Member
This reminds me to re-listen to The Dollops double episode on the Boston bus riots
The Albatross
Member
Boston has a history of racism like any other city in America. But it's often surprising to some people given it's progressive nature or used as what-aboutism from people in the south to point out Bostons racism.
Boston is also typically very smug and many bostonians are really full of themselves that they're from Boston, so the rest of America is eager to serve us our just desserts over other cities because it's true here as well. Nobody doubts that... Biloxi Mississippi or Jacksonville or Macon aren't racist as hell, but because it's not unusual that they're racist it's sort of like beating a dead horse. Massachusetts is a geographically segregated, liberal white state, and racism pervades there like anywhere, it's just that the smugness of us residents makes it something that others are more willing to rightly point out.
We can't tell if the fans are pro or anti racism without knowing more about them. They could literally be saying "Racism is a thing that makes America great, just like baseball" or "Racism is an issue because it pervades American culture to the same extent baseball does". I initially interpreted it as pro-racism because usually when somebody says "X is as American as Y" they're saying it in support of X, not in condemnation. At best their message is confusing as fuck.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Pretty much how I read it since I quite frequenly say "Racism is as American as <insert activity here>" ALL the time on GAF lmao.
"Racist" is a poisoned word, and one that no one wants to identify themselves with. How often do you hear something equivalent to "I'm racist and I'm proud of it"? What racists do is always use weasel words to make it seem like they aren't.
And that's part of the conversation surrounding racism. The word itself is poisoned that it's impossible to discuss it because everyone gets automatically defensive about it.
Barren Mind
Member
Well, the statement certainly isn't wrong. America was built on the backs of Native Americans and slaves. And through the centruries so much of it has been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misrepresented. Yet the constant, no matter what, is that racist people and racism is alive and well in our country. The scary part is that racism has several layers, many of which are invisible to the untrained eye. And unfortunately that kind of racism is the most damaging.
Affeinvasion
Member
I mean it's obviously an anti-racism and anti-American message...but grammatically it's ambiguous. It's not very good messaging for a slogan, really.
It's like one of those old SAT analogies. Baseball: America:: Racism: Also America. "But what if I like baseball, does that mean that racism is good too? That doesn't seem right. Japan likes baseball, are they racist too? Is baseball even really that American?"
More effective signage: "Racism: The REAL American Pastime"
It's like one of those old SAT analogies. Baseball: America:: Racism: Also America. "But what if I like baseball, does that mean that racism is good too? That doesn't seem right. Japan likes baseball, are they racist too? Is baseball even really that American?"
More effective signage: "Racism: The REAL American Pastime"
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
Yes and no. It's heavily based on the game of rounders just like American football is heavily based on rugby. The games are similar on the surface (innings, nine players, base running) but differ greatly in how they're played.
Sure, if you consider 500 years "pretty sharpish".
Edsmells12345
Member
Not sure how I feel about these kinds of protests.
I agree with their message but I'm worried that they are only seen as being disruptive which willl harm rather than helptheir cause. I assume the aim is to get the most amount of attention by interrupting a large broadcast; but by doing so, they are automatically seen as disruptive / dissenters by so many. It's not a great place to start when trying to change people's minds.
I agree with their message but I'm worried that they are only seen as being disruptive which willl harm rather than helptheir cause. I assume the aim is to get the most amount of attention by interrupting a large broadcast; but by doing so, they are automatically seen as disruptive / dissenters by so many. It's not a great place to start when trying to change people's minds.
Lil'DigiOp
Member
MLK sat in his room focused......, blasting his records while he wrote his 'I have a dream speech' on his crumpled napkin, somehow he knew in his mind he was destined to change the world as he wrote one letter at a time.
This thread is bonkers... Black background with white letters in Boston at a RED SOX game lol. Regardless they are white, and that starts the conversation.
MegaManTrigger
Banned
In fairness, protests are disruptive by design, whether it's blocking/closing down roads, or calling attention to things that people are ignorant about (which disrupts their thinking that everything is roses).
D1renegade
Member
I'm really surprised that people here are confused by this.. You've never heard of baseball being known as America's favorite pastime? This is a clear statement calling out racism.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
there is no "non-disruptive" protest
It's a shame the intent behind their message could be so easily misconstrued. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be so much confusion in this thread.
RastaMentality
Banned
right. i'm not understanding the confusion in here.
this method of protest is tame as all hell. when people are in the streets, everyone tells them to move to the side. when people silently protest the anthem, they call them a distraction and tell them to do it 'the right way'. people unfurl a banner at a baseball game, people call them disruptive.
all this talk of how to protest is merely a way to silence protest.
Don't you mean football?
Ninja Scooter
Member
Baseball is as healthy as it's been in a long time. MLB is rolling in revenue.
So glad to see it clarified.
When I first saw an article on it, I was not sure if it was sarcasm or straight up racism. It is Boston, who knows.
I guess now that they have explained themselves, and it is getting press coverage the stunt succeeded.
But initially the people reporting it had no idea, so that is a problem with your message. It took a further explanation to clarify the event. But people are talking about it, so yay you four white people who confused the hell out of us, and it required a follow up for us to distinguish whether you were fascists or sarcastic progressives.
When I first saw an article on it, I was not sure if it was sarcasm or straight up racism. It is Boston, who knows.
I guess now that they have explained themselves, and it is getting press coverage the stunt succeeded.
But initially the people reporting it had no idea, so that is a problem with your message. It took a further explanation to clarify the event. But people are talking about it, so yay you four white people who confused the hell out of us, and it required a follow up for us to distinguish whether you were fascists or sarcastic progressives.
MiloHoffman
Member
excelsiorlef
Member
As expected
Last I heard, MLB's viewer average age is pretty damn high and getting higher.
excelsiorlef
Member
They probably are actually.
They clearly care and thus probably would be fun to be around
StrategyFan
Member
travisbickle
Member
Racism is as American as illiteracy.
itwasTuesday
He wasn't alone.
"14 percent of adult Americans demonstrated a below basic literacy level in 2003"
- National Assessment of Adult Literacy
14% is way too high.
sigh.
Edsmells12345
Member
I'm not trying to silence anything. I agree with their message 100% (but they probably could have chosen a better analogy).
My point is only that I worry that they are not going to convince anyone with this approach. They will only come off as annoying or petulant.
It's not a good place to start from when trying to change people's minds.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Because as we all know, the point of a protest is not be disruptive and inconvenient at all.
The regionalization of the sport is a prelude to the fact that it is going to crater. As a teacher and parent in the suburbs I almost never hear kids talking about it, watching it or even going to see it if it isn't driven by their parents. Sure, they all either play it or have played it at young ages but they, as a general rule, don't follow it. Sort of like soccer was in the 1980s. Ironically, it is much more common to hear soccer discussions from these same kids (part of it is FIFA but another part is their access to viewing the sport).
Baseball seems to be breathing nice and loud...until we realize those are agonal breaths supported regionally by an aging demographic.
Reminds me of the Ras Baraka poem
https://youtu.be/4U-NJf6xqiM
"I wanna hear an American poem about a dead girl on Chadwick Avenue with a bullet in her neck from a cop doing his job ordered by fascism and crack cocaine. You know, something made in the USA"
https://youtu.be/4U-NJf6xqiM
"I wanna hear an American poem about a dead girl on Chadwick Avenue with a bullet in her neck from a cop doing his job ordered by fascism and crack cocaine. You know, something made in the USA"
Racism is everywhere in America. White America in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston rioted when Jack Johnson beat a white man for the Heavyweight title. White supremacy was/is built into the public policy of the entire western world.
People just like to say the north isn't racist while they segregate their children and benefit from ancient, racist real estate laws that ensure local property taxes don't go to black children.
The south was way worse in terms of lynching, owning people, and publicly using racism as a rallying cry to win elections, but the North is not immune in any way to systemic racism.
And it's even in liberal areas. The system works the way it does for a reason. It's just uncouth and unlearned to be impolite about it. It's an unspoken thing.
Racist liberals just move to wealthy enclaves and privately support measures and candidates who make problems worse for minorities. They will hire immigrants and minorities to watch their children, but they won't allow their children to go to the same public schools. Like in the South, they wouldn't identify as racists either.
timetokill
Banned
What are you even talking about?
It's very likely baseball will outlive football as football currently exists.
Rich Uncle Skeleton
Member
Why would baseball and racism being equally fundamental in American culture mean that they are equally good/bad? Paying money and having fun are both essential parts of going to theme parks, but I don't love giving away money. The fact that it makes people squirm is the whole point. If you want to love this country unabashedly you have to reconcile that with its pervasive racism.
No one said anything about invented.
Kaleinc
Banned
A shot in the dark but what they wanted to say is baseball sucks.
I don't think you understood the banner if that's the conclusion you came to. Just as somebody might say Baseball or Apple Pie is America, well so is racism. It is ingrained. It is part of the American culture. Nobody said that it's only an American problem.
Haunted
Member
boom
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
I expected to see some fat rednecks holding the sign