Civil Rights Movement brought to you by Gillette

Last night I attended "The Civil Rights Game" at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati between the hometown Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. The official title of the game was the "Gillette Civil Rights Game". Apparently, civil rights in America means everyone has the right to shave. I cannot think of a more obvious sign of how shallow this country's interest in civil rights is than to have it turned into a corporate slogan, one that creates an inane and non-existent connection between social justice, razors, and corporate profit.

The game was a hollow ceremony propped up by kitsch and sentimentality. Elderly athlete celebrities (nothing more inspiring than really old jocks waving at people they have no social connection to) who were once civil rights icons from decades ago were paraded around the outfield so people could look at them and clap. Social courage at its finest.

The teams wore "throwback" uniforms as though that somehow teleported all of us back to a time (before I was even born) when civil rights were something Americans took seriously and made a central part of their life's purpose (and when professional athletes just made a pretty good living like many other citizens instead of millions while lots of their fans are losing their jobs). Like anything else progressive or democratic, Civil Rights has become something to symbolize and archive as part of the past rather than a pillar of our culture that we Americans have kept vibrant and adapted to today's society.

I'm sure that Billy Jean King and Willie Mays waving to thousands of people who were texting, drinking, and pissing at the time generated such shock waves that Arizona will secede from the Major Leagues.