Friday, February 09, 2007

What Kind of American Are You Anyway ?

When I was reading about the Super Bowl I read this:
Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith will make history as the first African-American head coaches to lead NFL teams to the Super Bowl”

Then I read this:
“Lost in the celebration of the first black head coaches to reach the Super Bowl is that the first Asian-American coach Lloyd Lee who will be pacing the sidelines in the Big One.”

Then I was reading about the Astronaut that went off the deep end and read this:
An Italian restaurant in Cocoa Beach, Fla., plans to hold a fundraiser for Nowak this weekend because she was the first Italian-American woman in space.

Then this:
“Haroldson, the county’s chief deputy district attorney, is the first Mexican-American to become a district attorney in Oregon’s history”.

Then there’s this:
“As a former member of Bush's Cabinet and the nation's first Cuban-American senator, Martinez already had considerable cachet”.

Then just yesterday I was reading this about Rudy Giuliani:
“Just by running for the nomination, the former New York mayor and hero of 9/11 will be the first Italian-American to run for president”

OK my point is that I do greatly admire the people that have broken the color or race barrier in American history but I was hoping by the year 2007 America would not need to still label or make an issue out of someone’s race. I do realize we still have some work to do before we are all on a completely even playing field but for crying out loud the two head coaches in the Super Bowl did not believe is swearing or yelling at their players. Doesn’t this deserve more admiration than the color of their skin in this day and age?

I guess I just have to hope & pray that my daughter will be the first Italian, Norwegian, Danish, French, American to see a color blind society.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Martin Luther King Jr.

3 comments:

unca said...

Yes, I had exactly the same thoughts! How much more significant it would have been if nobody had said anything about the race of the two coaches and then later somebody noticed as a kind of parenthetical after-the-fact thing. I also agree that the demeanor of the two coaches is what is worth celebrating here.

Blogball said...

Yes, an afterthought instead of a forethought. That would be a great step forward.
Thanks for your comment unca.

Rob said...

remember when doug williams took the redskins* to the superbowl? every two minutes it was "williams is the first black quarterback to ________"

(play in the super bowl, throw a pass, scratch himself, whatever)



*speaking of racial issues...