Alabama Leprechauns? Really?

It seems that I start off every blog by saying sorry and I can't belive that it is been so long since I have posted. So for the 4 or five people out there that actually read this blog, I once again say sorry and I can't believe that it has been over two months since my last post. A lot has actually been going on in my life but I will not write about any of it in this blog. I am going to address something that has shaken my confidence in the american people to my core.

I just recently returned from a trip to my Alma Mater and was exposed to a specific youtube video originating as an actual news story from a small media outlet in Alabama that broadcasted a story about the possible sightings of a leprechaun in a tree in Alabama.

If you haven't seen the video, here it is.



When I first saw the video, I thought it was funny but after thinking about, I got increasingly disturbed at the amount of widestream pleasure that individuals across the country were getting from the embarrassment of a group of lower-income African Americans. There is a specific line in the video that seems to be a de facto rallying cry that likens Mel Gibson's exhortation before the final battle in Braveheart or Leonidas' confident roar about the profession of the Men of Sparta. This unfortunate line served as the rallying cry for the evenings escapades for our highly educated and accomplished group of individuals. The more shocking the matter was that regardless where we were (the party bus, the piano bar, on the street, etc) there were equally as if not larger groups who knew exactly what we were talking about immediately as the phrase was uttered and responded as if it was their own call to arms.

I am generally not one to subscribe to conspiracy theories that the media is out to get a particular group of people however at some point I believe some programming manager at the television station should have said "This makes the people of Mobile, AL look really bad. Maybe we should not air it." It would not have been a huge controversy to not air it. Come on, it's a story about a leprechaun sighting in an impoverished neighborhood in downtrodden Mobile, Alabama. Is that really a subversion of free press to not air the piece? Even though this story originally aired in 2006, I am sure there was plenty of relevant and entertaining news going on that could have filled that two-minute segment which will now exist virtually in infamy.

Isolated events like this very rarely cause me to stir but the aggregation of this, the Delonas/New York Post cartoon, a revisiting of the Whistle-Tip video and the end of United Black World Month (Black History Month for the old school) has really got me concerned about the amount of pleasure that can come from the embarrassment of a group of people which seems to be disproportionately focused on impoverished African-Americans. I feel somewhat of a Gloomy Gus by harping on this. I'm always down for a funny story or a good time but at some point it goes from funny to sad. I understand that people say and do ridiculous things but does it really need to be a feature story on the nightly news. My grandmother always talked about not "airing the family's dirty laundry." Unfortunately, this is dirty laundry for evey American citizen and with the advent and popularity of youtube it has been aired to everyone in the world.

I could write more but I won't so this is what I have. It is what it is...