Recently Tony Dungy has been catchin’ a lot of flak about downplaying his role as a black coach. He is not a black coach, he is “An NFL Coach”. Period!
As a black man, during black history month, I am getting tired of people counting our accomplishments:
1st black coach
1st black Oscar winner
1st black person to slap somebody at his new job (just kidding).
But seriously, it’s not the white media doing this, it’s the black media or should I say, the black influenced media. It’s the urban radio stations, hip hop magazines and sport shows. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy to see people of color doing well, there is always that inner sense of pride that you enjoy; but I find more enjoyment by good things happening to good people. Tony Dungy is a class act. He is a good person, who handles himself with dignity and respect. That’s why I’m happy he won.
Here is a post written to Illseed from www.allhiphop.com (his rumors site is off the chain…and he posts everyday!).
“Matt from Belmont Abbey College wrote this to (illseed)
I thought the coach (Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts) handled the issue with total class and dignity. Its apparent that he does acknowledge the significance of being the first black coach to win the super bowl, he doesn’t want it to define him. Some in the media have labeled him as the first black coach to win the Superbowl and in my mind it diminishes his stature as a great coach. If you say that he is a great black coach, then its like saying that he isn't in the same league as the Bill Walsh's or Bill Cower's or Parcells, etc... Also, i think that by downplaying his color, then black coaches in the futu
re may not be defined by their color, and the media and the public will see them as great coaches, not great black coaches. When people finally can view black coaches in that way, it only means that society has become more accepting of blacks and more importantly blacks in a position of power. Look at Tiger Woods, they don't put "1st black" in front of any of his accomplishments anymore because they would diminish the importance.
As a nation, if we can’t get over having a black coach win the Superbowl, how will we ever be ready for a black coach to win the Presidency!
Nuff Said
-MJL
1 comment:
I couldn't agree more. I don't want my life to be defined by my race or sex. I want my life to be defined by my achievements. Let's make a conscious effort to drop the labels and start accepting achievements for what they are!
On Sunday, Harvard University named Faust the first female president in the school's 371-year history.
This new president said, "I'm not the woman president of Harvard, I'm the president of Harvard."
Enough said.
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