When a country doesn't respect Black lives, maybe it doesn't deserve to be entertained by Black athletes.
Jemele HillRead
Race impacts 90 percent of our society - and I'm probably undershooting that figure. I find this fascinating and like to address it when pertinent.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the profound impact of race on societal dynamics and the importance of discussing it.
Jemele Hill's quote suggests that race plays a significant and perhaps underestimated role in shaping various aspects of society. She expresses fascination with this reality and advocates for addressing racial issues when appropriate, highlighting the need for awareness and dialogue surrounding race in social contexts.
In practice
During a panel discussion on social justice, one could use this quote to highlight how race influences systemic issues.
When a country doesn't respect Black lives, maybe it doesn't deserve to be entertained by Black athletes.
It's something most people of color and most women have been burdened with their whole lives, having to suppress your natural emotion to make everybody else feel comfortable. Repeatedly having to do that takes its toll.
Yes, I do realize that men in sports media also face criticism and backlash, but the vitriol that is directed at women, especially women of color, is far more severe.
America hasn't been able to grapple with the uncomfortable reality that police brutality is encoded in this country's DNA.
There's a long history and a pattern of Black athletes - and Black people, period - being told to shut up and accept whatever it is they're given.
The thirst for liberation and equality can never come at the expense of dehumanizing other marginalized groups - especially at a time when hate crimes against Jews have increased significantly.
For every R. Kelly or Bill Cosby or Harvey Weinstein, there's, you know, the owner of the grocery store, the coach, the teacher, the neighbor, who are doing the same things. But we don't pay attention until it's a big name. And we don't pay attention 'til it's a big celebrity.
I'm very much interested in getting prisons off the stock market. I'm very much interested in upgrading the public school system... and taking a second look at capital punishment.
Good care is taken that each state shall have its prisons . . . and other asylums; but not one building is erected nor one law enforced that would teach the people how not to contribute to these over-crowded receptacles of human misery . . . . All of our politicians are ready to deal with the effects, but not one of them is brave enough to penetrate the substratum of society and deal with the cause.
Young mothers who apply for housing assistance in our nation's capital literally could be grandmothers by the time their application is reviewed.
I don't want to sound Pollyannish about this. I understand that poverty is never just poverty. It's often this collection of maladies, this compounded adversity. I'm not naive about the problem. But I think that stable, steady housing is one of the surest footholds we could have on the road to financial stability.
Too many of the conflicts which are caused today are caused by the problems that emerge from people who are in poverty.
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