American Apologies

I know I’ve had my go at Cincinnati baseball already, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t talk about the late former owner of the Reds, Marge Schott. After purchasing controlling interest in the team in 1984 and subsequently being named president and CEO of the team in 1985, Schott quickly became one of the most visible owners in the league. She was praised for pricing food and tickets low, being accessible to fans, and for her generosity to children. But in 1992, a marketing director for the Reds accused her of referring to outfielders as “million-dollar niggers”. Weeks later she said that the “million dollar niggers” comment was made in jest, but then stated that she felt that Adolf Hitler was initially good for Germany and didn’t understand how the epithet “Jap” could be offensive. That same season she was quoted in the New York Times as having been overheard stating: “I would never hire another nigger. I’d rather have a trained monkey working for me than a nigger,” before the start of an owners’ conference call. In 1994, Schott commented that she didn’t want her players to wear earrings because “only fruits wear earrings.” To make matters worse, on opening day of 1996 after a snowy morning, an umpire collapsed and later died of a heart attack during the Reds game. Schott responded insensitively, and was widely criticized. A month later and she once again made statements favorable of Adolf Hitler, whom she believed “was good in the beginning, but went too far.” She was banned from day-to-day operations until 1998, but still gained controversy after she was quoted in Sports Illustrated as speaking in a “cartoonish Japanese accent” and saying she did not like Asian-American kids “outdoing our kids” in high school. She finally sold her share of the team in 1999 and died in 2004, after years of smoking and racism had weakened her health.

Submitted via user message:

“Constance was denied entry to her school’s prom because she wanted to take another girl as a date; her school canceled the prom and she took legal action. She was then promised a prom - and was sent to a fake prom at a country club while almost all of her classmates went to another prom to which she was not invited. It gets worse. Seven other people showed up to the fake prom, and two of them had learning disabilities.

I feel we need to apologize for this happening on our soil - especially since it happened once before, except instead of a lesbian it was a black student in 1965.”

Islamophobia in America has been especially rampant since the 9/11 attacks. It is defined as the dread or hatred of Islam, as well as the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures and is inferior to the West. Some even wrongfully suggest that Islam is a violent political ideology rather than a religion. This religious paranoia is disturbing and prejudice, and islamophobes tend to be ignorant people who think just because someone has a turban or the last name Khan, then they are obviously a terrorist. Such notions are horribly misguided, but they have become more and more common as the years have gone by. Who could forget all of the attacks against President Obama suspecting him of being a Muslim. First of all, so what if he was a Muslim, would that make him less fit to be President? And secondly, the implication that being a Muslim connotes violence or being untrustworthy is disgusting, considering the horrible things done by people of all religions. There are terrorists of all shapes and sizes, and there is no denying that. And it’s not like Islamic extremists are representative of the Muslim community as a whole, considering Islam is the second-largest religion in the world and the largest Muslim country is Indonesia (not in the Middle East!). The reality is that while 9/11 caused a lot of trauma for our nation, taking it out on innocent citizens is not the way to go about healing ourselves.

We’re hardly the only nation that has used propaganda before to manipulate its citizens, but that doesn’t make it right. Here’s a look at some of the more notable examples of propaganda used throughout our history:

It’s difficult to hear the name Rush Limbaugh and not instantly think, “big worthless douche”. The conservative political commentator has been polluting radio airwaves, bookstores, and television sets for the past few decades to an audience that blindly eats up his misinformed rhetoric. This bloated pig has been known to spout his thinly veiled prejudice with no remorse, shamelessly mocking Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease, calling President Obama a “magic negro”, and acting as the voice of all things conservative. Unfortunately, his vast audience makes him one of the most heard trolls in the country. Limbaugh once said, “Too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too.” He should have listened to his own advice, because he was later found to be addicted to prescription painkillers that he illegally obtained, and subsequently entered rehab. Here are some other fine words courtesy of Limbaugh:

1. “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.” (To a Black caller)

2. “It’s beyond me how anybody can look at these protesters and call them anything other than what they are: anti-American, anticapitalist, pro-Marxist communists.” (On political protesters)

3. “It’s sort of like hazing, a fraternity prank. Sort of like that kind of fun.” (On the abuses at Abu Ghraib)

4. “I’m talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?” (Also on the abuses at Abu Ghraib)

5. “Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”