05-02-2017, 02:46 PM
(05-01-2017, 03:29 PM)xxlt Wrote: Ever heard of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? It was a best seller. It was also turned down by 100 publishers. So, getting a book published is no small feat. Getting one published about something idiotic is nearly impossible. And yet William Rhoden got 40 Million Dollar Slaves published by a division of Random House! So, your assessment not withstanding the comparison is not considered idiotic by all.
Here's what it says on Amazon about the book:
"From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built.
Provocative and controversial, Rhoden’s $40 Million Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of black athletes in the United States, from the plantation to their beginnings in nineteenth-century boxing rings to the history-making accomplishments of notable figures such as Jesse Owens, Althea Gibson, and Willie Mays. Rhoden reveals that black athletes’ “evolution” has merely been a journey from literal plantations—where sports were introduced as diversions to quell revolutionary stirrings—to today’s figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs. He details the “conveyor belt” that brings kids from inner cities and small towns to big-time programs, where they’re cut off from their roots and exploited by team owners, sports agents, and the media. He also sets his sights on athletes like Michael Jordan, who he says have abdicated their responsibility to the community with an apathy that borders on treason.
The power black athletes have today is as limited as when masters forced their slaves to race and fight. The primary difference is, today’s shackles are often the athletes’ own making."
106 reviews on Amazon and it has a 4.5 star rating. So clearly, it is just complete and utter bull crap. The Washington Post called the book, "Brilliant... a beautifully written, complex and rich narrative." Oh, and the book was a best seller.
Mass appeal has zero to do with whether or not the concept is idiotic. There have been multiple best sellers about how autism is caused by the mercury in vaccinations. Same with Bigfoot, demonic possession, and alien abductions. The number of copies sold does not change the fact that it is ridiculous.
Just the few lines you quoted show how silly it is. In one line he claims the power of athletes like Michael Jordan "is as limited as when masters forced their slaves to race and fight", then he turns around and rips Michael Jordan for not using all the massive power he has.
Athletes are not "cut off from their roots". The country boys often buy big farms and the inner city kids are thrilled to get out of there. How many big time athletes have you heard crying about how the NFL keeps them from living in government housing like where they were raised?
It is a joke and it is sad that people can make money from such a mockery of the horrors of true slavery.
