Why I Don’t Like Mike

I have to admit it when it comes to basketball, I love Michael Jordan. I thought he was the greatest player in the history of the game. Of course with sports, you’re only as good as your last game and someone will come along and eclipse Mike. As much as I enjoyed watching Mike with the ball, I am beginning to not like Mike the businessman. I have always been concerned about the fact that he markets his $200 sneakers to kids who could probably use that money for more important priorities or the fact that his marketing campaign led to the beatings and untimely deaths of some his more unfortunate young customers. But the latest campaign has caused me more concern than the previous ones and I can no longer remain silent.

As a person I have never been particularly impressed with Mr. Jordan. I have always felt that in order to maintain his marketability he has avoided issues he could have brought his enormous star power to bear on and had some impact. This of course is his business and is a place where we differ in philosophies. In his latest ad campaign to sell more of these over-priced sneakers, Mr. Jordan is telling the youth that they to can become legendary. In the ad Mr. Jordan is doing a voice-over as faces of current and maybe future athletic stars are being shown. In his narration Mr. Jordan is saying that if you look into their eyes you can see their determination and their drive to be the best and of course part of that drive will include a pair of his sneakers. Here is where I take issue with this ad, it is continuing a narrative young black men can no longer continue to aspire to. The fairytale road to riches through athletics for black youth must be halted. There was a time in America when it was a necessary avenue, because there were so few other options for blacks in our society. Today that is no longer the case and yet the myth continues at the expense of our youth.

A recent survey by the Center for the Study of Sport in Society found that two-thirds of African American males between the ages of 13 and 18 believe that they can earn a living playing professional sports (more than double the proportion of young white males who hold such beliefs). Moreover, African American parents were four times more likely than white parents to believe that their sons are destined for careers as professional athletes.

Second, while the odds of African American males making it as professional athletes are more favorable than is the case for whites (about 1 in 3,500 African American male high school athletes, compared to 1 in 10,000 white male high school athletes) these odds remain slim. Of the 40,000 or so African Americans boys who play high school basketball, only 35 will make the NBA and only 7 will be starters. Referring to the low odds for young African Americans, Harry Edwards, an African American sociologist specializing in the sociology of sport, said with a bit of hyperbole: “Statistically, you have a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite in the next ten years than getting work as an athlete.”[1]

So they have a better chance of getting hit with a meteorite, or how about a better chance of ending up in prison or shot dead than making it as a professional athlete or becoming legendary. Do these facts dissuade Mr. Jordan and his friends at Nike? Of course not, there goal is to sell sneakers to kids who number one can’t afford them and number two most who buy them don’t even play a sport. The majority of kids I see wearing Jordan sneakers don’t even play sports. I play basketball if I can three times a week and have played for more than 40 years, I have never paid more than $60 for a pair of sneakers, this includes college and semi-pro summer leagues. I understand today that times are different and sneakers for some kids are a status symbol, but to those kids where this is the case they are the ones least able to afford the symbol. I don’t have a problem with kids wanting to live their dream of becoming a professional athlete, I’ve played a game for over 40 years. The problem is that it is unrealistic and against the odds for most of these kids. Why do we not have any ads for kids becoming legendary doctors, engineers, or CEO of Jumpman?

The reason is simple, these people don’t wear $200 sneakers. We continue to reinforce the get rich quick mentality to minority children. No need to study or work hard you can just become the next Lebron or 50 cent. Of course neglecting to mention that for many of them the closest they’ll ever come to either one of them is by buying a jersey or a cd. I’m waiting to see the ad campaign that promotes the realistic circumstances of our youth and our communities. Our youth don’t need anymore instruction on how to “be like Mike” the ballplayer, they need instruction on how to be like Mike the entrepreneur. Where are the commercials espousing the virtues of higher education not as a member of a sports team, but as a member of an academic team? Where is the narrative of determined kids striving not to get a pair of shoes named after them but a disease or a cure, a business, or a law firm?

With the success of Barack Obama there is no longer the need to settle and continue to reinforce the stereotypical roles for black youth. Black youth are graduating high school at a 50% rate, that’s right high school! We don’t need more sneakers, we need more educators and real role models who are not looking to exploit them to sell another $200 pair of sneakers.

[1] http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/mar99eitzen.htm

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More Than Black

Being a sports fan and also a New York Yankees fan I couldn’t help but catch the hoopla surrounding the latest tirade by Gary Sheffield, a former Yankee. According to Mr. Sheffield, the Yankees manager, Joe Torre treats Black ballplayers different from the White and Latino players. As I was reading the article I couldn’t help but wonder about his comments in light of two factors. Number one of course would be the source of the comments and number two would be my own personal experiences.

First off, Mr. Sheffield is a player and a man that thrives on controversy. He feels that it is his job to keep things “stirred up”, so he has been known to make some pretty radical statements. Because of his penchant for saying these things he strikes people immediately; they either love him or they hate him, there is no middle ground. This appears to be alright with Mr. Sheffield since his wealth affords him the luxury to tell people where to go. It is also true that Mr. Sheffield has been known to make some comments just for shock value, sort of like Dennis Rodman and the wedding dress thing, well sort of. I have learned in this life that anyone can have a message and that I need to focus not on the messenger, but on the message he is delivering. So with that I listened to the message and found that there was a part of it that had some merit.

I do not nor have I ever played for the Yankees. I have never met Joe Torre. I do know that he is considered a successful baseball manager and his players for the most part like him and trust him. Does Mr. Torre treat Black players differently from other players? Probably, but that is because Black athletes are different and require different motivation. We are all motivated by things from our past and if a manager or coach is going to be successful he needs to figure out what motivates his players. I have not heard of any complaints from Black players about how certain Black superstars are treated differently. We have should get away from trying to have the best of both worlds; we complain when it is convenient and remain deathly silent when it is to our advantage. It cheapens the times when the complaining is real, the whole boy who cried wolf thing.

Anyway, one of the reporters mentioned to Mr. Sheffield about Derek Jeter who is the best player on the Yankees and his treatment from Mr. Torre. It was at this point that Mr. Sheffield unknowingly hit on the crux of the problem for Black superstar athletes. He stated that Derek Jeter was “not all Black”. For those who are not aware Mr. Jeter is of mixed race, or bi-racial. The crazy thing about what Mr. Sheffield said is that in America, unlike anywhere else in the world, to perpetuate slavery and prejudice, a child is considered Black if they have any Black blood from any parent. So it was funny that Mr. Sheffield would say that Derek Jeter got special treatment because of his White blood. Then I got to thinking about the prejudice we all show based on color and race. We as Black people are just as guilty for the most part of the thing we accuse others of.

Lighter skinned Blacks have always had an easier time being black than darker skinned Blacks, not only with Whites, but with other Blacks. Based on studies, we find lighter skinned Blacks more attractive, trustworthy, and happier. Unfortunately, it is a sad vestige of our slave and Jim Crow history. It has always been easier for lighter skinned Blacks to be successful, whether it is in the entertainment field or the business field. The lighter the skin or the closer you look to being white the better your chances were to be successful. But this is not the point of this article, the point is that using number two, my personal experience I have found it to be true that successful Blacks have always been looked upon as being “more than black”.

It is as if in order for Blacks to be successful they have to be “super Blacks”. Take for example superstars like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and others, for many whites in order to accept them they can’t just be regular black folk, they have to be more than black. In other words, they have to transcend their blackness to be palatable to Whites. Because of our history of “inferiority” ordinary blacks cannot rise to success, because that would mean that Blacks were just as smart, just as dedicated, and just as dare I say it, articulate as Whites. And God forbid that could be true. So in order to keep the status quo, whites have had to create a super race of Blacks that can then be worshipped as heroes; these Blacks are “more than black”. The problem is that a lot of these super blackmen have bought into this attitude and believe the hype. It is evident in how they speak about other Blacks and in how they live their lives. These “super Blacks” tend to isolate from other Blacks, their worlds are just as insulated as their White counterparts. The most glaring example of this phenomenon was O.J. Simpson, until his fall from grace.

I remember in college how my white friends would in some weird attempt to complement me say things like you aren’t like the other Blacks, not realizing that instead of a compliment, it was an insult, because guess what; I am them. They believed that my goal was to not be black; they didn’t realize that just because we shared certain goals and values didn’t make me less black and more white. It just made me, me. Blacks share some of these same misconceptions, many believe that if someone does not buy into the "ghetto" culture that they are trying to be white. We in America have these convoluted ideas about race and what it means to be one race or another. So remember this, what does the white state trooper in Alabama call General Colin Powell? Just another ni**er!

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