Let's look at "Fox 9 News" out of the Twin Cities this morning (Sunday). Oh my: "North High basketball player receives racist message after semi-final win."
How terrible, how unspeakable. Can't say I'm totally surprised, after the severe coarsening of our U.S. culture through four years of the Trump presidency. We have seen the dissolution of the Voting Rights Act. Justice John Roberts said it wasn't needed any more, that America had progressed so far.
Can you believe it: There was a time when Republicans actually said positive things about the Voting Rights Act? We can now easily surmise that they only said those things because for the time being, they couldn't do anything about it. Increasingly, the Republican Party of America in the year 2022 looks like a major fountain of evil. The real agenda of the Republican Party is to assist the richest one percent, maybe just a portion of that, to get incredibly richer. And those people have the resources to be influencers.
So now we get the news that a North High School "Polar" basketball player got a racist message after the state tournament semi-final game. Maybe we should not be surprised, what with all the goings-on in the U.S. macro picture.
From what school district would an ugly racist message emanate? Maybe some outstate rural district full of rubes, hayseeds, reactionaries, ignoramuses, "MAGA" people? What part of the state would be a candidate for that? Oh, this is disconcerting: I wince as I scan down to read the "Fox 9" article. Is this what we all signed up for when we had a basketball team make the state tournament?
I honestly think we ought to regret that the Tigers made it that far. I was already inclined to think this because of the disruption and inconvenience caused for our wonderful music program. Musicians had a fantastic trip to Texas on the slate, several days duration. We got the unfortunate convergence of state finals day with trip departure day.
Some might say we had a happy ending: the musicians were able to leave the Twin Cities Saturday directly en route for Texas, following the third place game. Let me state unequivocably that the third place game had to be a downer. I have been around the block a few times. I mean, an afternoon game after a hard-fought semis game when we were still in contention for No. 1. The third place game not being at a "name" venue like Williams Arena or Target Center. This is a recipe for being in a funk. But the MAHS band took pains to play for the Tigers.
I am sure the music faculty acted like they were happy doing all the special cartwheels to accommodate the sacred cow athletic program. Because athletics really does rule the roost. I will suggest that the privately-held feelings of music faculty and many of the music boosters/parents were likely to the contrary of brimming with sports enthusiasm. They can't say that, would be a faux pas.
Did you know there's an old saying in a light vein, about how "the two happiest people at the end of a high school playoff game are the winning team coach and the losing team band director?"
That little aphorism or whatever wouldn't be out and around if it didn't contain truth.
Cold day, cold story
Well, time to face the reality of the "Fox 9" article this Sunday morning, when the cotton-pickin' thermometer told me it's 15 degrees. I was going to walk to town for breakfast. No-go. I wonder what people are talking about at the local diners. Or, at church coffee. Should I go to church today? According to Mark Meadows and others around Donald Trump, I cannot be a Christian because I voted for Joe Biden.
So should I quit church? Continue giving church my money? Well, I belong to an ELCA church anyway, a denomination that America's conservatives would decry as non-Christian. And there are still Catholic clergy who do not want to give communion to Biden. As if the Catholics don't have bigger fish to fry with all their clergy misconduct with children. (We had to have a priest spirited out of Morris, even.) Children! It's despicable.
While we're on the subject of despicable, let's consider the Fox 9 article further. The story is being reported in many other places too. A Minneapolis North "Polar" basketball player received a "profane and racist message on social media" after the game against. . .who? Oh, they played Morris Area Chokio Alberta.
The message contained the n-word and other derogatory language. More: "The Minnesota State High School League says school administrators from Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Schools had the student remove his message after they found out, and say the district is holding the Chokio-Alberta student accountable for his behavior."
To get technical, there is no "Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Schools." C-A still has the K-12 thing going, but they piggy-back with us for sports. C-A used to be the "Spartans."
As of Sunday morning, our school has not announced what disciplinary action it will take. Well, it's Sunday. North coach Larry McKenzie issued a formal statement re. the incident, and I'm wondering if our coach Mark Torgerson has done the same. Maybe he has but I haven't seen it yet.
Holy mackerel, who the heck even cares how the state third place game ended? I guess we lost. Maybe it's poetic justice. I think a whole lot of people would have been relieved if we had lost Tuesday to Minnehaha Academy. If we had, the music trip could have been carried out with no special distractions.
I say "hurrah" for the music program. As for sports, the emotions it engenders often do not reflect our best.
Keeping the faith
I have decided maybe I will go to church today, even if it's at "woke" First Lutheran of Morris. Fuck you, Tucker Carlson. Hey, Donald Trump uses that language, so it's no big deal, right? He called U.S. General Mark Milley a "fucking idiot." Trump will not even talk down Putin.
When will we all come out of this nightmare? When can we get the Voting Rights Act re-instituted, so we can all just get on with life in a nice temperate sort of way?
If our nation crashes and burns, it won't be because of politics anyway, it will be because of the central bank, the Federal Reserve.
Think spring? A reminder here that my new post on "Morris of Course" has renewed thoughts about the "softball complex" which I continue to see as having major issues, even safety ones. You may click to read:
A further thought: You know what? I think it's entirely possible that the student guilty of the racist thing has no regrets about it. OK, even if he says he's sorry, I wonder. Does his attitude reflect his family's? Don't rule any of this out. They may be MAGA to the core.
My late parents wouldn't recognize the America of today. Our U.S. Supreme Court has now slipped into the horrible partisan abyss, what with the news about Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginny. How can we rise up to stop all this? It's a firebell in the night.
Working hard, yes
I have worked hard writing about MACA hoops through this past season. Demands during state get intense. Am I still up for it? What about the Stevens County Times on its website? Timely, thorough updates? Are those people rolling up their sleeves? Take a moment to judge what I have done, compared to what you now see on the paper's website. People once thought I was a lost cause. How am I doing?
Addendum, shared reluctantly: In the last couple hours I have had forwarded to me the actual offending message that is in the news. I told my source I really wanted to see it, since I hate to take someone's word about the extent of offensiveness. As a journalist we just have to judge the actual content, the actual facts. So, unpleasant as it is, you may look below. Word is, the kid used a school computer. - BW
Addendum No. 2: From my newspaper compatriot of Bonanza Valley, a good friend, R.O.:
Your blogging prowess is very important right now. It will be interesting to see how the legacy media deals with this in Morris. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much, Randy. And a hearty congrats to your BBE Jaguars!!!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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