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The roots of white anxiety
The roots of white anxiety
In March of 2000, Pat Buchanan came to speak at
Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. Harvard being Harvard, the audience
hissed and sneered and made wisecracks. Buchanan being Buchanan, he gave as
good as he got. While the assembled Ivy Leaguers accused him of homophobia and
racism and anti-Semitism, he accused Harvard – and by extension, the entire
American elite – of discriminating against white Christians.
A decade later, the note of white grievance that
Buchanan struck that night is part of the conservative melody.
You can hear it when Glenn Beck accuses Barack
Obama of racism, or when Rush Limbaugh casts liberal policies as an exercise in
“reparations.” It was sounded last year during the backlash against Sonia
Sotomayor’s suggestion that a “wise Latina” jurist might have advantages over a
white male judge, and again last week when conservatives attacked the Justice
Department for supposedly going easy on members of the New Black Panther Party
accused of voter intimidation.
To liberals, these grievances seem at once
noxious and ridiculous. (Is there any group with less to complain about, they
often wonder, than white Christian Americans?) But to understand the country’s
present polarisation, it’s worth recognizing what Pat Buchanan got right.
Last year, two Princeton sociologists, Thomas
Espenshade and Alexandria Walton Radford, published a book-length study of
admissions and affirmative action at eight highly selective colleges and universities.
Unsurprisingly, they found that the admissions process seemed to favor black
and Hispanic applicants, while whites and Asians needed higher grades and SAT
scores to get in. But what was striking, as Russell K. Nieli pointed out last
week on the conservative website Minding the Campus, was which whites were most
disadvantaged by the process: the downscale, the rural and the working-class.
This was particularly pronounced among the
private colleges in the study. For minority applicants, the lower a family’s
socioeconomic position, the more likely the student was to be admitted. For
whites, though, it was the reverse. An upper-middle-class white applicant was
three times more likely to be admitted than a lower-class white with similar
qualifications.
This may be a money-saving tactic. In a footnote,
Espenshade and Radford suggest that these institutions, conscious of their
mandate to be multiethnic, may reserve their financial aid dollars “for
students who will help them look good on their numbers of minority students,”
leaving little room to admit financially strapped whites.
But cultural biases seem to be at work as well.
Nieli highlights one of the study’s more remarkable findings: While most extracurricular
activities increase your odds of admission to an elite school, holding a
leadership role or winning awards in organizations like high school ROTC, 4-H
clubs and Future Farmers of America actually works against your chances.
Consciously or unconsciously, the gatekeepers of elite education seem to incline
against candidates who seem too stereotypically rural or right wing or “Red
America.”
This provides statistical confirmation for what
alumni of highly selective universities already know. The most underrepresented
groups on elite campuses often aren’t racial minorities; they’re working-class
whites (and white Christians in particular) from conservative states and
regions.
Inevitably, the same under representation
persists in the elite professional ranks these campuses feed into: in law and
philanthropy, finance and academia, the media and the arts.
This breeds paranoia, among elite and non-elites
alike. Among the white working class, increasingly the most reliable Republican
constituency, alienation from the American meritocracy fuels the kind of racially
tinged conspiracy theories that Beck and others have exploited – that Barack
Obama is a foreign-born Marxist hand-picked by a shadowy liberal cabal, that a
Wall Street-Washington axis wants to flood the country with third world immigrants,
and so forth.
Among the highly educated and liberal, meanwhile,
the lack of contact with rural, working-class America generates all sorts of
wild anxieties about what’s being plotted in the heartland. In the Bush years, liberals
fretted about a looming evangelical theocracy. In the age of the Tea Parties,
they see crypto-Klansmen and budding Timothy McVeighs everywhere they look.
This cultural divide has been widening for years,
and bridging it is beyond any institution’s power. But it’s a problem
admissions officers at top-tier colleges might want to keep in mind when
they’re assembling their freshman classes.
If such universities are trying to create an
elite as diverse as the nation it inhabits, they should remember that there’s
more to diversity than skin color – and that both their school and their
country might be better off if they admitted a few more ROTC (Reserve Officer
Training Corps) cadets, and a few more aspiring farmers.
© 2010 New
York Times News Service
Treating female footballers with respect
Treating
female footballers with
respect
With the World Cup
fever well and truly over (my daughter was the first to declare how
happy she is at having her mother back), transfer news across various
European clubs is now the main activity guaranteed to give the
obligatory dose of football.
Having previously
intended to jot down my thoughts on the transfer excitement, and
perhaps elicit some more sympathy from readers as the long wait for the
start of the European football season continues, I’ve had to do a
complete about-turn. Reading through the sports pages in NEXT, I came
across the story of the female under-20 football team, the Falconets.
The main thrust of the article was about the disparity in match bonuses
in female soccer. The Falconets are currently playing in the FIFA
Women’s U-20 World Cup being held in Germany and have drawn their first
game (coming from behind to do this) and won the second.. It was
therefore more than a little surprising to read that the match bonus
for winning is a measly $500.
Now don’t get me
wrong, playing for your national team is not about making money. It
should be for the pride and fulfilment each player feels at
representing the nation; apparently the Super Eagles were offered
$30,000 for winning a match in the just concluded World Cup. On the
side of football administration, this speaks volumes about the attitude
to female football. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as the last
census reported, the ratio of male to female in the population is
approximately 1:1. It is therefore just as likely that as many young
girls as boys will be interested in going into sports. Is this the
NFF’s way of encouraging young girls who want a career in football? Is
this Nigeria’s way of encouraging girls who want to carve out a
sporting career? How ironic that Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medal was
won by a woman, Chioma Ajunwa.
Encouraging the ladies
Every day there are
reports about the rot in Nigerian football, with very little changing
as the years go by. This just adds to the whole sorry tale. This
disparity between men and women’s football cannot be justified. There’s
been an obscene amount spent on the Super Eagles’ World Cup campaign,
with unfortunately absolutely nothing to show for it. It has been said
that football is traditionally a men’s sport and it would be hard for
women to break into it or to gain the same following. The fact that
some have obviously done so puts paid to that. If against the odds, the
Falconets can continue to qualify for the World Cup and more often than
not, make it into the knockout stages, surely they ought to be
encouraged. Who could blame them if they decide to adopt new
nationalities for the purpose of better exposure, training and medical
facilities? We have to ask questions of the NFF and what they plan to
do to change the current state of affairs in female football.
Speaking of the NFF, the executive committee only has one female
member, as shown on their website. The only other female listed is the
Head of Administration. It would be hard to convince anyone that the
Head of Administration is the change agent needed to build female
football in Nigeria. And change is what is desperately needed: the
contribution that women players make to the game has to be recognised
and more support needs to be given to the game. Attitudes need to
change. With more support, the game can improve and followership will
also improve. In the meantime, we continue to cheer our Falconets on to
greater glory.
Falconets make the quarters again
Falconets
make the quarters
again
After a nail-biting
final ten minutes, Nigeria’s U-20 female national team drew 1-1 with
their opponents from Mexico to qualify for the quarter finals. The
Falconets have now made it to the quarter finals for the fourth time
since the inception of the age-grade tournament in 2002.
The Nigerian team
started very well and got their just reward when Ebere Orji scored the
opener in the 13th minute. Orji had made two assists in previous
matches. The sequence of events that led to the goal was fortuitous, to
say the least.
Mexican keeper,
Cecilia Santiago, mishandled a lame shot from Amarachi Okoronkwo to
give the Falconets a corner kick in the 12th minute. The resultant kick
was knocked back across the goal by Esther Sunday, and Orji gratefully
tucked the cross into an empty net.
Orji almost doubled
the lead in the 22nd minute when her speculative cross helped by
Jabulani’s flight completely fooled Santiago, but the cross bar saved
the Mexican goal tender’s blushes.
Another three-woman move in the 27th minute created a shooting opportunity for Amarachi Okoronkwo, but she shot wide.
At that point, it
was complete control by the Nigerian team with the duo of Martina
Ohadugha and Amarachi Okoronkwo marshalling the midfield with Alaba
Jonathan, Falconets goalkeeper, virtually on holiday.
Mexico resurgent
That scenario
changed in the second half as the Mexcan coach, Roberto Medina, made
changes to chase the equaliser. At the beginning of the second half,
Japan were leading England 1-0 and any further goal by the opposition
would have relegated them out of the competition.
Another reason for the increased pressure on the Nigerian team may have been the removal of the goal scorer, Ebere Orji.
Her replacement,
Ngozi Ebere, was however, replaced 22 minutes later by Uchechi Sunday,
as Coach Adat Egan continued to tinker his team. At this point, James
Peters, assistant secretary general (Technical), was the cynosure of
all eyes as he apparently took over the coach’s job. He was parading
the technical zone, shouting and gesticulating at the players, and the
girls must have begun to wonder if Egan had been sacked from the bench.
The Mexican team
continued to press and finally the pressure paid off. In the 75th
minute, Osinachi Ohale needlessly conceded a corner kick when she had
time to make a back-pass to her goalkeeper.
There followed a
sequence of three corner kicks. After missed clearances in the Nigerian
box, Alina Garciamendez smashed an unstoppable volley into the top
right-hand corner.
Nigeria then had to hang on as news filtered in that Japan had
beaten England 3-1. The two teams finally settled for the 1-1 draw that
saw them qualify for the quarter final to face teams from Group D on
Sunday in either Augsburg or Dresden.
Yakubu, Kaita out of Korea friendly
Yakubu, Kaita out of Korea friendly
It seems Aiyegbeni
Yakubu and Sani Kaita have not been forgiven for their respective roles
in the Super Eagles’ failure to advance beyond the group stage of the
last World Cup tournament in South Africa, as they have both been left
out of the national team’s upcoming international friendly against
South Korea.
Yakubu generally
had a poor tournament in South Africa, and fell from the spotlight
after fluffing a gilt-edged chance in the Super Eagles 2-2 draw against
South Korea while Kaita, for his part, incurred the wrath of Nigerian
football fans after getting sent off in the 2-1 defeat to Greece.
Also left out of
the encounter scheduled to take place in the South Korean capital,
Seoul on August 11 was Joseph Yobo, who skippered the Super Eagles in
their opening two games of the World Cup, and the legendary Nwankwo
Kanu, who recently denied reports that he had called it quits with
international football.
Unlucky 13
In all, 13 players
from the South Africa World Cup 2010 squad were excluded from the
35-man squad named for the friendly against the Taeguk Warriors, but
there was a place for goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who had a remarkable
tournament, and nine other survivors of the World Cup squad.
They are Haruna
Lukman, Dickson Etuhu, Danny Shittu, Obafemi Martins, Danny Shittu,
Obinna Nsofor, Kalu Uche, Ayodele Adeleye and Uwa Echiejile.
John Obi Mikel, who
missed out on the World Cup with an injury, was recalled along with Ike
Uche, whose chances of playing at the World Cup were not helped by the
fact that he only returned from a long injury-induced layoff a few
weeks before the commencement of the tournament. Also recalled was
Joseph Akpala, as well as Lobi Stars of Makurdi full-back Terna Suswan,
who was one of the last players to be dropped from the World Cup bound
squad by the team’s technical crew. Suswan tops the list of 22 players
invited from the Nigerian Premier League which also includes Kano
Pillars’ Ahmed Musa, who scored a record 18 goals this season, and who
featured for the Super Eagles at the last WAFU Nations Cup hosted in
Nigeria. Also invited was goalkeeper Bassey Akpan, Solomon Okpako,
Gbolahan Salami and King Osanga.
All the players from the domestic league are expected to arrive in Abuja on Friday.
Federation boss drums support for Flying Eagles
Federation
boss drums support for Flying
Eagles
As the national
U-20 team, the Flying Eagles get set for their African Youth
Championship qualifying match against Guinea’s U-20 side this Saturday,
President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari, has called
on Nigerians to turn out en-masse at the National Stadium, Abuja, to
cheer the team to victory.
Aside games
involving the Super Eagles, Abuja residents rarely throng the stadium
when other national teams are playing with many always complaining
about the location of the stadium which is outside the city centre.
They have also complained about the high gate fees and the NFF has as a
result fixed the price at N100 and N200 so as to allow as many
Nigerians as possible to turn out for the match which is the first on
the road for the Flying Eagles as they seek for place in the FIFA U-20
World Cup finals coming up in Colombia next year. The Flying Eagles
have been training in Abuja ahead of the game and according to Maigari,
only need good support from the stands to overcome their opponents in
the crunch game.
“The team has
trained very well and I can tell Nigerians that this team is ready for
the match,” he said. “The technical crew has been doing great work. But
we are appealing to Nigerians to come to the Stadium in large numbers
on Saturday and give the team support. I spoke to the players and they
said they are ready for the battle, and that all they just want to see
are people cheering them from the stands. We believe that our people
will turn out in their numbers to come and support the team.”
From Eaglets to Flying Eagles
The bulk of the
Flying Eagles consists of the Golden Eaglets that finished as
runners-up at last year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria. The
team’s coach John Obuh has since then led his boys to victories in two
different Four-Nation Invitational Tournaments in South Africa and
Egypt. “This is a match we must approach with all seriousness. I have
had reports on the Guinean team and I know they are good,” said Obuh,
whose assistant Abimbola Samuel was sent to watch the Guineans’
preliminary round qualification fixture against Togo in Lome and
Conakry. Already in the country are the match officials for the game
who arrived from Burkina Faso on Wednesday while the match commissioner
Laryea Louis is expected to fly in from Ghana on Thursday.
Odegbami free to contest, says Bio
Odegbami free to contest, says Bio
Reports suggesting that Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Bio, has
disqualified ex-international Segun Odegbami from contesting election into the
board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have been described as untrue.
Olukayode Thomas, Media Consultant to the minister, said such
reports were fabricated by individuals seeking to put the minister and Odegbami
on a collision path. “There is no iota of truth in the story, the minister did
not issue such directive,” he said.
“It is the imagination of some people who want to cause
confusion or disrupt the election. Odegbami, and other member of the Task Force
who have signified their intention to contest in the coming election, are
Nigerians who have every right to contest any position in the country, and Bio
will not deny them of their rights to contest elections into the board of NFF
or any elective position they want to contest for in future.”
Thomas went on to explain that the minister is interested in having
credible, transparent, free and fair elections that will produce a board that
every Nigerian will be proud of.
“Bio is not backing any candidate, and he has vowed not to back any, but
like most Nigerians, he wants on the new NFF board eminent Nigerians who will
run football like business, so that the sport will be less dependent on
government for funding in the nearest future,” he said. “Bio strongly believes
that football can fund itself once we have a credible board.”
The NFF elections have been slated for August with several candidates
already in the race to direct the affairs of Nigerian football for the next
four years.
Taiwo close to Madrid switch
Taiwo close to Madrid switch
Super Eagles defender Taye Taiwo is close to completing a switch
from French champions Olympique Marseille to Atletico Madrid, according to the
BBC.
The Nigerian left-back, who has been tipped to move away from
Marseille in search of first team football, after he lost his place in the
Marseille side when Argentina international Gabriel Heinze was shifted from
centre half to full back towards the end of last season, is expected to
finalise the deal on Wednesday.
The news arrived hours after Marseille’s president Jean-Claude
Dassier was quoted in The Daily Mail saying that Taiwo will remain with the
club till the end of the season regardless of whether he decides to renew his
contract, which runs out at the end of the season, with the Frenchside.
But the BBC in its report said the Nigerian is on the verge of
joining the Europa League champions who had earlier had a £4.2 million bidfor
Taiwo rejected by Marseille.
Close to completion
According to the player’s agent Michael Coker, only minor
details between both clubs need to be sorted out.
“I’m presently in Madrid now and everything is almost done,”
Coker told the BBC on Tuesday.
“I have been in a long meeting with the club director [Jesus
Pitarch], and they are excited knowing everything is almost sorted out.
“We had little challenges at some point but right now everything
is back on track with the player and clubs involved.”
The 25-year-old joined Olympique Marseille from Nigerian side
Lobi Stars in 2004 and was a regular at the club until last season.
He won the French double with Marseille last season.
Liverpool and Tottenham were also interested in Taiwo and last
week he declared his desire to join the London based Tottenham to boost his
chances of regular first team football.
Success story
Atletico Madrid, who goes by the nickname Los Colchoneros or The
Mattress Makers due to their first team stripes being the same colors as
old-fashioned mattresses, is one of the most successful clubs in Spain, having
won both the league and cup on nine occasions, including a double in 1996.
The club also won the old European Cup Winners Cup in 1962, and in May this
year ended their 48-year wait for continental honours by defeating Fulham 2-1
in the Europa League final in Hamburg.
Brazil revs up World Cup preparation
Brazil revs up World Cup preparation
The Brazilian government announced measures on Monday to speed
up preparations to host the soccer World Cup in 2014, boosting spending and cutting
red tape for public works projects.
The move follows growing concern in recent weeks, including by
the soccer world governing body FIFA, that preparations for the sporting event
were seriously delayed.
The debate put the spotlight on numerous obstacles to investment
in Brazil’s fast-growing economy, and angered President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva, who has been touting the tournament as an accomplishment of his
government ahead of October’s presidential election.
Brazil will also host the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In a signing ceremony arranged at short notice, Lula pledged 5.5 billion reais
to revamp airports in the 12 cities that will host the soccer tournament. He
also lifted restrictions on the ability of cities to raise debt to pay for infrastructure
such as roads, stadiums and trains.
Lula, who called some of the concerns senseless, said the latest measures
would avoid problems Brazil had with funding the 2007 Pan-American Games in Rio
de Janeiro.
The federal government also donated real estate and earmarked 740 million
reais on Monday to allow seven cities, including Rio de Janeiro, to overhaul
their ports and facilitate docking of large cruise ships. “Certainly it will be
an alternative to the lack of hotels,” said Pedro Brito, the ports minister.
Lula blamed the Sao Paulo state government, which until April was run by the
opposition presidential candidate Jose Serra, for failing to provide an
adequate stadium to host the World Cup. “Frankly, I can’t imagine a World Cup
in Brazil without Sao Paulo as one of the corners for athletes to play ball,”
Lula said during the ceremony in the capital Brasilia.
Ribery, Benzema questioned on under-age escort girl
Ribery, Benzema questioned on under-age escort girl
French police investigating a prostitution network questioned
soccer stars Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema in custody on Tuesday about the
alleged soliciting of sex with a minor, police said.
The police had postponed the hearings at the headquarters of the
Paris vice squad until after the World Cup, in which Ribery, a winger for
Bayern Munich, was part of France’s disastrous campaign.
Ribery was France’s most popular player before the World Cup
fiasco, in which France were eliminated in the first round without winning a
match, and he took part in a revolt by players who boycotted a training session
before their final game.
French media have suggested the players were clients of a
nightclub in Paris’s posh Champs-Elysees district that allegedly featured
escorts, including the under-18 girl at the centre of the affair.
Ribery was questioned in April about his ties with the boss of
an escort girls’ network, according to his lawyer. The player himself has made
no comment about the affair.
Real Madrid striker Benzema’s agent has previously told Reuters
his client had never been to that nightclub, and the player himself told French
television he had done nothing wrong.
The scandal, which gripped France ahead of the World Cup, took a
new twist in late April when the young woman at the centre of the case gave a
lengthy interview to Paris Match magazine, implicating several footballers and
denying being a prostitute.
France striker Sidney Govou, who has just moved from Lyon to
Panathinaikos of Greece, was also questioned by police in April about the
incident.
