Hey - if it's good enough for Obama, it's good enough for Keflezighi.
Posted on 11/03/2009 4:29:26 PM PST by Alex Murphy
NEW YORK - As soon as Mebrahtom Keflezighi , better known as Meb, won the New York City Marathon on Sunday, an uncommon sports dispute erupted online, fraught with racial and nationalistic components: Should Keflezighi’s triumph count as an American victory?
He was widely celebrated as the first American to win the New York race since 1982. Having immigrated to the United States at age 12, he is an American citizen and a product of American distance running programs at the youth, college and professional levels.
But, some said, because he was born in Eritrea, he is not really an American runner.
The debate reveals what some academics say are common assumptions and stereotypes about race and sports and athletic achievement in the United States. Its dimensions, they add, go beyond the particulars of Keflezighi and bear on undercurrents of nationalism and racism that are not often voiced.
“Race is still extremely important when you think about athletics,” said David Wiggins, a professor at George Mason University who studies African-Americans and sports. “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.”
There are few cases parallel to Keflezighi’s in American sports. Some are noteworthy because of how little discussion, by comparison, they generated over the athlete’s nationality. For example, the Hall of Fame basketball player Patrick Ewing (Jamaica) and the gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin (Russia) were born abroad, but when they represented the United States in competition, they seemingly did not encounter the same skepticism that Keflezighi has.
Richard Lapchick, the director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Hey - if it's good enough for Obama, it's good enough for Keflezighi.
LOL, you read my mind.
LOL
Does he have a US Passport? Then he is “American”. The only “ethnic” Americans are native Americans; all the rest of us are immigrants.
American isn’t a race; it is a creed. American is a common nationality united not by skin color, heritage, or birthplace but ideas.
Aw Jeez,Of course the dude is an American...came over at the age of 12... Okay so he is an Eritrean-American... What if the kid came over from Italy at the age of 12, would that make him any less than an American... If he’s a citizen, then he’s an American.
Isnt the whole point of America that it doesnt matter where you come from if you come here legally and become a productive citizen?
Otherwise, we would have to say Van Buren was Dutch, Roosevelt was Dutch, Kennedy was Irish, and McKinley was Irish, and Obama was Kenyan.
Well, I guess they do have 1 out of 5.
He is certainly an American, just not a “natural born” American. Eritrea can bask in the glory, too. He is also a man so men can be smug and people named Keflezighi, and Mustache-Ameficans.
He’s probably more of an American than the Kenyan we have as a so called president.
We're ALL immigrants; the only distinction is how long ago our ancestors got here and by what route.
I think he Crossed himself, so he;s more of a CHRISTIAN than our Muslim President.
Of course, he's an American.
Alexander Hamilton was the father of American Conservativism.
Was he “American enough?”
Which flag did he choose to wrap himself in?
he would be an Italian-Eritrean-American.........
This argument is bogus. The previous American winner (1982), Alberto Salazar, was born in Cuba.
And Bob Hope was an Englishman who died in 2003.
I’m not an immigrant. I was born here of 2 parents who were born here. I’m a native American - I hate this pc cr@p.
BTW, I’ve yet to meet an American Indian who liked being called a “Native American.” They hate the pc cr@p, too.
This is hilarious!
I’m with you.
My husband is an INDIAN and thats what he refers to himself as.
And i was born to two american born parents , etc... I may be alot of things but an immigrant isn’t one of them.
Keflezighi as a boy with his family ended up in San Diego
where he still lives.
He has a college degree, his bros and sisters are Drs. Attys, etc. and are Christians.
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