Thursday, October 29, 2009

Putting Away My Soapbox...for now.

This post was going to be a rant about racism being alive and well in Small Town, Texas. Believe me, I could hop up on that soapbox and rage on at length. I was going to write about how it crushes my sole everytime we go out to dinner with our players and hear all the loud mumbles and grumbles and whispers about "all those big black boys". I even thought about telling you that some kids actually came up to some of the players recently and told them, "We don't like your kind around here" and "My daddy says we don't like black people". But I'm not going to write about that stuff, it's just TOO MUCH.

Instead, I'm going to tell you about some really great young men. Young men who are kind, and respectful, and smart, and funny. Young athletes who are using their God given talents to make a better life for themselves. Young men who care about their education and their community. Young men who would give up a night of freedom to help their coach's wife pull off a super fun Fall carnival for the children.

When no one else would step in to help with the carnival, our players gladly stood up and volunteered to save the day. They helped run all the booths, they handed out treats, they painted faces, they played with the kids, they judged the costume contest...They did it all, and we could have never pulled it off without them! They handled themselves with class and maturity (except when they discovered the hair paint!) and I couldn't be more proud of them!
And I still love them, even though they did this to my little Knucklehead.....



4 comments:

jmac said...

Right there with ya on this topic, j. Remembering when I taught high school and would gladly haul kids around for their activities and getting them to dr appts....same voices ringing thru small town LA saying the 'exact' same things.
Maddening, I tell you.
Makes one wanna change the world but then just makes one quit, hole up and try to imagine a perfect world. I can assure you that those boys are loving every second with ya'll as their mentors...you're making very special memories with them!

Clover said...

Awesome post Crawbabes. Awesome! Looks like all your "kids" had a great time. :)

Jinja said...

You are slowly but surely combating that by setting an example of kinder, smarter behaviour for your and others' children.

Sara @ The Football Wife said...

I love that y'all hosted a carnival right in the middle of the season. What fun!

The only thing we can do to combat racism is to continue the dialogue and EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE.

Related Posts with Thumbnails