Monday, July 9, 2007
Bradley and the NY Yankees
Just so you know. I was at the Yankee game yesterday (they won 12-0) but I paid close attention to the fact that we sang the National Anthem in the beginning and God Bless America at the 7th inning stretch. Bob Sheppard (the stadium announcer) even says- "please rise and remove your caps". He also says "please join in the singing of God Bless America as we join in silent prayer for the men and women giving their lives to preserve or freedom and our way of life." I think these words are so interesting. Yankee stadium does seem to be creating an "other" mentality here. People could certainly be excluded here. I went with my older brother (an atheist, liberal, Canada loving, America hating, philosophy professor) and he even stood up. He doesn't beleive in most of what the Yankee voice was requesting of the audience but he stood anyway. I didn't ask him why but I just found the whole thing interesting. Guys are swearing and drinking beer and throwing peanuts but once God Bless America began they had to stand quietly and remove their caps in silent prayer. Interesting?
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2 comments:
Well, I can understand why your brother might have responded in that way. Sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow of things in a respectful way- not ascribing, mind you, but not distraction by abstention either.
Its interesting to me that in one inviting sentence, at something so simple as a ball game, so many people can be made to feel part of "them" rather than "us."
So, how loudly did those peanut-tossers sing, anyway? Did they know the lyrics? ;)
You know- I think about the many immigrant baseball players who partake in these MLB traditions. It would be interesting to read about how these players view their American experience, considering they are paid exorbitantly and would have had COMPLETELY different lives had they come to this country under other circumstances. Usually, when we discuss immigrants (particulary thos of color) socio-economic status is implicit in the inequalities and injustices they endure. In this case, such players have the opportunity to make more money in a year than some American citizens of the dominant culture will make in a lifetime. Studies on this would be interesting...
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