picture

The picture that our group decided to take was the statue of Oscar Robinson. Oscar is a legendary basketball player both in college and in the NBA. He played basketball for Cincinnati in the late 50’s and earlier 60’s when racial tension was high. This picture relates a lot the Secret Life of the Bees because the book takes place about the same time when Oscar Robinson was playing basketball in college. He and Rosaleen were going through similar racial struggles and both were had to overcome this. Rosaleen probably had it harder then Oscar because she lived in the south and Oscar was basketball star, but he probable didn’t always have it easy.
The statue itself in placed in a location where many people pass by and can see it. In the Early 60’s many people would have had a problem with a statue of the black man because there was still people with a lot of old fashion views at the time. I think the statue itself represent more than just a basketball player but also represents a win the racial struggle. Rosaleen tries to fight this struggle in book by spitting on three white men’s shoes. Even though the law is on her side, the sheriff and still against her let the men beat her up later in jail. We also talked about this same struggle when we read Where is the Voice Coming From, when a white man killed a black man for no reason and had no remorse it. Both stories tell a lot about racial tension and this statue is almost a representation of how far we have come. Just looking at the statue, you know its dedicated to Oscar playing basketball and all his basketball success, but I think there is even more to it. It shows how he overcame peoples prejudice ways and still became one the greatest basketball players of all time. It also shows how everyone over came the prejudice views and that we now live in a more open minded country.