B6
February 27, 2020
The Chronicle
Madness
From page Bl
stop yelling that. It is not
the other kid’s fault that
he has more leaping abil
ity or athleticism than your
child.
Another point of con
cern is the physical threats
and intimidation hurled
toward referees. The refs
are out there for the most
part just to keep order and
to stay out of the game to
let the players decide the
outcome. Some parents
seem to think the ref is
out to get their kid or their
team. I’m sorry to tell you
that we have better things
to worry about in our lives
than to have a vendetta
out against your child.
Ladies and gentlemen, we
have lives too, and it does
not include concocting a
diabolical scheme to foul
your kid out of a game or
to fix it so the other team
wins. To try to physically
intimidate a ref because
your kid’s team is losing is
a bit irrational.
A funny story that hap
pened to me recently: a
mother yelled at her son
that “the refs are cheating
for the other team” and
“the refs obviously want
them to win” loud enough
so the entire gym heard
her. What she didn’t know
is that I am a good friend
with her son’s head coach,
so if I were to cheat for
Raye
From page Bl
more years left to go, Raye
Sr. is confident his son has
only scratched the surface
of his potential and will
continue to get better.
“This season just goes
to show, when you have a
child and you teach them
to believe in themselves
beyond their imagination,
this is the result you get,”
said Raye Sr. when asked
about his son’s accom
plishment. “As the season
went on, I tried not to get
that in his mind, but to just
anyone, it probably would
have been her son’s team.
It’s ridiculous claims such
as these that upset even the
best of referees. I made it
a point to shake the hand
of the coach after the game
and look her directly in her
eyes as I was doing so, just
to make a point, and the
look of embarrassment on
her face was all the satis
faction I needed.
One of the more subtle
things I don’t like that par
ents do is the undermin
ing of the coach. I have
seen countless interactions
with coaches and players
where the player is given
direct instructions on what
he was supposed to do, to
only have a parent tell the
player to do the exact op
posite thing. I never un
derstood the motivation
behind telling your child
to do something that goes
against the best interest of
the team.
To put the interest of
your child above the inter
est of the team is always
the wrong approach. I just
think if a parent wants to
advise their child, then be
come their coach, but don’t
tell the child to go against
the plan the coach has laid
out for the player, because
it makes them look like
they’re uncoachable.
I am a parent of a child
who participates in athlet
ics. When I go to watch her
play, I sit back and enjoy
play a team game and let it
come naturally.”
As a coach and father,
being able to witness your
son/player make history
was something he never
thought would happen,
said Raye Sr.
“When he hit the mark,
he walked over and we
were both crying like two
big babies,” said Raye Sr.
“It was a great feeling as a
father and to see your son
set a goal and then accom
plish it, is very special. I
just embraced the moment
and I am happy.”
Raye Jr. has already
watching my child do her
very best. As long as she
is having fun and giving it
her all, that’s the only thing
that matters to me. When I
see other parents losing it
in the stands, it just makes
me laugh.
As I thought about
why these parents were
acting this way, the thing
that came to mind is that
they probably have never
had much athletic suc
cess themselves, so they
are living out their athletic
dreams through their chil
dren. I guess since I have
achieved the highest of
highs in my athletic career,
I’m content to sit back and
enjoy watching my child
perform to the best of her
abilities.
It’s getting to the point
where there are coaches
and referees who have
quit simply because of the
parents they have to deal
with. My hope is that this
gets better sooner rather
than than later, because
youth sports is about the
kids, not the parents.
Sorry to tell them, but
no one cares what they
have to say, especially
since most parents don’t
even care enough to learn
the rules of the game.
Please, sit back and
enjoy the game, like all
the other well-mannered
parents, and stop ruining a
potential great experience
for your child.
begun to garner attention
from several colleges. He
is thankful to those outside
of his family and his team-
mates that have helped
him get to this point such
as Eric Ambrosio, Jerran
Foster, AJ Atkinson, Mike
Russell, Tristen Lawrence,
Richard Daniels Jr and
Dairl Scott Jr, just to name
a few.
Over the next two
years, Raye Jr. wants to
win a state champion
ship and try to eclipse the
2,000-point barrier.
Ford
From page B3
much. But also, more in
directly in the impact he
had on a whole generation
on conscious Christian
pastors in the black com
munity who I was directly
exposed to, like Jeremiah
Wright Jr, James Forbes
Jr. These were individuals
who were a product of the
challenge that some took
on to try and deal with the
contradiction that Mal
colm X, above many oth
ers, pointed out between
embracing a Christianity
that had been hijacked by
white supremacy with the
history ofblack oppression
and the problem with black
people walking into black
churches where every pic
ture is a white Jesus.
I am the generation of
preachers that was taught
by the preachers who first
were trying to reconcile
those tensions.
The Chronicle: In
the time since the Civil
Rights movement, do you
feel the trailblazers of the
Civil Rights era would be
pleased at the progress we
have made?
Ford: It’s a genera
tional gap of how people
will look at this ques
tion. I have a congregation
of predominately older
folks, many of whom are
old enough to have lived
through some portion of
segregation and I think
those who have that long
view have seen how far we
have come. I think it is a
hard sell to suggest to folks
like that, as you’ll hear
some people say, things
are just as bad now as they
were back then. I think you
have to be careful making
those kinds of broad, gen
eralized comments. What
is true is that we are see
ing a type of vitriol, a type
of bigotry that is very
reminiscent of days of old,
because the white power
structure in this country is
on its last leg and knows
it. It’s not inevitable, it’s a
matter of time.
The election of Don
ald Trump is rightly un
derstood as a white lash
against the elevation of
Barack Obama to the pres
idency of the United States
for two terms. He (Trump)
has been described as
our first white president,
not because all the other
presidents before Obama
weren’t white, but that he
ran on a just-beneath-the-
surface, latent white na
tionalist identity, persona,
profile and agenda.
We’ve come a mighty
long way, we have to go
back to what King said on
the night before he died,
‘I’ve been to the mountain
top, I’ve looked over, I’ve
seen the promise land. I
may not get there with
you, but we as a people
will get to the promise
land.’ I would say we are
still wandering in the wil
derness. I would say we
have made progress, but I
don’t know I would say we
are there yet. There are still
too many of our people
that are disproportionately
impoverished, it’s still
play-booked that our com
munities are the ones sub
ject to gentrification, we’re
still dealing with mass in
carceration, which is one
of the last battles that has
to be fought, and we have
a long way to go. We have
to get organized and united
as much as possible in or
der to finish the work and
finish the journey.
The Chronicle: Tell
me about the process of
Nationwide
CHARLES C BRUNSON
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vetting the candidates you
chose to endorse for our
local elections.
Ford: There are a cou
ple of considerations and
one of them is looking at
the challenges facing our
community and the need
for bold leadership that
will work to bring the com
munity together, but will
also speak in innovative,
creative and entrepreneur
ial ways and move in such
a way to be a key player in
helping to pull the commu
nity together and move us
forward in ways we need
to go to reach and achieve
greater equity. I have per
sonal relationships with
some of these individuals
and that’s always a reality,
particularly when you look
at the situations where
people have similar agen
das.
Second of all, it comes
down to those personal re
lationships to see how peo
ple impress you in terms
of that bold mindset. The
people that I have chose
to stand behind for those
elections that cross the
boundaries of this church
are individuals that really
demonstrate that passion,
that bold leadership, and
will move us in the direc
tion that we need to go.
IME ME BETTER TOBETHER
NORTH
TOST WORD
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
FOUNDER AND OWNER OF KINGS DOWNTOWN MARKET.
2004 BLACK ACHIEVERS AWARD (MINORITY BUSINESS)
AS A MINORITY BUSINESS OWNER. I WILL WORK T O BRING
MORE BUSINESS TO THE NORTHEAS~ WARD.
EMPLOYMENT
WINSTON SALEM HAS SEEN JOB GROWTH OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
BUT MORE JOBS ARE NEEDED.
IT WILL BEMYMISSION TO WORK WITH COMPANIES WILLING TO HIRE
RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHEAST WARD.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE WS TRANSIT AUTHORITY.
MEMBER OF DOWNTOWN WINSTON SALEM PARTNERSHIP AND NAACP. TRUS~EE
OF REVEAL CHURCH OF CHRIST & CO-CHOIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
I WILL WORK HARD SO THAT WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER!
PUBLIC SAFETY
OUR CURRENT POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS A MAIN OFFICE IN DOWNTOWN WINSTON SALEM
I WILL PUSH FUR OUR NEIGHBORHOODS TO BE SAFER BY
HAVING POLICE SATELLITE OFFICES IN THE NORTHEAST WARD
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