When small people like Jamie Foxx tell people he is all about race they push themselves into a minority who are defined by skin color. How refreshing to hear the opposite from an NFL quaterback who shows them how wrong they are. Robert Griffin III refuses to be defined by race. He says: “for me, you don’t ever want to be defined by the color of your skin. I’m an African American in America. That will never change. But I don’t want to be defined by that”. RG3 knows the message of America is far more important than race, religion, national origin or previous heritage. These attributes define many people who need to look to America for how the world can best work. Nations have boundaries that are often bayonet lines to keep different people out. America has borders but they are open to all other cultures, religions, and races. Race is not an identifying attribute in America. RG3 lives as an American. Even better, he lives as RG3. There are many lessons for people who use their race to define them. That’s not the lesson of America where race is certainly real, but not essential. Thats why the Federal programs based on race or ethnicity pervert America. The U.S. Census Bureau collects race data. That’s too bad because it perpetuates so many wrong ideas about race and makes people more identifible by race than is needed.
Some people are trapped by their race but not RG3. Listen to RG3. He wants to be judged as a quarterback not an African American quaterback. RG3 said: ” we always try to find similarities in life…so they’re always going to try to put you in a box with other African-American quarterbacks. … that’s the negative sterotype.” But RG3 is very different, way ahead of the race based sports images. He says” He wants to just go out and not try to prove anybody wrong, but just let your talents speak for themselves. (Here). There’s a lot Obama and Michelle can learn from the quarterback. Hope they learn fast.
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