Weekend Lessons

This weekend provided us with powerful lessons. First I want to highlight the NY ING marathon. There was a study done some time ago that showed that when students were given a test and told that such and such group (racial) usually did very well on the test, the scores of the students who were not of that group usually dropped. This study was done to show that the mere suggestion that a given group was better at something than another, would serve to inhibit performance of the "not as good" group. The flip side of this study is the fact that sometimes those who expect to be on top can become complacent and sometimes tend to underestimate other people who are not expected to "win". yesterday's marathon was an example of that.

In the women's race a Latvian, who won last year, not only won again this year but also dusted, smoked, KILLED the field of Kenyans and Ethiopians who were expected to win. Why did they lose and lose so badly? One thing I kept thinking about was that it was cold out there. I never saw the runners wear arm warmers, gloves, hats and ear warmers before. No doubt that had an effect on the field. However; listening to the post race commentary, it seems that what had happened was everyone, except the winner, expected the Kenyans to win. Therefore no one, except the winner, was willing to make a move until the expected winners did. By the time the expected winners made a move, they had already lost the race. They had underestimated someone who had already demonstrated that she could win.

The mens race was similar except that this time the race was won by someone not expected to win because no one had seen a Brazilian win. Just like in the women's race everyone up to the last mile thought that the Kenyans would win. Everyone expected, except the winner, that the winner would lose steam (as happened to the Moroccan on 1st ave.). Again, over confident in their abilities and/or disrespectful of the talents of others because they had never one before, the Kenyans gave away the race.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Never let those who are expected to succeed intimidate you into given less than your 100% best. In the world outside of sports The African is expected not to succeed. The African is expected to be mediocre. He is expected to be second, third or last. He is expected to govern badly. He is expected to be the tyrant. He is expected to sell out his people for some change. And because the African is expected to be these things he fulfills this destiny. As Carter G. Woodson taught us, when the thinking of the African is limited, then his actions are known and he sees no need to exceed those limits. Indeed he will seek to limit himself in the face of opportunity.

The second lesson we had was in the form of the verdict handed down to Saddam Hussein for his crimes against humanity. George Bush said in a statement that the conviction of Saddam Hussein represented justice for the Iraqi people. If we take his word for it then what did the people of South Africa get? Weren't the crimes of Botha and his regime just as criminal? Why is it a symbol of justice when a dictator who killed citizens of his country is convicted and jailed, while it is a "shining example of humanity" that Black South Africans get to watch the people who brutalized them get off after confessing their crimes? Clearly then, there was no justice. Of course in comparison, Iraq is not at peace and South Africa is (at least compared to Iraq). If Saddam should have been jailed, then at the very least, Botha and his top commanders should have spent the rest of their lives in prison.