Branch Rickey Changed the World

Jackie Robinson

           Today marks what would have been Jackie Robinson's 94th Birthday. For those who may not know Jackie Robinson, he was the first African-American professional baseball player. He broke a seemingly insurmountable color barrier at the time and opened the door for other athletes of color to follow in his footsteps. It seems as though most people know of Jackie Robinson, but not many people know of the man who signed him to the Brooklyn Dodgers roster: Branch Rickey.

Rickey signing Robinson

            In my opinion, without Branch Rickey, the extensive world of sports in which us Americans embrace so greatly would simply not be close to what it is. At the time,  "any links with blacks would mark [baseball] as beyond the pale. Moreover, from the Jim Crow era down to the 1930s it would probably have been impossible to have integrated a Major League team without inspiring a violent backlash, even in many northern cities, and no one was willing to take the risk," (Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball). 

          
         Out of fear, baseball stayed segregated, until Branch Rickey's signing. Without his incredibly brave decision, who is to predict what kind of sports world we would embrace today? I find it an incredible American ideal to stick to the social norm and not step outside of one's boundaries. As shown though with Rickey's signing of Jackie Robinson, bravery can have incredible benefits for everyone. In this case, changing not only baseball, but the world of sports forever while providing a foundation of racial equality to be built on up until today. 

         What do you think the sports world would be like without Branch Rickey? Comment below with your thoughts!

A Domesticated Killer

       A study done by Nature.com has just opened my eyes to an unseen and widely disregarded problem. Cats are causing more deaths of birds and mammals each year than all other human causes.

Cat after killing rabbit

The estimated numbers are:

1.4-3.7 billion birds killed each year
6.9-20.7 billion mammals killed each year

According to Nautre.com, "Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals". 

This new discovery is truly staggering. Although stated that the majority of the cats are un-owned, a significant percentage is still from the exact domesticated cats that owners across the nation have come to love. Cat owners may argue that it's just the nature of their cats, but that's truly insensitive in regards to the widespread deaths they are causing for really no reason. Cats of all shapes, sizes and domestication are contributing to the tens of billions of deaths annually.

I think though that it is an incredible American value to disregard such findings. For Americans, (me included with my dog) we think that our pets could never be the brunt of atrocities. Cat owners included may think that their cat can't possibly be the cause of such deaths. They're wrong. Instead of just disregarding such findings, Americans need to become more aware of occurrences around them, like their pets killing more birds and mammals than themselves each year.

What do you think? Do Americans have a problem of disregarding information possibly pertaining to themselves? Any personal experiences? Please share in the comments!

Final Exam, Racial Equality: A Long Time Coming

"Cheers" taken by Pete Souza

           The “Beer Summit Picture” is an important contemporary American artifact because it represents the incredible growth and current status of the United States of America, striving to achieve racial equality. It relates to our class because it compares current racial equality to inequality shown in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Glory and even theatrical productions. In the picture, taken by official white house photographer Pete Souza, there are three men, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Police Sergeant James Crowley and President Barack Obama. Souza decided to make the background dark, focusing all attention on the men at the table. More importantly though, is the theme of equality. All three men share equal thirds of the picture, showing a perfect division of space and power. In addition, they all are uniting their beverages in the middle of the table, coming together as a sign of mutual respect for one another. Such equality and respect is expressed and embraced in today’s America, although it wasn’t at all the case just over a century and a half ago.

            In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass realized the racial inequality occurring with his observation, “There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination” (51). This statement truly portrays the horrible inequality occurring in the early 19th century. Other human beings were being ranked and treated like horses, cattle and pigs. White men did the ranking. The people being ranked among the animals were black.

            Also in the film, Glory, Denzel Washington’s character, Trip, made another important realization of racial inequality occurring. When speaking with Colonel Shaw, the leader of the all-black 54th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, he proclaimed, “What about us, what do we get?” comparing the life of Colonel Shaw (a white man) upon return home versus the lives of himself and the rest of the all black infantry. Wary of the fact that they were risking their lives on the battlefield for the Union army though weren’t going to be treated equally with the white men doing the same.

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            Finally, even theatrical productions in the early 20th century were incredibly degrading to African-Americans, blatantly spelling out the ideals of racial inequality. As found on spirobolos.com through Mr. Bolos’ Delicious page Racism and the Undercaste, an incredible display of racial inequality can be seen through an advertisement for a relatively popular play at the time. The feature of the advertisement shows two pictures of seemingly different actors involved in the play, however they are the same person. The portrait on the left shows a white man with, as Mr. Bolos put it, “dignity”. His hair is combed and parted, his body language appears confident, with a slight grin. His chin is up and overall seems extremely well put together. As for the image on the right, the same actor is now in complete blackface, with glaring red lipstick, unkempt hair and a truly crazed expression. His eyes are wide open and a look of sheer terror is shown on his face. The stark contrast of the appearances of the same actor in different costumes, the dignified white versus the crazed black, truly shows the extreme ideals and practices of racial inequality merely a century ago.

           In conclusion, the “Beer Summit” picture shows the current racial equality in American society, as three men, two black and one white, can now share a beer in harmony; although as we have seen throughout this first semester of American Studies, it has been a long time coming for blacks in America trying to achieve racial equality.

Show Me The Money!

While watching a Christmas special of the popular television show, Duck Dynasty- a reality show about the hilarious and unorthodox family behind a duck hunting company (for those who don't know the show, an overview can be seen through this link) - something really spoke to me about american ideals.

The character, Si

The company threw a holiday party for local children, with the CEO of the company, Willie, playing Santa Claus while the always entertaining and unpredictable uncle and employee of Willie named "Si" being Santa's helper. When one little girl was asked by Willie what she wanted for Christmas, she replied that she wanted art supplies because she wanted to be an artist. Si sharply butted in by saying that there isn't any money to be made in the art profession.



I feel that the point he made was incredibly applicable to american ideals of occupations. It's all about where the money is. It's heard so incredibly often the terms of people having "good" or "bad" jobs. Just as we have discussed in class, "good" and "bad" by no means reflect the quality of the person performing the jobs or even quality of work, just the job's pay. Personally, I've heard it and seen it time and time again the obsession with one's income. For example, extremely reputable and widely subscribed to Forbes magazine releases the annually anticipated "Forbes 400" list. This list profiles the 400 wealthiest Americans for all subscribes to revere in their wealthy aura. The "list" speaks wonders about american ideals.

It's somewhat eye-opening that one's occupation in the american culture is viewed upon based on the money that they make and not the quality or purpose of the work.

What do you think about American values of one's occupations purpose? How can media change this ideal? Please let me know your thoughts!

A Racist Pastime

Rule changes and stricter enforcement of infractions during NFL games with player safety in mind has been a focus of the league during recent years. One theme I couldn't help but notice, is who is truly getting protected within the game we have grown to love.

In regards to the players, every year since 2000, at least 75% of the total players at the quarterback position have been white (shown in the table).

The quarterback position has always been extremely dangerous to play. As many may know, the "Blindside Hit" (yes, there was a movie about it) poses one of the biggest threats to QBs. The NFL has now put in place penalties in an effort to protect the at risk quarterbacks (of whom are predominately white) against the malicious hits of the defensive lineman (of whom are predominately black). 

In addition, while a kicker or punter is kicking the football at any point in the game, if a player on defense were to make contact with them, an immediate 15 yard penalty (the largest enforced yardage possible) is given. The stiffest penalty, protecting a position, in which at least 97% have been white since 2010. 

What does this say about who the NFL chooses to protect? Why do you think so many white people play the protected positions? Let me know your thoughts!

Unaware American Consumers

Purchased t-shirt

Just yesterday, I made an uneducated decision: I bought a t-shirt without researching. Just after we had talked about who makes a given shirt, where it's made and if the person/people making it are treated fairly, I may have unknowingly supported human rights violations.

Solely based on aesthetic appeal, I bought the pictured University of Alabama t-shirt before returning home after a soccer showcase in Alabama. Before I looked up the details of the shirt, I selected it, gave it to the cashier, paid the $19.99 for it, and put it into my carry-on. No other thoughts involved. After re-triggering my memory of our class discussion Thursday with our class period today, I looked further into the details.


I looked up the company that made the shirt and found that everything checked out fine. In fact, they printed the individual shirts on site in Comstock Park, Michigan. Their facilities appeared pristine, as can be seen on their webpage. Although in my case I won't be feeling guilty every time I put this shirt on, many other situations may be different though unknown. Human rights like proper working conditions and wages may be being violated by other companies without consumers realizing. In fact, I find it to be an extremely American value to find something that looks good and is cheap. Whatever may be the "Best Value" or "Most For Your Money" is a draw for us Americans. Such mentality is dangerous and can lead to the unknowing violation people's rights worldwide.

Do you as a consumer research before buying? Would you pay more for fair produced products? Please let me know your thoughts.

All Too Common Thanksgiving

Now that I can finally start to process my thoughts again after my food induced coma, something really struck me during my family's Thanksgiving celebration.

Every year we hold Thanksgiving- and all major holidays for that matter- at my Grandma's house in Glenview. Something I never really thought about though, are the longstanding traditions within the celebration. 

As many may know, football is a huge facet of Thanksgiving. Every single year, one can expect to find multiple daytime games broadcasted. As I was watching these games this year, I couldn't help but notice who was and wasn't in the room with me. Of the 4 males at the party (Me, my Dad and 2 Uncles) all were watching the games. Of the 5 females there (Mom, Sister, Cousin, Grandma and Aunt) none were watching the game. In fact, every female there had either made something for the dinner, or was making something in preparation. 

It really got me thinking. The men were the ones relaxing, watching football and simply waiting for the food to be put on the table. Put on the table though and made tirelessly, by the women. Women prepare the food, men devour it. 

I'm almost positive that this is the case for most of the American population on Thanksgiving. Is this the case with your Thanksgiving celebration? What does it say about us as a nation? How do women feel about this assignment? Please let me know your thoughts!

Enough is Enough

When is enough, enough?

Today in the Gaza Strip, deadly Israeli attacks were carried out. At least 11 people were killed; 9 of which were women and children.

One child casualty in Gaza Strip (NYTimes.com)

The deadly conflict between Hamas and Israel is reaching a point of absolute insanity. For the fifth straight day, Israel has attacked Hamas with missiles, warplanes and naval vessels. These attacks in defense from Hamas attacks. (For more information here is the New York Times article). Although in defense and obviously inadvertently, Israeli forces killed women and children.

As stated previously, just today, at least 11 people were killed and at least 9 of those were women and children. I'm no mathematician, but that equates to at least 81% of the deceased being either a woman or a child civilian.

This is unacceptable.

If these attacks were carried out in the United States, the deaths of defenseless women and children civilians would be an absolute outcry. I feel that protecting women and children is a strong facet of the American system of beliefs. Children represent the future and women are needed to birth those children. Without them, the very progressive and forward thinking nation in which we live in today would be losing a part of our futures.

For who truly knows? Children killed could have turned out to be President had they not been, or the next Steve Jobs, or even created the next Facebook. The possibilities are truly infinite.

Women who are killed are a vital part in creating a child. Without them, there isn't even the possibility of the previously listed opportunities for children.

Because of the progressive mindset of Americans, the deaths of women and children civilians would absolutely not be tolerated. Tying back into the Hamas-Israeli conflict occurring now, it will be interesting to see whether or not the same mentality will apply over the deaths of the women and children civilians killed today in the Gaza Strip.

Celebrate the Election

The Election is this Tuesday, and all I've been hearing and seeing on Radio and TV commercials are campaign ads. Bashing other candidates, promoting themselves or telling the public who the right selection is has been constant. Even the public in support of a certain candidate can get nasty with each other.

Although obviously a winner must be chosen to lead the United States of America, the presidential election should be a time for celebration of the democratic format instead of a nation-splitting decision. Taken for granted at times is how lucky Americans truly are to be able to express their desires for their leader. As shown by the included map below, many countries around the world do not have the same political rights and civil liberties that we take for granted at times. 

Red=Not-Free,Yellow=Partly-Free, Green=Free

I really think it is common for us Americans to look past the fact that the Presidential election is a celebration of free expression and voice due to the prospects of winning. In my opinion, most Americans forget how important and unique their right to vote is while enveloped in the prospects of their ideal candidate winning. This trait of Americans I have actually seen relatively often. Whenever winning something or being the best at something comes into play, it seems as though everything else in one's life takes a backseat role. In sports, a workplace or even in school, Americans are so focused on winning and being the best that basic rights others may not have, like voting, are taken for granted. 

Transparent President Wanted

Today, Donald Trump made an extremely interesting announcement. "From the Desk of Donald Trump" he stated that he would donate $5 million dollars to the charity of President Obama's choice in return for a release of his college and passport records.

If you care to watch the 2:44 second video clip, it has been placed below.

I cannot help but think of this video as a campaign plug for Mitt Romney. Donald Trump is an extremely affluent individual (Real-Estate Billionaire and Reality TV Personality) and for him to come out with a video as such, it puts President Obama in a very difficult situation; a situation in which I believe Donald Trump strategically put him in.

During the video, Trump states that if Obama were to release his college and passport records, "[Obama's selected charities] would be very, very happy". This puts President Obama in a tough situation. If he were to decline to release his records:

A) It would appear as though he may be hiding something from the American people, and

B) It would seem as though he disregarded the $5 donation offer to charity.

Either way, if President Obama declines to release his records, Donald Trump and the American people, in my opinion, can and will spin the denial into what I mentioned previously. On the flip side, if Obama actually were to release his records, I believe that criticism of such records are guaranteed to occur.

It is my personal belief that Donald Trump may have (no pun intended) trumped Obama merely weeks before this crucial election. What are your thoughts? What do you think Obama's decision will be? What will be the consequences for such actions? Please let me know with your comments!