This morning in #nerdland, we asked about how racial considerations might impact the re-election of President Obama. We were drawing on the research of Don Kinder and Allison Dale-Riddle, who found compelling evidence that the racial animus of white voters influenced the 2008 election outcome. In "The End of Race? Obama, 2008, and Racial Politics in America," they argue that racial resentment is still a potent political force.
We gave you an update on Trayvon Martin. This case is now in the courts and will work its way through the system. But many of us are still struggling with trying to understand issues of race, justice, and gun laws in our country. A terrific new article in The Atlantic explores the somewhat surprising history of race and gun control. Read the Atlantic essay from last September, “The Secret History of Guns.”
I was thrilled to invite Kathrine Switzer to the table this morning! She offered important insights and perspectives on Title IX, women and girls in sports, and the potentially bring future we are facing. After weeks of “war on women” conversations, it was really uplifting to hear someone optimistically assess the future of girls. Read more about her life and work in her book, "Marathon Woman." And since women athletes still have a complicated relationship with sports and fitness, especially when it comes to body image, I recommend one of my favorite texts on this topic: "Built to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon."
In my discussion of the controversial public art “cake” exhibit in Sweden this week I mentioned the so-called Venus Hottentot. If you don’t know the history of Sara Baartman and her role in world history, read "Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: A Ghost Story and a Biography" by Clifton Crais and Pamela Scully.
And one last assignment: please read more about our amazing "Foot Soldiers," Bridge the Gulf, and watch today's segment below, after the jump. See you tomorrow morning at 10am! Stay nerdy, my friends.
Foot Soldier: Melissa Harris-Perry pays tribute to the "Bridge the Gulf" organization for its work in aiding distressed residents along the Gulf Coast.
Leave a Comment:
I watched your show this morning (4/21) and wanted to comment to the segment regarding female athletes and sports. Though it's great to see an array of female athletes particiapte in the world of athletics and the various leagues the play in, it's still a great shame that more women (and to a lesser extent, men) don't support female athletes in their accomplishments. Too many women IMO, still tend to believe (falsely) that male athletes are more athletic and exciting to watch than female athletes which is why leagues like the WNBA fights for the economic dollar and the US Women's Soccer League didn't survive. How are female athletes supposed to achieve economic equality with their male counterparts, when women don't support the endeavours of female athletes? I believe the opposite. Female athletes are equally and wonderfully athletic and can accomplish anything they want to on a field of competition.
Sadly, the media also disgraces the female athlete. Though they're willing to report on an individual athlete such as Serena Williams or Julie Inkster, they continually ignore women's team sports. Like your comment "The NFL Draft is an Event, the WNBA Draft, a private party", open the USA Today this week and you'll probably see 4-5 pages daily dedicated to the NFL Draft. Open the USA Today on last Tuesday's issue ... 1 paragraph on the WNBA Draft. What a joke the USA Today is.
Finally, men and again, sadly women, are not educating their children (boys) in regards to female athletes. Men, in this day who are between the ages of 16-54 are still disrespecting women's sports constantly. Head to ESPN's 'Conversations' after a women's team sports event on that network and you'll routinely see comments, 'Women sports suck', or 'Glad that's over, now put the real sports back on'. What a sad nation we are to still have to listen to boys and immature males make comment such as these.
I hope one day these comments diminish to the point we'll no longer see them on the internet. Probably won't happen in my lifetime, but one can hope people's attitude will change when it comes to discussing female athletes and women's sports.
Long live the WNBA. I will be a fan of this sport for life. It's a terrific league!
Regards, Richard Zimdars
Author, "The Baby Ballers" a fan fictional novel about women's basketball. At lulu.com
Do you know how to win. PICK apart the way Mr. Zimmerman apologized to the family of Travon... Listen close to his WORDS. Yes I know what this story is about. Thank you. Now then he apologizes by saying "I told the family I felt sorry for them". Felt sorry for them? Why? Because Mr. Zimmerman is SORRY that the family had a gangster son? After 56 days or so? His meaning is quite suspect. ; ]
Cheers
Earth Day?
I wrote this years ago and NOTHING has changed… except the BP, Gulf catastrophe…
EARTH DAY 2009 - Nothing really got accomplished but it was a great reason for social gathering… ahhhh, I mean protest rally.
Speech made at Earth Day gathering somewhere in California:
“Forgive me for being negative but I’ve heard all this Earth Day (Planet Forward/PBS.org) alternative energy stuff before… It’s ALWAYS just a technology’s breath away from being affordable, economically viable, consistent, reliable and done on a scale that ACTUALLY MATTERS! I hope and pray the Obama/Biden Administration moves forward with it’s stated energy and environmental agendas.
I think humans have been led by greedy &^*#~‘s to believe what is considered VALUABLE. Diamonds, commodities, stocks, cash, credit, gold, luxury car, etc… but we have NO FUTURES without a healthy Mother Earth. For GODS sake WHAT the #*~/ is WORTH MORE to the human race than the eco-system that keeps us from being like the other planets. Earth is the most precious gem in the Universe (definition- “the totality of all matter and energy that exists in the vastness of space, whether known to human beings or not” ® World English Dictionary) … as far as human beings are concerned.
WHY in the #*~/ DO WE TREAT OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET EARTH like a $10.00 meth whore? What, do all you Republicans/Conservatives want to bury the body of our precious eco-system out on the West Mesa hoping no one finds out the TRUTH? (watch “America’s Most Wanted” 4-25-09)
What we’ve done to the oceans and Great Lakes alone is a crime against Nature. (We should TORTURE the violators, lol. All the conservative talk shows ignored Earth Day and talked about the CIA and patriotism involved with torturing terror suspects)
Legitimate evidence proves our air, land and water have been fouled almost to the point of no return. And these facts, SO many PEOPLE in the USA have ignored or made fun of, REALLY WILL AFFECT THE FUTURE… To do NOTHING about the environmental problems proves these people are either insane or suicidal…
We owe our children and grandchildren the investment in a new kind of infrastructure that takes Mother Earth into consideration. Our parents and grand parents invested in our present system… the power transmission lines, Interstate highway system, sewer/water lines, etc… It was good for us and our Nation but now it’s all aged and failing. New technology is on the horizon and we NEED to START preparing for IT!
Thanks to the Republican Party and Conservative agendas we’re WAY behind the rest of the Western Nations when it comes to the environment and alternative energy sources. I remember when the Conservative Anti-Christ Ronald 6 Wilson 6 Reagan 6 cut funding for solar and wind energy research and development, the Ditto heads thought it was cool. Of course the news never got out that Reagan’s state of California ended up having spend millions to buy wind generators from Japan because our own great minds were too busy working on weapons systems. On & ON & ON… I could tell you 100’s of stories about Republicans #*~/ing over our children future.
The wealthy, powerful, aristocratic power brokers of the past such as big oil, big coal, big chemical and OTHER blatant polluters have STALLED new technology so they can squeeze and few more billion dollars profit from ravaging the planet Earth and using it’s water ways as a sewer
From Wall Street to K-Street to Main Street and ALL points in-between these evil power brokers let the LOVE of MONEY come before ETHICS, RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. These same individuals have PROVED over and over they can’t be TRUSTED but they use their great wealth and power to escape public scrutiny and prosecution.
They pay huge sums of money to their spokespersons such as Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney to divert the public’s attention and make light of those “environmental wackos”. Actually the so-called wacko’s are concerned citizens, intelligent/informed enough to understand the implications of staying the present course and ignoring the signs. I am somebody who loves nature spoact.blogspot.com
Oh, by the way Melissa, I watched your cheer leading segment... very stimulating, lol sorry...
What happened to the Tea Party? Huh...
The Tea Party has all but disappeared because of SHAME! These Conservative rubes realized they got played for fools by a bunch of silver spoon trust fund babies. Can you imagine? After the Bush/Cheney the Tea Baggers still believed the GOP was working for their best interests. FOOLs, lol.
Not only that but you morons wanted Democrats/Progressives to believe if only Conservatism had one more chance it can work? The very definition of insanity, isn’t IT? Over and over AGAIN! Just separate yourselves from the Bush/Cheney DISASTER… bull$#!~ MISINFORMED people into believing they’re part of a NEW Conservative Movement. In reality right wing imbeciles never learned the new boss is same as the old boss…
In OTHER WORDS Republican Party talking points are based on the ignorance of their constituents. They revise history and LIE because they CAN… because morons who vote for Republicans DON’T KNOW THEIR OWN HISTORY! This ain’t NO Tea Party… it’s a damn CLASS WAR! And there is a growing number of sane, moderate Republicans on the American scene. Progressives must help the other poor dumb neo-con *****’s along at spoact.blogspot.com
I'm asking Democrat's to PLEASE not refer to their party as Christian anymore. Your party has waged war on Christ and the Bible and has damaged America greatly. I prove it at youthalternatives.com/war.htm. Democrat's now create poverty and use it to stay in power. Look at the poverty in inner cities across America. Democrat's have been representing these areas for decades. Detroit hasn't had a Republican since 1961. Dems have destroyed endless factory jobs with their unrealistic taxes, regulations, and Union demands. Many inner city families now have no choice but welfare and Democrat's are so shrewd they actually have these American's convinced it's Conservatives fault. Dems don't want these people to have jobs, they want them dependent on Government so they'll keep voting for them. And when Conservatives try promoting Capitalism so these people can get jobs, the Democrat's start hollering that Conservatives are "Waging war on the poor" which is total hogwash. Democrat's are also bankrupting states with their Government Unions. Who decided Government workers could retire at 30 years while the rest of us work until 67? That's not a benifit, it's the most ungodly, accute robbery of taxpayers in America and it IS coming to a head. The yearly cost for Federal Pensions is 225 BILLION DOLLARS! And unlike Social Security, Federal Employees contributed little to this unfunded debt. And worst of all, Mr. Obama is out telling kid's they're getting free healthcare and education while behind their backs he's rang up over 5 TRILLION dollars of debt on them. It's amazing Democrat's have spent over 5 trillion more than we've brought in and still they created more poverty in America. And as for your attacks on Millionaires, why don't you go ask Carmello Anthony or the other endless pro athletes where many of them would be without those hated Millionaires? Democrat's, you can whine over the truth all you want but everything I've said is 100% truth. But after the last few years I've realized that the truth doesn't matter much to Democrat's anymore. youthalternatives.com It will change your life!