Blogs home The Irish Chronicles

Racial Dispute Over New York Marathon

Image

Is the New York marathon winner American enough?

Yes, there is an online sports dispute on Mebs win, the question being, should Keflezighi’s triumph count as an American victory?

His family immigrated to the United States when he was twelve. Which means that, yes, he is a citizen. But that doesn’t stop the argument that because he was born in Eritrea he is not really American.

Is there still racism in this country? Does a bear shat in the woods? David Wiggins who is a professor at George Mason University, who teaches African-Americans and sports, has this to say about it.

“Race is still extremely important when you think about athletics. There is this notion about innate physiological gifts that certain races presumably possess. Quite frankly, I think it feeds into deep-seated stereotypes. The more blatant forms of racial discrimination and illegal forms have been eliminated, but more subtle forms of discrimination still exist.”

“On the other hand, he is an excellent representative of how we import everything we need!” was one comment on the New York Times online site. Yep, “we” went to Eritrea and saw this boy when he was twelve and immediately brought him and his family to this country, knowing that twenty-two years later he would win the (Deion wanted you all to know this so he walked across the laptop: “ .l;////////////// RRRR11/3/09`”) marathon.

Right on, Deion!

John Hoberman, professor at the University of Texas at Austin thinks that because the distance runners from Kenya and Ethiopia are so gifted there is now the myth that somehow their have a special gene that the rest of us don’t have.

So, why are there people out there debating what a “true” American is? What does it mean?

November 3, 2009

The Irish Chronicles