Current Event #1 There are over 1,600 people in the NFL, but none of them are openly gay. That may change. Michael Sam, a defensive end at the University of Missouri, came out to the world this week and told them that he was gay. He will be the first openly gay player in the NFL and will be the first gay player to compete in any major U.S sport. Of course, this big story is grabbing attention all over the world. With a big story like this, there are also many different points of view in the topic. There are the people that are happy for him and are supporting him, there are the neutral people who don’t really care, and then there are the people that say he is going to ruin the sport. The man that is going to have to deal with all of this will be NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Some players have already spoken about the issue, some positive, some negative. Most people have supported him, but Jonathan Vilma says that he would not want a gay player on his team because he would be a distraction. This issue is a lot like the issue Abraham Lincoln had with the slaves. Roger Goodell and Lincoln will have to be alike in many ways. During the Civil war, Lincoln had to figure out what to do about the slaves. The South wanted to get rid of them while the North wanted to keep them. Roger Goodell will have to figure out what to do with Michael Sam and other openly gay players that may soon come. He needs to be like Abraham Lincoln and try to protect him from other players harassing him and harming him. This will be tough for Roger Goodell to handle, just like it was tough for Abraham Lincoln to figure out what to do with the slaves, but if he is like Abraham Lincoln, he will find a way to figure it out. Hopefully he just doesn’t get assassinated after he figures it out!
For this blog I chose to go with social groups in America. My articles include A Russian type of face book that has hatred for the gay community, vigilante drug dealers in Boston, and Finally Michael Sam saying he’s gay. These articles are a huge deal for America today. This Russian group is humiliating all kinds of gay people. These people are even threatening to kill the gay community. Boston is starting to find more drug dealers and more people are chipping to find these dealers. Finally, Michael Sam came out to the world. This is a very brave man because some people might trash him over it. These all relate to Americas history. The Russian face book members are the present day K.K.K. The K.K.K used to terrorize the blacks and even killed them. They murdered them by hanging them burning them at the stake and many more ways. They were trying to make the blacks work for them again. The Russian face book members are attempting to rid the gay community. The Boston article relates to the rebel groups. To get back at the government they did things like these drug dealers are doing. A rebellion also happened before the civil war. Although it was stopped they kept on trying. The Michael Sam article relates to slavery. When the slaves were freed the whites in the south hated them and wanted the freedmen to work for them. The Southerners also hated the fact that the blacks and whites are equal. Straight people today believe that the gays aren’t their equal today in this world. We should just look at it this way, there will always be discrimination in this world. Don Gee
http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2014/02/14/a-symbolic-protest-for-marriage-equality-as-idaho-gay-couples-file-for-marriage-licenses http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/swimmers-students-protest-popular-prep-swimming-coach-firing-202649845.html http://wesa.fm/post/same-sex-couples-apply-are-denied-marriage-licenses-valentine-s-day Whether we like it or not, discrimination has always been a big part of America’s past and apparently our present as well. The three articles that I have chosen describe how gay men and women are being discriminated and deprived of rights, similar to how African Americans were back in the late 1800's. In my first article, Harrison Berry writes about four LGBT that couples applied for (but did not receive) marriage licenses at the Ada County Courthouse. These couples knew their applications would be denied; the action was more to protest Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriages. Still, today only 17 states (out of FIFTY) allow gay marriage. My second article is about a swimming coach who was fired after he told administration of his recent same-sex marriage. Ben Rohrbach, writer of the article, states that the man fired was not only a swim coach but he also served as a teacher and vice principal of the school as well. Even still, he was fired; just like that. Lastly, my final article is about people in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania who gathered at the City County Building, today, on valentines day who tried to get married and couldn't. These men and women were all-you guessed it-homosexual. In the article, it says Pennsylvania is the only northeastern state that still does not recognize same-sex marriage. All of this relates to the late 1800's because back then the newly freed slaves had their rights taken away and were being discriminated. Things like the poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clause denied the African Americans the right to vote and this is what’s happening nowadays. Gays and lesbians aren't able to get married in most states and -referring to the swim coach article- people even fire others due to their sexual orientation. Hopefully in the end everyone can all be equal and all have the same rights. :) Mel
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125632 http://www.uproxx.com/up/2014/02/justin-bieber-might-actually-real-get-deported/ http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/assault-on-california-power-station-raises-alarm-on-potential-for-terrorism/ David Rieck
During the period of reconstruction in American history, the former slaves, or freedmen were not liked by everyone. Some southerners didn’t even want them around at all. Today this situation is identical to Justin Bieber being deported back to Canada. However the only difference is Justin Bieber is disliked by everyone. Justin was convicted for “egging” a house. This is considered a crime of moral turpitude, which means he can be deported back to Canada. His right to stay in America can finally be taken away. Back in the reconstruction era, the south was repeatedly trying to take the rights the former slaves had away from them. In a way these two events are alike. Being openly gay today, you might not be liked or treated fairly by everyone in the United States. Just like the freedmen in the reconstruction era. They both again, were not liked by everyone and both wanted equal rights. NFL player Esera Tuaolo reviled he was openly gay, because the secret stressed him out too much. This is a first for an NFL player to be openly gay. During the years of reconstruction, it was a first to have former slaves be citizens. Finally a power station in California raised an alert for potential terrorism. Someone slipped into a vault under the power station and cup telephone cables. The terrorists of the reconstruction era were the K.K.K. They would use violence to scare and oppress the former slaves. And even keep republicans out of office. Today’s current events and events during reconstruction are not that different, but in some way the same.
Current Events 2/17/14 I chose to do 3 articles on a defensive end at the Missouri Tigers; the football player’s name is Michael Sam. According to the articles he is a NFL prospect and he was going to enter the draft, but before the actual draft he announced he is gay and was going to be the first openly gay football player. Many people said that this would hurt Michael Sam but others said it did not matter about his sexuality they said it mattered on how well he played. Although there most likely gay players in the NFL there are none that are openly gay so Michael is going to be the first. Some people that supported him were the student body at Missouri, Michelle and Barrack Obama both support him and former NFL players and some sports analyst. This is an example of Michael Sam standing up for what he believes in and not giving in to others an example of this in history we are currently learning would be the African –American population and President Abraham Lincoln. During the time of reconstruction the freedman took advantage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment and they stood up for what they believed in and showed that they believed they were equal in public. Abraham Lincoln stood up for anti-slavery he showed this by not owning slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation; also he was alive when the amendments were being proposed to congress. He stood up for the preservation of the union and his beliefs no matter what the other half of the country said. This is similar to Michael Sam because he is not denying that he is gay he is embracing it and sharing it with the public. Thien Huynh
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10468033/president-barack-obama-applauds-missouri-michael-sam-coming-out http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/02/17/kaepernick-on-michael-sam-no-one-cares-if-youre-black-white-straight-gay/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html I choose these three articles, because of how they strongly connect to the reconstruction of America. Michael Sam is expected to go to the NFL and be picked in the draft, but just last week he came out and said that he is gay. He is the first NFL prospect to be gay, but he is not the first person in a major sport to be gay. This event connects to the reconstruction of America, because it is just like what we did when the slaves became free, but now we are better. When the slaves became free they were told that they had all these rights, but really they didn't, because of other laws that made it impossible for the slaves to have full access to the rights they were given. With these law, the Jim Crow Laws, America became segregated. They treated the African Americans just like how they used to be, yet the African Americans were supposed to be free. Now decades later we as the people of America have become much better. Michael Sam is being applauded by the president for his courage to tell the world he is gay. Other NFL players are saying how it shouldn't matter if he his is gay as long as he can play. We see now that just because someone is black, white, gay, or straight it shouldn't matter as long as they can play the game. Michael Sam is showing how we have become more united and we are not as judgmental as we used to be. Jake Groller
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html?_r=0
ReplyDeletehttp://sportige.com/negative-reactions-to-michael-sam-announcing-hes-gay-02-11-2014/
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-10/sports/sns-rt-us-usa-football-gay-20140209_1_former-nfl-player-nfl-scouts-the-nfl-
Corey Pasternak
Current Event #1
DeleteThere are over 1,600 people in the NFL, but none of them are openly gay. That may change. Michael Sam, a defensive end at the University of Missouri, came out to the world this week and told them that he was gay. He will be the first openly gay player in the NFL and will be the first gay player to compete in any major U.S sport. Of course, this big story is grabbing attention all over the world. With a big story like this, there are also many different points of view in the topic. There are the people that are happy for him and are supporting him, there are the neutral people who don’t really care, and then there are the people that say he is going to ruin the sport. The man that is going to have to deal with all of this will be NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Some players have already spoken about the issue, some positive, some negative. Most people have supported him, but Jonathan Vilma says that he would not want a gay player on his team because he would be a distraction. This issue is a lot like the issue Abraham Lincoln had with the slaves. Roger Goodell and Lincoln will have to be alike in many ways. During the Civil war, Lincoln had to figure out what to do about the slaves. The South wanted to get rid of them while the North wanted to keep them. Roger Goodell will have to figure out what to do with Michael Sam and other openly gay players that may soon come. He needs to be like Abraham Lincoln and try to protect him from other players harassing him and harming him. This will be tough for Roger Goodell to handle, just like it was tough for Abraham Lincoln to figure out what to do with the slaves, but if he is like Abraham Lincoln, he will find a way to figure it out. Hopefully he just doesn’t get assassinated after he figures it out!
Corey Pasternak
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/11/russia-violent-anti-gay-groups-vkontakte-lgbt-sochi
ReplyDeleteDon
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10429030/michael-sam-missouri-tigers-says-gay
Deletehttp://www.boston.com/news/world/latin-america/2014/02/08/mexican-vigilantes-say-they-gang-held-city/hUURDNm9C5ne3msUAVpFHL/story.html
ReplyDeleteFor this blog I chose to go with social groups in America. My articles include A Russian type of face book that has hatred for the gay community, vigilante drug dealers in Boston, and Finally Michael Sam saying he’s gay. These articles are a huge deal for America today. This Russian group is humiliating all kinds of gay people. These people are even threatening to kill the gay community. Boston is starting to find more drug dealers and more people are chipping to find these dealers. Finally, Michael Sam came out to the world. This is a very brave man because some people might trash him over it. These all relate to Americas history. The Russian face book members are the present day K.K.K. The K.K.K used to terrorize the blacks and even killed them. They murdered them by hanging them burning them at the stake and many more ways. They were trying to make the blacks work for them again. The Russian face book members are attempting to rid the gay community. The Boston article relates to the rebel groups. To get back at the government they did things like these drug dealers are doing. A rebellion also happened before the civil war. Although it was stopped they kept on trying. The Michael Sam article relates to slavery. When the slaves were freed the whites in the south hated them and wanted the freedmen to work for them. The Southerners also hated the fact that the blacks and whites are equal. Straight people today believe that the gays aren’t their equal today in this world. We should just look at it this way, there will always be discrimination in this world.
DeleteDon Gee
http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2014/02/14/a-symbolic-protest-for-marriage-equality-as-idaho-gay-couples-file-for-marriage-licenses
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/swimmers-students-protest-popular-prep-swimming-coach-firing-202649845.html
http://wesa.fm/post/same-sex-couples-apply-are-denied-marriage-licenses-valentine-s-day
Whether we like it or not, discrimination has always been a big part of America’s past and apparently our present as well. The three articles that I have chosen describe how gay men and women are being discriminated and deprived of rights, similar to how African Americans were back in the late 1800's. In my first article, Harrison Berry writes about four LGBT that couples applied for (but did not receive) marriage licenses at the Ada County Courthouse. These couples knew their applications would be denied; the action was more to protest Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriages. Still, today only 17 states (out of FIFTY) allow gay marriage. My second article is about a swimming coach who was fired after he told administration of his recent same-sex marriage. Ben Rohrbach, writer of the article, states that the man fired was not only a swim coach but he also served as a teacher and vice principal of the school as well. Even still, he was fired; just like that. Lastly, my final article is about people in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania who gathered at the City County Building, today, on valentines day who tried to get married and couldn't. These men and women were all-you guessed it-homosexual. In the article, it says Pennsylvania is the only northeastern state that still does not recognize same-sex marriage.
All of this relates to the late 1800's because back then the newly freed slaves had their rights taken away and were being discriminated. Things like the poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clause denied the African Americans the right to vote and this is what’s happening nowadays. Gays and lesbians aren't able to get married in most states and -referring to the swim coach article- people even fire others due to their sexual orientation. Hopefully in the end everyone can all be equal and all have the same rights.
:) Mel
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=125632
ReplyDeletehttp://www.uproxx.com/up/2014/02/justin-bieber-might-actually-real-get-deported/
http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/assault-on-california-power-station-raises-alarm-on-potential-for-terrorism/
David Rieck
During the period of reconstruction in American history, the former slaves, or freedmen were not liked by everyone. Some southerners didn’t even want them around at all. Today this situation is identical to Justin Bieber being deported back to Canada. However the only difference is Justin Bieber is disliked by everyone. Justin was convicted for “egging” a house. This is considered a crime of moral turpitude, which means he can be deported back to Canada. His right to stay in America can finally be taken away. Back in the reconstruction era, the south was repeatedly trying to take the rights the former slaves had away from them. In a way these two events are alike. Being openly gay today, you might not be liked or treated fairly by everyone in the United States. Just like the freedmen in the reconstruction era. They both again, were not liked by everyone and both wanted equal rights. NFL player Esera Tuaolo reviled he was openly gay, because the secret stressed him out too much. This is a first for an NFL player to be openly gay. During the years of reconstruction, it was a first to have former slaves be citizens. Finally a power station in California raised an alert for potential terrorism. Someone slipped into a vault under the power station and cup telephone cables. The terrorists of the reconstruction era were the K.K.K. They would use violence to scare and oppress the former slaves. And even keep republicans out of office. Today’s current events and events during reconstruction are not that different, but in some way the same.
Deletea
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-players-early-reaction-michael-sam-announcement-mostly-030735235--nfl.html
ReplyDeletehttp://deadspin.com/michael-sam-gets-a-standing-ovation-at-mizzou-basketbal-1524335262
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24446561/obama-praises-michael-sam-for-announcement-before-nfl-draft
Current Events 2/17/14
DeleteI chose to do 3 articles on a defensive end at the Missouri Tigers; the football player’s name is Michael Sam. According to the articles he is a NFL prospect and he was going to enter the draft, but before the actual draft he announced he is gay and was going to be the first openly gay football player. Many people said that this would hurt Michael Sam but others said it did not matter about his sexuality they said it mattered on how well he played. Although there most likely gay players in the NFL there are none that are openly gay so Michael is going to be the first. Some people that supported him were the student body at Missouri, Michelle and Barrack Obama both support him and former NFL players and some sports analyst. This is an example of Michael Sam standing up for what he believes in and not giving in to others an example of this in history we are currently learning would be the African –American population and President Abraham Lincoln.
During the time of reconstruction the freedman took advantage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment and they stood up for what they believed in and showed that they believed they were equal in public. Abraham Lincoln stood up for anti-slavery he showed this by not owning slaves, the Emancipation Proclamation; also he was alive when the amendments were being proposed to congress. He stood up for the preservation of the union and his beliefs no matter what the other half of the country said. This is similar to Michael Sam because he is not denying that he is gay he is embracing it and sharing it with the public.
Thien Huynh
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10468033/president-barack-obama-applauds-missouri-michael-sam-coming-out
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/02/17/kaepernick-on-michael-sam-no-one-cares-if-youre-black-white-straight-gay/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html
I choose these three articles, because of how they strongly connect to the reconstruction of America. Michael Sam is expected to go to the NFL and be picked in the draft, but just last week he came out and said that he is gay. He is the first NFL prospect to be gay, but he is not the first person in a major sport to be gay. This event connects to the reconstruction of America, because it is just like what we did when the slaves became free, but now we are better. When the slaves became free they were told that they had all these rights, but really they didn't, because of other laws that made it impossible for the slaves to have full access to the rights they were given. With these law, the Jim Crow Laws, America became segregated. They treated the African Americans just like how they used to be, yet the African Americans were supposed to be free. Now decades later we as the people of America have become much better. Michael Sam is being applauded by the president for his courage to tell the world he is gay. Other NFL players are saying how it shouldn't matter if he his is gay as long as he can play. We see now that just because someone is black, white, gay, or straight it shouldn't matter as long as they can play the game. Michael Sam is showing how we have become more united and we are not as judgmental as we used to be.
Jake Groller