Barack Obama’s historic win in the presidential election is
changing the way many people see a path to success in America. Josh
Koehn examines the role sports have played in advancing the lives
of many minorities, and how Obama represents a new role model.
Sports have been considered the great equalizer in American society over the last century.
Through the efforts of a great many to integrate games played predominantly by white male athletes, a person’s talent, intellect and determination became the overriding factor when deciding if someone was worthy of stepping inside the lines. Race took a backseat until the final bell, whistle or buzzer.
From Jack Johnson becoming the first African American heavyweight champion of the world in 1908 to Jim Thorpe, a Native American, becoming widely recognized as the nation’s greatest all-around athlete in the in the first half of the 20th century to Jackie Robinson breaking the professional sports color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, each man’s skill and athletic ability outweighed the limitations set forth by our country’s shameful social restrictions.
Athletic gifts granted these men access to arenas whose doors had never before been opened to those of a certain skin color.
But following Tuesday’s presidential election, in which Barack Obama became the first minority selected to hold the highest office in the land (and the world, no less), the idea that sports are a microcosm of society has been flipped on its head. As red states became blue, and people of all colors took to the polls, American society took a giant step toward becoming a microcosm of sports.
Obama has now leveled the playing field in every respect. The saying that a child can grow up to be anything they want has never been more honest.
“For me, personally, sports have always been about ‘you work hard you might make it to the NFL, or you work hard you can play basketball, or get a gold medal in the Olympics,’ ” Anchorpoint Christian football coach K.C. Adams said. “Those are the things I was always told as an athlete. But I was never told you can be president.”
As an African-American, Adams believed growing up “it’s gonna be a cold day in hell before there’s a black president.”
It was only 40 years ago that Marlon Briscoe became the first minority to be given a chance to play quarterback in the NFL. Twenty years ago, Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl. Until recently, there was a perception by some that skin color made a player incapable of succeeding at the most difficult position in sports.
It’s not hard to imagine Gilroy native Jeff Garcia, who is of Mexican descent, being discounted by NFL executives of the past for something other than his slight frame.
But four decades since Briscoe took control of a huddle, Americans now feel comfortable letting a person who doesn’t look like the 43 men who preceded him call the shots.
“I firmly believe that he has been chosen as the one to do that,” Briscoe recently told the Rocky Mountain News in reference to Obama, “and I believe, after 40 years, somehow I was chosen to do that.”
The impact of both men, and those that came before them, has given and will give every child – white, black, brown, whatever – the confidence that they can choose to be whatever they want. Nothing is beyond their reach.
“My mom was telling me and my little brother, now we won’t be looked at just because we can play sports (well),” said Lelan Gettys, a senior receiver for Gilroy High. “I’ve been hearing it (from friends), ‘next there’s going to be a Mexican president.’
“It just opens up the door for everybody,” he added, pointing to a group of fellow football players. “You look at this table right here, you got Asians, Mexicans, Indians, white, black …”
Adams has a similar makeup to his own roster, and while a presidential election has nothing to do with schemes on the football field, a coach’s role is as much about motivation and inspiration as it is X’s and O’s.
“I’m always preaching academics, ‘don’t think too much about sports, you could own a company,’ ” Adams said. “Making it in football or basketball, the chances are one in a gazillion. You can say to a minority now, ‘the sky is the limit.’ ”
But similar to making it in sports, nothing will be given. And for Obama, nothing was.
“I haven’t come off my high from his winning, not so much for his color, but the eloquence of how he’s done it,” Adams said. “The big part for me is there’s an intelligent man there who’s the leader of our country.”
When Branch Rickey, the General manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, first told Robinson of his plan to make him the first African American ballplayer not confined to the Negro Leagues, he was honest about the challenges ahead.
“Jackie, we’ve got no army,” he said. “There’s virtually nobody on our side. No owner, no umpires, very few newspapermen. And I’m afraid that many fans may be hostile. We’ll be in a tough position. We can win only if we can convince the world that I am doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, and a fine gentleman.”
News clips will occasionally show Obama possessing a jumpshot that hints at some remaining athletic ability, but his accomplishment in being elected president has nothing to do with sports. His accomplishment is simply the finest example our country has ever put forth to show that sports aren’t the only avenue.
