Author: DANIEL DEETS

“And in what felt like a parallel conversation, there was a remembrance of Bryant as he existed for so many others: another man who hurt a woman and moved on, untouched.”

To be completely honest from the start, I never even heard about this case. The Kobe Bryant I knew was one who was an essentially perfect role model: hard-working, dedicated, focused, and loving to his family. Never would I have guessed that there was something so vile that tarnished his image. Before I get into my thoughts on the case, I would like to say that while I understand the authors points I do think that there isn’t anything wrong with leaving out the negative sides of his life story in trying to remember him immediately after his death. I am not saying that we should forget or ignore what he did, but I do believe there is a time and a place, and while I understand the author’s points, I do feel that to an extent, it is okay to especially highlight his accomplishments rather than slip ups directly after his passing. That being said, what he did is inexcusable and unforgivable. I think that the fact that I never really heard about the case shows something about how well it was pushed to the side and forgotten. I know that celebrities in general tend to get away with a lot, despite being in the public eye. I also know that athletes get away with more, because they have sports teams backing them and trying to change the attention of the public. Combined with the all important goals of winning in sports, it makes it easier to forget when Bryant is always winning more and more and always reaching new heights, creating new excitement. I have no idea how to fix this issue; I have no idea how to ensure that wrongdoers are held accountable. I too had forgotten the sexual assault case of Cristiano Ronaldo, of which I did have previous knowledge. How do I make sure that I hold him accountable? If courts do not and they continue to reach new exciting heights that I can’t help to get excited about, how do I make sure that I remember all facets of them? I honestly do not know the answer. In that sense, I am glad that some people tried to remind the world of the other sides of Kobe Bryant’s legacy. I am glad that some people are dedicated to making wrongdoers pay for their wrongs, but I wish that I could be more like them and remember that some of my heroes aren’t that heroic.

I think that perhaps the most powerful point that Ta’Nehisi Coates makes in  “The Case for Reparations” is that reparations have been successfully made in the past. His example came from German reparations being paid to Israel as a way of making amends after the Second World War. Not only does the case show that reparations can be used efficiently to make lasting economic change for a people group, but it shows something else that is important as well: the reason that reparations are so important. The German government chose to pay reparations because they massacred a people with explicit intent to target their ethnic group. Reparations were not just an apology, but a way of trying to keep the past in the past. They recognized that for the past to truly remain there; for there to be any way to truly “move on” from the wrongs, there had to be some sort of repayment, because just saying sorry wasn’t enough. Now, the parallels between this instance and the case being made for reparations in the United States have an important distinction: the German reparations were paid 7 years after World War 2, meaning most of the people who directly experienced the war and the Holocaust would still be alive to accept the reparations; however, in the United States, there is a very common argument against reparations, saying that those affected by it died over a hundred years ago, and thus need not be paid back. While I could go off explaining the inherent falseness of this statement, I will take a different route. Rather than explaining how it is not in the past, I will explore why we are still responsible for wrongs made in the past that we did not commit. When I say we, like Ta’Nehisi Coates, I mean the American people. The American people must pay back the black community, not because the problems caused by racism and slavery still exist today (though they do), but because there is something important to be taken from the lesson from the German reparations. Reparations are an official way of making amends. They are a way of truly saying that “we are equal”. They are a way of putting things right. The American people must make amends, because whether they want to admit it or not, the racial tension in our country is not going anywhere, but the only possible way for it to do that is something that says, “we are equal”. Just saying sorry doesn’t cut it. We, the American people, must recognize that the problems of the past are our problems, because they have left deep rooted scars with a very slim option of cures.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a brilliant writer with many impressive arguments, but I think the point he makes in his “Case for Reparations” may be one of his most brilliant, because of the way it uses the arguments against reparations to prove his point. I think he and I would agree that the most common arguments against reparations are the financial impracticality of attempting to pay back every African American who has suffered under the oppression in America and the idea that we need to just forget about debts owed and move forward. While there is some credibility to noting the financial impracticality of it, the idea that we need to just let it be in the past is absurd, and Coates does a brilliant job of proving that. His point is essentially this: You cannot talk about leaving these problems in the past when they still exist in the present. It is impossible to pretend that the many forms of oppression against the black community throughout America’s history have not had a lasting effect in the present and probably the future. So Coates’s question is this: If the unfairness of the past is affecting the future, why shouldn’t something be done to make it fair? I think perhaps his most effective point regarding this is when he speaks of the redlining in Chicago neighborhoods that have created modern day segregation. Because of the oppression in the past the economic chances of black people is being affected today. Since that is the case, something must be done to fix it, and the best possible way to fix economic chances is quite simply money; money in the form of reparations. How those reparations are used, distributed, or who they are sent to is all up for debate, but whether they happen or not, according to Coates, shouldn’t be.

“We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

In my last blog post on race relations in America I spoke on the use of decoys by the United States to put up a forefront of change, while never actually legitimately coming up with a lasting solution. Both this quote as well as many points from the article furthered this belief. First, the point that the oppression of black people in America has changed but stayed the same is one example. The way that Jim Crow was removed, but the same effects can be seen today from the U.S. Justice system just goes to prove how policy makers love to look like they’ve made change (i.e. doing out with Jim Crow Laws), but truly don’t make change and continually systemically oppress specific racial groups (i.e. the U.S. Justice System). The quote epitomizes both of these ideas, saying an American caste system has not been done away with, but presented differently. I think comparing the supposed class system in the U.S. to that of a caste system is quite ingenious. The caste system is distinct for having essentially 0% class permeability. This shows that due to racial barriers the U.S. has begun to reflect these values, as the ability of many black people to rise through classes is very limited due to racial discrimination.

After watching the movie, I felt as though the message was pretty clear: become vegetarian. That’s putting it pretty bluntly, but the movie was all about how horrible the industrial food corporations are, so my first assumption was that the movie’s goal was to push me to taking meat entirely out of my diet. I like barbecues, so while I thought it was a good message, and perhaps a good source of food for thought, I never really considered vegetarianism as a legitimate option. Reading this article didn’t change my mind on what the message was, but it did change my mind on what I can do to make a difference. The article agreed with my general understanding of the movie’s message: industrial meat corporations are pretty horrible, but their takeaway was completely different, and much more manageable. Their solution was not to stop eating meat, but eating less, because in general, corporations have to look at the diets of their consumers. If their consumer’s diets change to be less meat based, then less meat will be produced. While that seems like it wouldn’t change the way that they produce, but rather simply change the quantity; the impact is much larger than it may at first seem. Meat companies have had one issue for a very long time: keeping up with demand. To do this, they have begun using chemicals and attempting things like genetic engineering to increase the size and fat content of their animals. If producers begin to see from their consumers that they want less meat, and that they want it to be more natural or organic, then they will change their production to do this. In all, the article didn’t necessarily change my understanding of the film, but added new knowledge, and enhanced my understanding of the situation.

“Did the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s usher America into a new era of colorblindness, or did it simply generate formal norms of colorblindness that mask ongoing racial domination?”

I feel that far too often, when I hear people trying to prove their non-racist tendencies they retort saying, “I don’t see color.” I always found that to be ridiculous, because everyone sees color. The question is whether or not you make judgements based on the color you see. Much like saying “I am friends with POC”, the statement used in defense is so empty, and is meant to push the focus somewhere else. This article, pointed out how, far too often, when presented with racism, whatever level it may be at, it seems the first instinct of any white person is to point the blame or focus somewhere else. To try to calm the situation down, but never to fix it. As the question in the quote asks, was America really moving into a new era of not judging on color, or was it pushing into an era where it looks like something is being done, but nothing really is? Heartbreaking news came in the case of Breonna Taylor as one of the cops involved was finally indicted of a crime, but it was for shooting bullets into the neighbors homes, rather than for the murder of an unarmed woman. Once again, in the face of judgement for racist motives, the choice was made to look for a decoy, rather than look for a solution.

WARNING: If suicide is a touchy subject for you, I would consider you watch a different music video and read a different blog as some of the imagery in this video may be upsetting.

Someone recently told me that in the creation of art, no stroke of the brush is without purpose. It is very rare that an artist will add anything to the work that doesn’t have a meaning behind it, no matter the medium of expression. The music video for Joyner Lucas’s “I’m sorry” is no different. As the main message for his album “508-507-2209”, which is the number for his local suicide hotline, the song speaks on a heavy issue. The artistic choices surrounding the topic of suicide have to be precisely planned, as he has a wide audience, in order to avoid creating misunderstandings on such a touchy subject.

The video goes through a series of events in which a man writes a suicide letter, then takes his own life. In the same scene his friend reads the letter, then later in a flashback finds his body. The song ends with an emotion packed conversation at his friends casket. 

The first thing I noticed about the first scene in the opening seconds of the video is the house they’re in. It’s clearly a very upscale house with an amazing view. As I said, no artist does anything without a reason, and this setting is no different. I believe that this was chosen as the setting for this mans suicide to show that depression and all of the other potential factors that can lead to a moment like this can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter how nice of a house you have, how much money you have, what you do with your life, etc… There is absolutely no one that won’t face depression and suicidal thoughts, and knowing that is a step in the direction of getting help. 

The second big thing that I noticed was the way the two characters in the first scene seem to be in the same moment, but are not. This first comes clear with the different lighting on their faces, despite being in the same room in the same frame. The next point this comes clear is when the man trying to commit suicide attempts to hang himself, but falls, making a loud sound. When this happens, his friend, sitting on the couch, turns to look in the direction where the sound would have been, but no one is there. I believe that the reason the author chose to portray this moment in this way was to create an understanding of the closeness or the connection between these two friends. Being in the same room and the same frame, despite being at different spaces along time points to a strong connection, so its clear that he isn’t just an acquaintance, but a lifelong friend. 

The last thing that really stuck out to me in this video was the fact that they chose to use an open casket for the funeral. With a clearly visible gunshot wound to the head, it seems that a closed casket funeral would be more viable, but this isn’t the case. I believe the artist did this for two reasons. The first I believe was just to make the message to his friend in the final verse more real. The second reason I believe is that I think Joyner wanted the audience to see the wound, not only for its literal damage, but to see the damage it could cause to those who saw it. The people in the funeral as well as the friend, are in anguish. I’m sure that the anguish would have been there had the casket been closed, but given the presence of the wound, it becomes that much more real and raw. 

This video and song are deeply saddening in many ways, but the messages portrayed are strong and important. It’s definitely something that a lot of people need to here. Generation Z has some of the highest rates of depression recorded in a long time, but as was pointed out, it’s a message for just about anyone, so it’s a heavily relevant issue to many, many people.