Culture crock

LLWS antics were unacceptable -- in any neighborhood

A significant segment of the viewing public was elated when the Harlem team was eliminated from the Little League World Series last week, which tells you right away what a mess all this has become. When adults actually take pleasure in seeing a group of 12-year-olds have their dream dashed, something has gone seriously wrong. But there is a faction on the other side of the issue that is equally misguided. It's easy to understand how kids can let their youthful exuberance get the better of them. It's harder, however, to understand the apologists who would have us believe that the Harlem youngsters' preening and hotdogging was perfectly acceptable, just a harmless product of their culture.

You wouldn't understand, the Harlem team's defenders are saying, unless your skin is dark and you've spent your days and nights on 125th and Lenox, or some reasonable facsimile thereof. You don't like the way one of the Harlem players (we're not going to name them here -- all the kids in the LLWS have already gotten more publicity than any 12 year old should) stood at second base after hitting a double and pounded his chest, yelling "That's what I'm talkin' 'bout"? That's because it's a cultural thing. You thought it was excessive when another youngster waved bye-bye to the baseball as he began his home run trot and elephant-walked his way to the plate to end it? That's just the way it's done in the corner of the world these kids call home, the apologists tell us. The Harlem kids are just keeping it real.

This is a lazy argument, and most of those who are advancing it would reject it in other circumstances. How about southerners who want to fly the Confederate flag from government buildings? Are the Harlem team's defenders ready to condone that as just a group of people staying true to their culture? It was once a cultural thing -- a white cultural thing -- to keep people of color out of institutions such as Major League Baseball. Just because a behavior grows out of a culture doesn't mean it shouldn't be challenged or criticized.

And so it is with the Harlem team's excessive celebrations, which, it should be pointed out, were brief lapses in what was otherwise exemplary behavior. Those who are trying to defend the kids' antics would do them more of a service if they explained to them that there is more than just one culture at work here, that there is a culture of athletics, too, and it calls for behavior that doesn't unduly embarrass an opponent.

What the Harlem players -- and all of the other youngsters -- needed in Williamsport was not a speech about staying true to their culture, it was a speech more like this: "You see those kids in the other dugout? They may be from a different part of the country or world than you, but in many ways they are just like you. They worked just as hard as you did to get here, and for that reason they deserve your respect. Beat them if you can, but do not rub their noses in defeat. You are not expected to play with a stone face, but you are expected to remember that your opponent did not come here to be humiliated by strutting and mugging. Play with enthusiasm, but play with the knowledge that this is not all about you."

It may be true that the Harlem players' celebrations would have been business as usual in their neighborhoods, but they weren't in their neighborhoods. There is no question that the 12-year-old boy who gave up the homer and stood on the mound as the Harlem hitter danced around the bases felt even worse than he otherwise would have. As long as that's the case, there is no way to condone the Harlem players' behavior. Respect for an opponent is also a cultural thing, at least it once was. If I remember right, it used to be called sportsmanship.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor writes about a Hot Button issue every Monday on CNNSI.com.

 

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