Month: September 2018

One thing I absolutely hate is when someone accuses me of lying when I’m telling the truth. Like of all the times I COULD HAVE or HAVE lied, it’s when I’m telling the truth is when you doubt me. Naturally my reaction when accused of lying is standing my ground and reiterating the fact that I’m telling the truth because I feel as if I was disrespected.

Recently in the U.S. Open Women’s Singles, upon the final game Serena Williams was accused of cheating as the referee pointed out that she received couching during the game. When called out on this Serena, very maturely addresses the referee and stated that she didn’t receive any coaching. She then asked for an apology from the referee as this accusation was an attack on her character and stated that she’s experienced similar discrimination every year she’s participated in the U.S. Open.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding this topic as some believed that Serena did in fact cheat but when called out reacted ‘immaturely’. But her coach did come out and admit to the fact that he was trying to coach Serena, he ALSO stated that Serena hadn’t noticed his hand motions and simply thought he was just giving her a thumbs up.

Even though this event has been somewhat settled, the reason why I choose to bring it up again is in light of a cartoon released after this event.

 

What one might think is a harmless cartoon of the athletes reaction is actually a very dehumanizing, painfully resemblance of Jim Crow imagery. When I saw this image on twitter following the U.S. Open finals I couldn’t believe that in 2018 something like this was published.

While during the event Serena claimed the accusation was an issue of sex, race always is the underlying issue. As mentioned before Serena has always experienced discrimination throughout her career from being drug tested disproportionately in comparison to her peers to cartoons such as this being released attacking her character.

Well you may ask yourselves, what’s exactly wrong with this cartoon? Well for starters the fact that Serena was drawn resembling an ape like being isn’t exactly new when on the topic of black caricatures. Also the fact that Serena’s nose and lips take up a majority of her face is something that has long been used in the stereotypical exaggeration of black features.

But even when stepping away from Serena’s depiction, taking a look at what is supposedly Naomi Osaka one can tell her character was especially white washed. Out of context, one would never guess that that cartoon was supposed to represent that Japanese-HATIAN player Osaka. But this wasn’t a mistake at all, Knight didn’t accidentally give Osaka fair skin and blonde hair. He did it in contrast of Serena’s ‘ape like behavior’, in contrast of her blackness.

It’s sad to think that in 2018 African Americans are still looked upon as inhumane. It’s sad to think that our reactions are so easily invalidated and somehow are attributed to our skin color. It’s sad to think that as an African American myself I have to act a certain way around others in fear of being ostracized and attacked. It’s a reality that unfortunately many of us have to face, and that our white counterparts will never experience.

 

It’s a normal Tuesday afternoon and I’m scrolling through my timeline on Twitter, probably avoiding work, and I notice a lot of people posting similar pictures. What are these pictures of? They’re of torn socks, pants, hoodies and other clothing items. First thing that comes to my mind is “Oh, maybe Kanye is about to release a new Yeezy Season”. Unfortunately, I was mistaken; instead they were pictures of people who cut out the Nike logo from their clothes. Now I’m sitting here thinking what would cause people to do this? Because I KNOW those sweatpants weren’t cheap.

Recently Nike released an advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick titled “Dream Crazy”. This commercial presents the idea of the possibility for an individual to not only achieve their dreams but to go above and beyond when achieving it. Kaepernick narrates throughout the commercial, stating the importance of “believing in something even if it means sacrificing everything” which alludes to his own personal campaigns of kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality and other social injustices against Black Americans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I

In regards to Kaepernicks #TakeAKnee movement, there has been much controversy surrounding the issue. Many find his actions disrespectful and inappropriate, using the argument that kneeling during the National Anthem equates to disregarding the thousands of veterans who have sacrificed their lives in order for those back home to have freedom. But Kaepernick has spoken out multiple times, stating that he holds much respect for those who have fought for this country. Unfortunately those very freedoms and liberties they are fighting for have not been guaranteed to everyone.

Though Kaepernick has done everything he can to explain why he begun the movement and what it stands for, many people have stuck with the narrative that it is done in disrespect of veterans continuing to view the movement as unpatriotic.

So going along with that, when Nike released their advertisement many people spoke out on various social media platforms expressing their utter disgust and disappointment in Nike for ever standing behind someone like Kaepernick. So what’d they do to express their opposition? They decided to destroy all of their Nike apparel, even going to the extent of burning it. But it’s not like, you know, they already PAID for their stuff or anything. Trust me when I say Nike has long since benefitted from your worn and torn, decade old pair of Nike Monarch Training Shoes and ‘used to be white’ socks (long story short you probably did yourself a favor by burning them).

Now while my take on the issue may be evident at this point, if not I am FOR Kaepernicks movement as it aligns with many of the issues I have spoken out against myself and advocate for. I decided to ask my fellow Penn Staters on their take of Nike using Kaepernick to be the face of their advertisement and their opinions on the #TakeAKnee movement itself.

When asking my fellow peers for their take on the ad, a plurality expressed that they had not even seen the ad themselves but have heard about it briefly on platforms such as Twitter. Once explaining the jist of the ad to them, many had stated their support for Nike featuring Kaepernick, a controversial African American. Though some expressed concerns regarding if Nike genuinely was in support of Kaepernicks movement or if using his face was just a marketing tactic.

Many also stated that the reactions of those who decided to boycott and ruin their Nike products “blew the situation out of proportion” and held no valid reasons to act as they did. They personally felt the ad was inspiring and powerful and wouldn’t stop them from continuing to purchase Nike products.

Naturally, this only led me to ask people to further elaborate specifically concerning Kaepernicks movement itself and their take on it. This is where the discussions began to get a little interesting.

Shockingly, I was surprised at how many of my peers supported Kaepernicks actions. Not that I like to assume the worst in people but taking in what I’ve seen on social media I was expecting many people to be against it. Though some made it clear that personally they found it disrespectful to kneel during the national anthem, the consensus was irregardless of their personal opinions they believed that Kaepernick still held the right, as expressed in our American Constitution under the very first amendment, to kneel during the national anthem.

Many people brought up the fact that are more appropriate ways to go about his campaign rather than kneeling during the anthem, such as using social media platforms and holding press conferences. But I believe, as do some others, that it wouldn’t have in fact held the same effect or have gotten the same amount of attention. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail, “Nonviolent direction action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”

Exactly what Dr. King expresses in this quote, Kaepernick acts upon. Through his kneeling during the national anthem he calls upon the American public to address issues of police brutality and other injustices committed against Black Americans. If anything he in fact highlights the hypocrisy within the anthem as “freedom and justice for all” in actuality is not practiced but instead selective. When asked, a peer of mine described Kaepernicks movement as “enlightening of what American values truly are”, that not only does his movement represent the very ideals and rights we preach of in this country but it displays the ability we hold to freely speak out and act upon injustices that happen everyday.

The genuine, informing conversations I was able to generate through this topic not only allowed me to expand my perspective on the issue but affirm my stance on it as well. I truly believe Kaepernick did what most wouldn’t dare to think of, sacrificing a career and life all for something he truly believed in.

In the meanwhile I’ll be here chilling in my Nike hoodie and my Nike slides scrolling through Twitter as I would any other day, because I don’t know about you but these Rolf memes have me in TEARS.

*PSA: NIKE OWNS CONVERSE TOO SO BRING A PAIR OF BACKUP SHOES*