Race, Fan Supremacy, and the Kaepernick Ordeal
By OTL I’ve always found the dynamic between athletes and fans unsettling, especially in football and basketball. These are sports where most of the professional athletes are Black, competing inside defined boundaries before majority white audiences. The athletes face rules that limit their movement beyond the lines in a physical sense. But even when fans, … Continue reading
The United States’ New Strategy in the Middle East
The U.S.’s strategy of war from afar is helping to make its presence in the Middle East more sustained, systematic and permanent.
A Beautiful Game Gone Bad: Race and the World Cup, Part 2
Note: This is the second article in a two-part series. Part 1, which was posted Friday, can be found here. By OTL In Part 1, I explored how the concentration of wealth is crucial to the racial politics surrounding Brazil’s World Cup. The Brazilian government is using the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics … Continue reading
A Beautiful Game Gone Bad: Race and the World Cup, Part 1
Note: This article is the first in a two-part series. Part 2 will appear on Sunday. By OTL The 2014 FIFA World Cup concludes this Sunday when Argentina and Germany face off in the Final. Brazil’s World Cup has been a lightning rod both on and off the pitch. Brazilian protests against immense government spending … Continue reading
What is Democracy?
By OTL In 1899, poet Rudyard Kipling wrote “The White Man’s Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands.” He wrote the piece after the U.S. annexed the Philippines from Spain as a result of the Spanish-American War. The poem conveyed the white man’s responsibility to “civilize” non-white peoples around the world. Kipling touted colonization … Continue reading
Critical Writing and Political Censorship
By OTL During the writing process, I occasionally find myself stuck between what I want to and what I should say. While I want to be completely blunt, I realize this is not the most constructive way to make a convincing argument. As a result, I usually conclude that finding a middle ground, where I … Continue reading
Mindless Misogyny in Men’s Sports
By OTL This April, a video surfaced showing Rutgers men’s basketball coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing players during practice. In the video, Rice threw basketballs at players when they made mistakes, and he repeatedly pushed them around. He also routinely used sexist and homophobic slurs to insult players. A media firestorm subsequently ensued … Continue reading
What You Don’t Know Can Kill Others (and You)
By OTL Epistemology has a hidden value in education and socialization. As a concept, “epistemology” began to resonate with me in graduate school. The critical inspection of our knowledge – thinking about how we know what we know – intellectually fascinates me. In a personal sense, I have noticed how my … Continue reading
Over the Line 