From young we try to teach our children that hard work pays off. If you work hard you will learn your ABC’s and 123’s, and that will make mommy and daddy happy. If you work hard at keeping your bedroom clean you’ll get a sticker, and that will make you happy because then you’ll know where all your favorite toys are. As they get older we try to teach that innovation, good ideas, creativity and dedication, in addition to hard work, can pay off.  And so on and so forth, blah blah blah. But then you read aticles like this that call into question all of our ideas on the merits of hard work.Â
Miss Nevada was stripped of her title for for public displays of sluttiness, and the result is that she gets a $2 million two year contract to host a monthly show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. That means that she will work about 24 days and get paid millions. What kind of signals are we sending to our young people in the United States when this kind of thing happens more often than not? I’m not saying that people are not entitled to second chances. What I’m saying is that in order to get that second chance you should show that you are sincere and worthy. No wonder so many young black women fight to shake their “money makers” in music videos, it may pay off, or at least that’s what it looks like on the surface to young people. I think the realities are a lot more sobering. One such reality is that the former Miss Nevads is a white girl, and that may say it all. (Anyone that wants to pull the Vanessa Williams card can feel free to do so, but Ms. Williams proved that she can sing and act, so her success after her Miss America title was stripped was based on talent, and a drive to be more than her mistake.)
It’s hard to try to teach morals and values when people like Jay-Z use $1 million dollars in drug money to start a super-successful record company. Yes he’s doing a lot of good with his money and is finally starting to say and do the right thing in the media, but kids don’t see that. They see former drug dealer turned rap mogul, not rap mogul turned philanthropist. And when it comes to Miss Nevada they don’t see someone that was stripped of her “prestigious” national title, they see a girl that showed her ass and breasts and got a pretty cool job offer because of it. But maybe I’m just hating.Â
no, you’re not a hater at all! it’s very true.
I never thought the day would come that I felt way to old to raise kids.I’m old school and I don’t bother to compete with bling bling success
stories. I was raised on the belt and the bible wasn’t no room for a bling bling mindset.Parents can’t be haters these days though and sometimes thats not fair. Happy parenting!
Hater? That might be a little strong, but having utter distaste for giving special second chances is okay, I can condlude, is not that terrible. But then again, think about it AA Dad, we live in a capitalist society, which allows a person to sell their soul( bodies, drugs, morals) to the highest bidder.
I view the person(s) doing the hiring in a more critical light, moreso than the social, financially, moral inept or bankrupt individual. Most people are not born with a silver spoon, nor do some parents have the greatest parental skills.
Vanessa Williams,
http://www.answers.com/topic/vanessa-williams
I believe to this day, was crowned Ms. America because of her fair skin, and not the slighty darker Suzette Charles who eventually took over the title.
Okay, my sistas I am not choosing colors, like skins and shirts, so don’t start nothing…*smile*
i kind of think that beauty pageants have always been poor role models for young girls and women – the difference between a beauty pageant winner and a stripper is about an inch or two of spandex. but women making money off their bodies is hardly anything new, same as men making money off of being or seeming to be ‘the toughest’. both of the people you refer to – miss nevada and jay-z – seems to me they are following the most traditional gender roles, 2007 version.
Your comments made me think about one of my favorite scenes from the movie A BRONX TALE, starring Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri. In the scene, De Niro, a bus driver is trying to keep his son (Chazz P.) from the clutches of the neighborhood gangsters. The conversation goes as follows—
Boy (tearful and angry): Sonny was right. The working man is a sucker.
Father: Wrong! Pulling a trigger doesn’t take strength. Get up everyday and work for a living! Let’s see him try that! We’ll see who’s really tough. The working man is tough. Your father is the tough guy.
Boy: Everybody loves him, just like everybody loves you on the bus.
Father: No, it’s not the same. People don’t love him. They fear him. There’s a difference.
Boy: I’m sorry, I don’t understand, Dad.
Father: You will. You will when you get older.
I love that scene. It’s so poweful, packed with emotion and so much truth. Unfortunately, too many of our young people never reach that level of understanding. They never get to a point where they are able to distingush feelings of fear, envy, admiration and idolization from real love and genuine respect.
So, who do we blame? Society at large, I think.
We’ve allowed chasing the “bling” and a moment in the spotlight (however fleeting or harsh) to supersede just about everything . . . including our common sense.