#991. Going Back to School in Louisville

Black people love going to school, especially high school. It gives Black people a chance to participate in school sports, get noticed by recruiters at major colleges and potentially get a scholarship and be an athlete-student.

Black people by and large go to high school with the dream in mind of one day being an athlete-student at a major, traditional white university. There, they are one step closer to playing a professional sport and engaging in professional athletic behavior.

Louisville, Kentucky, a city that is roughly 78 percent white and 18 percent Black, has for three years been host to an event that draws thousands upon thousands of Black people for free back-to-school supplies.

This give-a-way of school supplies, mere amenities in Black people's quest for the scholarship in athletics, has also been host to near Black people riots each of those years:

"Several people were injured and 12 were arrested at the Russ Parr bus tour Thursday morning at The Kentucky International Convention Center.About 4,000 (sic) teenagers and young adults poured into the streets, jumping on police cars, blocking traffic and getting into serious fist fights.

"Police Chief Robert White says they are still deciding about the future of the event.This was the third year there has been some sort of controversy at the event."

Three years now of near riots over school supplies, as Black people in Louisville are so desirous of collecting free amenities in their quest for athletic scholarships they will engage in violent behavior with no fear of being arrested. That is dedication to getting a scholarship (video of the event here).

Yet another story of the event paints an even more depressing picture of what transpired in Louisville at the free, back to school supply give-a-way and concert:

"It was violence and chaos on the streets of downtown Louisville Thursday morning. Police had to take control of a brawl that involved thousands of teens.

It was supposed to be a positive event -- a nationally-known radio host sponsoring a free concert and and back-to-school giveaway. But as the event was coming to an end, several fights broke out and things quickly got out of control.

About four thousand youth attended the annual Russ Parr concert and back-to-school giveaway at the convention center. It started out as a calm, positive event. That quickly changed as everyone left at the same time. PRP senior Nechelle Walker says, "I was dancing with my friend and then this girl came up and I guess she wanted to battle and I was dancing and she kept on bumping into me."

The Louisville Courier-Journal published a report on the event that sheds yet more light on what transpired in Louisville:

"A festive back-to-school music event that drew 7,000 youths to the Kentucky International Convention Center Thursday morning ended with several fights and about a dozen arrests.

Louisville Metro Police cleared downtown streets of youths after at least five fights broke out at the Russ Parr Bus Tour.

The event featured Parr's syndicated radio show and live music acts, including Dorrough, Hurricane Chris, New Boyz, Ace Hood, Yo Gotti, Britini Elise and Louisville's own Kenzo."

Rap performers, free school supplies and thousands of Black people is a recipe for a potential nightmare if not handled properly, and Louisville was ill-prepared - for the third year in a row - to deal with this combustible situation (photos from the Black brawl here).

As we have already learned at SBPDL, Black people do not like to be out-rioted. More so, their favorite discounted price of an item is 100 percent, so a free school supply give-a-way will be a magnet for Black people.

Stuff Black People Don't Like obviously includes going back to school in Louisville for three years of near riots over school supplies - involving hundreds if not thousands of Black people - translates to Black people's intent dislike of having to return to school in the fall.

Sadly, even the hope of becoming an athlete-student at a major college isn't enough for Black people in Louisville to refrain from rioting.

Videos of the event here and here.

Read More

#151. Riotless High School Basketball Games

A previous entry pontificated upon Black people and their love of rioting. Black people do not like to be out-rioted.

Black people love basketball as the sport offers the chance for Black people to showcase their running, jumping and ball handling skills to audiences large or small. From the Harlem Globetrotters to the any National Basketball Association (NBA) team on down to most National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) teams, Black people have long been the majority of the players competing in the games.

Basketball is a simple game with an uncomplicated concept: get the ball in the basket and deny your opponent that same goal. Black people, who some say have a genetic advantage in running and jumping - which might correlate to their numeric superiority in the NBA and NCAA - have been able to perform this task since the days of Bill Russell, Dr. J, Michael Jordan, etc. With the occasional white anomaly thrown in, such as Larry Bird or Brent Barry (more on him later).

Black people however, love to conjure up memories of their high school basketball playing days, as it is well known any person of color played and excelled in basketball in high school. All Black people at one point in their lives played and bested other people at basketball and were it not for an unfortunate injury or not making the grades, more Black people would be in college playing basketball.

Take for instance the popular show, The Office. In season one, Michael Scott (played by a funny white comedian, Steve Carell) gets a basketball game going and immediately puts the corpulent - and only Black guy in the office - Stanley as one of his starting five:

Michael: Ok, let’s put together a starting lineup shall we? Stanley…of course.
Stanley: I’m sorry?
Michael: What do you play, center?
Stanley: Why “of course”? What’s that supposed to mean?
Michael: I don’t know. I don’t remember saying that…
Jim: I heard it.
Michael: Well people hear a lot of things man. Um…other starters…me, of course! I heard it that time.

The moral of this story: never assume Black people are great at basketball, although the empirical evidence would lead to that conclusion.

All Black people fondly remember their high school basketball playing days, more vividly than even Uncle Rico did his glory years of throwing the pigskin over the mountains in Napoleon Dynamite. Thus, the reasoning behind one of the most spectacularly documented riots in Montgomery history, all because Black people wanted to recall their high school playing days.

During a game in 2008 between G.W. Carver and Valley - two nearly all-Black schools in Alabama - a massive fight broke out between the two teams and thousands of Black people in attendance:

"With 6:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and a 52-37 lead over Valley, Carver was on its way to a lopsided win.

Carver players rushed the court as fans poured over the stand onto the court. Carver players entered the melee, as more fans rushed the court to get into the fight.

The result was an hour-long delay, the arrest of several participants and a Valley forfeit.

Once things on the court were calmed, the fighting continued in the stands. At three separate intervals, fights ensued after the on-court fight ended."

Another story reported that:

"Kenneth Mullinax, Director of University Relations for Alabama State University, said "...no one was hurt. We had some over enthusiastic high school fans who got involved in an altercation..."Over enthusiastic" might be an understatement to describe the scene, as WSFA 12 News cameras captured video of players and fans being repeatedly kicked, punched and shoved throughout the event...While the exact number of police officers and security guards is unknown, video shows a scene in which officers struggled to regain control of the spiraling situation, some even appearing to give up and step back as fans in the audience rioted."

A previous entry delineated the well-known fact that Black people don't like to be out-rioted. This factoid can be carried over to High School basketball games, as all Black people fantasize about returning to the court, lacing up their Air Jordan's and playing ball one more time.

Thus, the reasoning behind Riotless Highschool Basketball Games being yet another entry in Stuff Black People Don't like.

Read More