Barack Obama, Jackie Robinson, Doug Williams, Vanessa Williams, Jack Johnson, Robert Johnson... What do all of these people have in common. Okay you’ win if you say they’re all black. Dig deeper. They’re all African American Firsts.
Barack Obama – First Black President
Jackie Robinson – First Black Player in Major League Baseball
Doug Williams – First Black Quarterback to start in a Superbowl
Vanessa Williams – First Black Miss America (also first Black Miss America to have her crown taken back, but that’s a WHOLE other column)
Jack Johnson – First Black Heavyweight Champion
Robert Johnson – First Black Billionaire
What else do all of these people have in common. They were exceptional. They were all masters of their crafts. You could argue that it would be difficult to find someone of either race that is better than they are at their jobs. Jackie Robinson was one of the greatest ball players of all time. Doug Williams won a Super Bowl MVP. Vanessa Williams, well do a google image search of Vanessa Williams. There is an old adage (that is said for women as well) that a black person has to do twice as much to get the same recognition.
This brings me to Michael Steele. Iron Mike is the first black person to head the RNC. Kudos and congrats to him. The fact that he was a horrible choice and bad at his job really to me spells that racism is on it’s last legs. Its easy to pick THE BEST GUY no matter what his race is when there is no comparison. We’re talking about another thing when you take just an OKAY guy when other guys are available.
Lets look back at the Black Quarterback position. Warren Moon, a Hall of Famer in TWO football Leagues. Was a record setting quarterback in high school, but only got recruited to play other positions by colleges. No one thought a black guy was "smart" enough to play quarter back. He went to West Los Angeles College, again shattered records and then transferred to the Washington Huskies. His senior season Warren led the Huskies to a gigantic upset of heavily favored Michigan. Even with all that and back then 11 rounds (the NFL only has 7 rounds today) of the draft he went undrafted.
Warren went to the CFL and won five straight Grey Cups, shattered every conceivable record by a quarterback in the Canadian Football League. He was PHENOMENAL. Finally the Houston Oilers gave him a shot. 9 Pro Bowls, and a Man of the Year award Later he went to the Hall of Fame.
The enduring legacy of Warren Moon isn’t what he did but what he allowed. 20 Years later Akili Smith was drafted out of the University of Oregon with the 3rd pick of the draft. Several years later Akili Smith followed the great tradition of many great white quarterbacks such as Ryan Leaf, Cade McNown, and Jim Druckenmiller, he washed out.
This brings me to Michael Steele. Barack Obama is (hopefully) Warren Moon. He’s the bright shining star who seems to be more talented than anyone playing the game right now. How many times have you read the headlines over the last few months and said "Thank God, he’s President (or thank Humankind)." What Barack has done, excuse me, President Obama has done is set the stage so true equality can take place. True equality isn’t there when the head and shoulders above the crowd guy gets the job, true equality happens when in a field of maybes and also rans somebody says maybe that guy can’t be any worse than the guy at the Whites Only Golf Course.
Thank you Michael Steele, and keep up the great work.