Monday, December 13, 2010

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

      Michelle Alexander pointed out in her article that nothings changed since Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech “I have a dream.” Michelle provided a few facts to support her article that racism and discrimination is still going on today. African Americans are still being treated unfair because “As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race (alexander 5 paragraph).” Teh purpose of this article is that there is no change in law to help the African Americans because they are being ripped from their rights upon entering jail. Michelle points out that people are blaming the disadvantages that happens when African Americans gets incarcerated on crime rates. The only reason imprisonment is high is due to War on Drugs. Mainly blacks live in the poorer communities and they are believed to cause the most trouble when white youth are more than likely to deal with illegal drugs, shown in studies. African American men has always been stereotyped and neglected. In the last paragraph, I believe what Michelle is saying is true. By depriving young people rights because they are trapped in a place where trouble is located is not giving them a chance to make become better. If you leave a person to only do what ever it takes to make a dollar they are going to do what it takes even if it’s the illegal way. 

Public Work of Art

Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theater gave many opportunities for African Americans performers. It stands on 253 W 125th street in Harlem. By the theatre there are  places like Harlem Bar B Q, the house of hoops ( the Nike store), and a game stop( video game store). The Magic Johnson Theatre is also located near the historical building. Edward Ferrero founded the Apollo theatre in the mid 19th century, he turned it into a dancehall and ballroom. The Apollo Theater is located in a dominantly black neighborhood, therefore most talent and people there are black. The Apollo theatre had many talent come and perform like Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, and even The Jackson 5. 
The Apollo theater holds amateur night, where people all over the world come and display their talent to a hard going crowd. If the crowd is not pleased with your performance they have the right to cheer “boo” and have you removed from the stage. 
I choose this public art is still here to represent that African American had a chance to use their talent in a well known place. This was a popular place for minority who tried to be recognize for their talent. Famous African Americans was recognized for their talent by performing here and it gave them a stepping stone. Famous people like Luther Vandross, Billie Holiday, and Gladys Knight & the Pips gave it their all and look where they ended up shining in the future. The Apollo theatre holds many memories for people and I don’t see it going anywhere  anytime soon. 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Women in Sports

Women In Sports

         Before there was a time when women was not allowed to conduct into the same physical sports as men. Therefore, women were limited to certain activities they can participate in. It was always talked about that women are not capable of having the skills to compete like men. Women are always seen as the weaker kind and should not participate in sports. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, women began to form clubs that were athletic in nature. Women wanted to display their skills to show that they were able to compete like the men do. At the times when women weren’t able to play they were considered to be housewives. As I read the text, I noticed that people did not want to give women a chance at all to show the skills they possessed. Women until this day still are not taking serious in sports how men are. Males are shown more attention because they are thought to have physical dominance and that’ll entertain us more than women. Females are known to use emotions and would use it messing up the gameplay. For example, when women sports was being introduced, Furman Bisher ( a sports columnist) stated “Do you want to bring a companion or a broad that chews tobacco home?”(Zirin p.204). David Auxter ( an educational psychologist) was in support for Title IX because he wrote in an article “ by keeping women out of sports, we deny them educational experience(Zirin p.204).
        Title IX was passed on June 23, 1972.Title IX states no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance (United States Code Section 20). With the passage of Title IX, it helped women’s rights movement of 1970s. Women suffered for a long time trying to get men to recognize the talent that they have to offer. They were never taken in consideration for doing anything, just known for being Women that serve men and stay home. Before this Title IX passed less than 32,000 girls played sports and now that number increased to more than 150,000(Zirin p.203). Patsy T. Mink was a politician who created Title IX with the help of Congress women Green. Mink introduced Title IX because there was a case with Bernice Sandler, who worked at the University of Maryland losing her job. Bernice reported that female employment at the university sunk and they were being replaced by men who were not qualified for the job as the women(Valentin p.2). Sandler wanted people to be aware of the unfairness in pay, rank, and admissions. Title IX applies to any school or institution being aided with federal funds to conduct any sport. The schools also had to prove that they have equal opportunities for both sexes. Schools or institutions that weren’t funded by federal funds lucked up and was able to bypass this whole situation. Its important to have Title IX issued because without it their would not be fairness for females. Schools will be taking away a part of education from female athletes. The importance of Title IX varies from giving young female athletes a chance to display their skills and to help them build confidence in something they wish to do.
       The pass of Title IX needed to be done because some schools were getting away with the idea that they don’t have to provide fair treatment. The case of Grove City vs. Bell, the Court decided that Title IX applied only to those programs receiving direct financial aid.(Britannica online) Since Grove City was only receiving assistance in the financial aid program, only that program had to be in compliance. After this case, Title IX was revised and changed to any educational institution’s programs if the institution receives any federal assistance, whether direct or indirect (Legislative History of Title IX). My reaction to the text is that this was an effective way to bring forth an issue that could’ve set back many women. Women are capable of doing the task that men can perform. I wouldn’t had reacted different when it was first created because I would have been all for Title IX. It’s wrong to limit someones ambition in life, many people look to go to the pros to make it in life. If we only had subject that to men, where would the women be left at?
        An example of mistreatment, Women playing soccer in the United States. Soccer is always known for a very physical and tough endurance game. In the summer of 1999(Zirin p.241), a woman's soccer team was made but wasn’t recognized until Title IX came fourth. From 1987 to 1999, the number of girls age six and over playing soccer increased by 20 percent, to 7.3 million(Zirin p.241). In the 1980s, the national team existed without either a World Cup or spot in the Olympics(Zirin p.241). They were treated poorly compared to men. The women received ten dollars a day in meals and practiced on poor damaged fields. The players of the women team was aware of the unfairness and unified “The Wildstrike.” Billie Jean King was the founder of the first women’s athletic union. King was came to for help to gain the same equality as the men on the soccer team for Women. They ended up gaining the fairness they seek by refusing to play during the World cup. This was successful because they got the United States to be aware of the situation to make changes.
        Title IX help give awareness to states, they developed extra security for the discrimination based on sex. States like Alaska, California, New York and the addition of thirteen others. In 2008, the study of intercollegiate athletics showed that women's collegiate sports has grown to 9,101 teams, or 8.65 per school. The five most frequently offered college sports for women are, in order: (1) Basketball, 98.8% of schools have a team, (2) Volleyball, 95.7%, (3) Soccer, 92.0%, (4) Cross Country, 90.8%, and (5) Softball, 89.2%(w29) as you can see the numbers increased from the pervious years. Title IX effected men also because specifically recommended that the Department of Education's regulations on interest and abilities be revised "to explicitly take into account the interest of both sexes rather than just the interest of the underrepresented sex," almost always females(w38). The awareness of underrepresented of sex lead to the downfall of men getting the same privileges they were receiving prior to Title IX. According to the NCAA, the most-dropped men's sports between 1987 and 2002 were as follows: Cross country, indoor track, golf, tennis, rowing, outdoor track, and swimming. As you can see, Women took over in interest in these sports leading it to decrease in men participating.
        The text I did research on was very effective because look at the opportunity it gave young female athletes. The problem was the unfairness to colored people and Women primarily. Title IX was the right solution to get fair treatment for young athletes in that time and for the future. The action that it lead to was Title IX, giving many people the chance to use their talent that they were bless with to compete with others. Women used it to show awareness to the discrimination towards their gender in sports. Without the pass of Title IX, Women would not be able to participate in any sport activities in schools. Without Title IX, I believe men would have continued dominating every sport and Women would have just been spectating like everyone else. Sports have taken young people far, sports can get you scholarships for colleges and even get you into playing professional sports. Real talented athletes rely on sports to get them far in life. Title IX created plenty opportunities for clubs to be form, give women more equality, and make them more confident in themselves. Women now have the hope and possibility of being recognize as a strong individual. The numbers in Women participating in school activities increase heavily once the law was passed. Many women used it to their advantage to show that they will use the law and not let it go to waste.



Work Citied 
Zirin, Dave. A People’s History of Sports in The United States 
New York, 2008. Print. 
Valentin, Iram. “Title IX: A Brief History.” Women’s Equity Resource Center. 
August 1997
Title IX." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. 
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 09 Dec. 2010 
“Legislative History of Title IX” National Organization for Women.
June 27, 2007.
Brady, Erik. Commission: Title IX interpretation unnecessarily hurts men's sports
April 2, 2010