I’m a basketball junkie, having played myself first at DeMatha and later at UPenn. So I don’t need an excuse to go see good high school hoops. But combining my love of basketball with my love of seeing community in action? Last night, that proved irresistible and I made my first trip to Camden High to watch the vaunted Panthers play hoops. Now, I could write about the tradition of the school (and the clear pride its community takes in that tradition, from the returning hoops alumns to the celebration of hoops phenom Dajuan Wagner). Or I could write about the buzz in the building, and how communities need these types of galvanizing gathering places. But I want to write about a simple lesson that was reinforced by the game. That local context is absolutely critical for understanding the world we see around us.
The Camden High Panthers should have won the game. To say much more than that is to delve into the land of sports cliches. They were the physically dominant team, and the game constantly looked as if Camden High would make a big run. They didn’t, Bishop Eustace hit shots, and what looked for the first few minutes of the game to be dominant defense by Camden High turned into a sieve.
I walked out of the building thinking that what I had just seen was a classic example of a less athletic team (Bishop Eustace) baiting the more gifted squad into shooting from the outside.
Except, no one else in the gym was talking about that. Instead, they were talking about a particular Camden player (which one, I still don’t know) who had been gunning for his 1,000 point as a Panther. The hoops alum behind me lamented how things had changed since he played, how he didn’t recognize Camden, and how players were more selfish nowadays.
Not that these complaints are particularly new or interesting; walk into any gym in the country and “oldheads” will complain about the new brand of selfish hoops players. But what struck me was that he had seen such a different game than I had. I’d seen a team baited into taking bad shots; he’d seen a player who took bad shots to complete a scoring milestone.
It was a not-so-subtle reminder that without local knowledge and context, it is very difficult to interpret the world around us. That’s an important thing to remember when some look at a new KIPP school as a gentrification magnet to entice white collar workers at Cooper to live in the city, while others see it as an exploitive organization that has already bailed on the city once before. It’s important for interpreting Rutgers role in the community, both the good, and the skepticism by the North Camden community and others who often see Rutgers as trying to “take over,” not work alongside, community. It is critical for grappling with Camden’s relationship with its police force, its waterfront, and virtually any other issue.
When I ask my students to go to a local meeting, I tell them they bear the weight of history, and that they owe it to the community they are visiting to try to understand that history. I firmly believe policy-makers, particularly in urban settings where policy has been so detrimental to the fabric of communities, owe that same commitment. When entering a community, we owe it to them to understand their history, their arguments, and the way they see the world. Only then can disagreement (or agreement) be informed.
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Professor, I would like to respond in part to your blog. Your comments “The Panthers should have won the game” are confusing. Why do you think that? Bishop Eustace is a very athletic team and practices every bit as hard as Camden? Do you feel that way about every game Camden loses? But this is NOT why I write. I would like to comment on the “community” of Camden present in the gym. During the National Anthem, an ENTIRE SECTION of the Camden side of the gym laughed and talked throughout. Also, I saw 5 of their fans sitting (yes sitting) while the anthem played. And lets not forget those Camden Fans who leave their hats on. Such disrespect for our country is appalling. And whats worse is no one calls them on it. How can their community expect others to understand them when they act like they are above the very basic fundamental values such as showing respect for the National Anthem?
While I appreciate your blog, I feel that we can never understand “the way they see the world” because sometimes it is just to difficult to look at.
Thank you
Debbie,
I read your response right after reading this blog post and had two questions… 1. why did you choose to put community in quotation marks? 2. who is the “we” “they” and “it” you refer to?
Glad you took the time to write an original response and hope you’ll be kind enough to share a bit more about the specific context to your words. Take care.