Friday, April 23, 2010

AML: UM-OSU Rivalry fueling King School's Silent Auction: #325 The Karr Jersey - what colors will the principal wear? - AnnArbor.com

Sometimes those in the majority take their position for granted. Sometimes minorities have to really struggle to make their voices and perspectives heard. Occasionally, when a minority group organizes, they grow in strength, power, confidence, much to the chagrin of the majority group who has to adjust their heretofore unquestioned way of thinking. Race and culture are pretty charged topics in America, but we can see how some of these same themes play out in other, more gentle, less-charged territory. For example, in Ann Arbor, we are so used to seeing “our” colors, maize and blue, that we sometimes take it for granted that anyone else might prefer other colors, say scarlet and gray.

Oops, did I just call the U-M-OSU rivalry gentle and less-charged?

One of the auction items at this Friday’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School’s Silent Auction is #325 The Karr Jersey, or the chance to make Principal Kevin Karr, who wears only maize and blue, wear another team’s colors.

Parents from Ohio State University have been organizing for months to collect enough pledges to ensure the winning bid to force Principal Karr into scarlet and gray for one day. They have reached out to each other and organized, they have grown in size and confidence, they have even contacted an elementary school in Columbus, Ohio, to help collect pledges to help their cause. Apparently the cause has gone viral. Excitement over this movement has even given young OSU fans the courage to wear their colors proudly to the school’s Friday Wear Maize and Blue Day. (click on link for more)

UM-OSU Rivalry fueling King School's Silent Auction: #325 The Karr Jersey - what colors will the principal wear? - AnnArbor.com

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