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Michael Jordan recently announced a new campaign he was creating to fight inner city poverty in the African American community.
His goal is to get at risk, inner city children to save up their money and to invest it in education and business opportunity.
He said that “not enough inner city black kids are trying to get a good education,” and “this has lead to far too few African American students going on to college and getting good, solid middle class jobs.”
He stressed that poor children have to have realistic goals for the future and that African American people have deal with the wealth gap between black and white Americans. “It’s time for black people to demand their fair share of the American Dream. It’s a dream takes hard work and planning for the future.”
It was a rousing speech.
It was a speech that Michael Jordan never gave.
Michael Jordan will be remembered as the greatest basketball player in history. He will be remembered for six NBA titles – that easily could have been nine or ten had he not retired twice in his prime.
He’ll be remembered for lifting the NBA above all other sports in popularity, wealth and influence.
But his biggest contribution, what he really should be remembered for is what he has done for inner city children.
He has sold them on a dream, he’s convinced them to find self esteem in a pair of sneakers. He’s helped the Nike Corporation brainwash two generations of inner city African American children to “Just Do It!” Just piss away your future! Just squander all your money on temporary, disposable shoes.
Unfortunately, Michael Jordan had a dream, and that dream was a little different than former great role models.
His dream was about dollars and personal glory. It was about draining money out of the inner city into the hands of a large corporation, owned by a white man who runs sweatshops in Asia – the lives of the workers in these sweatshops are frighteningly similar to slaves.
Somehow Mr. Jordan hasn’t noticed the irony of black people supporting sweatshop labor camps.
Michael Jordan is probably the most influential African American since Martin Luther King and he has used that influence to siphon money out of the inner city for seventeen years. I’m just wondering when he’s going to wake up.
Since this is America, a capitalist country, and cannot begrudge a person the right to go out and earn a living, but there must be a limit. A person should have a conscience.
I don’t think it’s OK to rip off children, it’s not acceptable to sell worthless land to poor senior citizens.
There are stories about Native Americans who made a fortune selling whiskey to alcoholics on the reservations.
There have been plenty of stories about ministers who convinced their trusting congregations to hand over all their money, only to learn that the minister was a fraud and their retirement savings was now gone.
Michael Jordan didn’t announce any campaign for better education, or working to break the cycle of inner city poverty.
Instead, the most influential African American since Martin Luther King has worked to brainwash African American children into squandering their money on sneakers, his sneakers, the most expensive sneakers ever made.
He’s teaching inner city children to find self worth in a disposable pair of shoes.
It’s not a crime…but it should be.
Miguel Ringler is a freshman communications student and columnist for The Cardinal. Contact: miguel_ringle@louisvillecardinal.com
