Under the Microscope

What does it take to have adoration, fans, money and endorsements stripped from you? Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick and Sammy Sosa can definitely give the answer to this question, but it seems like an unprecedented amount of athletes are being added to this list of asterisks and shame in recent years.

The latest names to be added to the list of asterisks and shame are Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps. Two highly regarded young athletes in their prime lives changed at the release of a picture and the issuance of a statement. Although these individuals are human and will make mistakes like any other, the crimes they committed have the potential to tarnish an entire generation.

Before the steroid plague in Major League Baseball and illegal drug usage across the field of sports, Americans expected their poster boys to be exempt from such activities. In recent years star athletes have given fans a reason to be doubtful that monumental accomplishments were achieved as a result of pure skill. Making mistakes are human and should be forgiven as a result of the person being apologetic but the individuals who are in the limelight are held to a different standard. Even though human, these celebrities are thrown into the fire whenever the slightest mistake is made on their part and rightfully so.

When athletes such as Michael Phelps and A-Rod sign their names to lucrative contracts that will pay them millions in endorsements and salaries, they do much more than just add their name to a paper overloaded with contractual jargon. When they sign their names they become a role model.

According to Webster's Dictionary, a role model is defined as a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others. So this is the problem. When you have athletes who sign their names over to be role models to kids across the country as well as the entire world, the young fans are going to imitate all they see their role models portraying.

The mindset of kids who see picture of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana or see Alex Rodriguez admitting to using performance enhancing drugs is being tarnished with thoughts that these crimes are acceptable as long as an apology is issued shortly afterwards. The mentality of this generation, which believes in having a competitive edge at all cost and using illegal drugs in order to have a good time is acceptable, will carry over into the next generation if the actions of this generation are not changed.

How do we want America portrayed to the rest of the country? These athletes have certainly not been a role model according to Webster's definition or most of American's definition. Before signing their name to the dotted line, athletes should know exactly what they are getting into. Instead of being dazed by the money, fame and stardom, they should all be thinking about the effect they will have on the future.

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Election An Educator For All

Despite of all the excitement that is being displayed worldwide in light of Barack Obama being elected president, there are still individuals who are bitter and making it evident that racism still exists in our country.

As a user of Facebook, I've read many other users' distasteful remarks about Barack Obama and their reluctance to acknowledge a milestone in not just black history but the history of the world. Freedom of speech is and will always be a right to Americans; however, some of the comments I viewed on Facebook went past freedom of speech and stepped into the area of racism.

Just like misery, ignorance loves company. The comments made by these individuals were hurtful towards not only African-Americans but the entire country. One individual made remarks regarding a long gone stereotype of Blacks saying he was,"Drinkin Malt Liquor, quitting his job tomorrow, applying for welfare and now officially supports Obama! Yes We Can." A female was quoted as saying "They only voted for him because he was black" and another person expressed remarks saying "All the hunters gather up, we have a n*gger in the White House." This last comment was made by a college football player with the Texas Longhorns and was dismissed from the team, and rightfully so, immediately after the team officials were informed of his comments.

So the million dollar question is what have we learned from this election? Of course African-Americans have come a long way from being enslaved, limited to certain areas, and stereotyped as lazy and ignorant but what have we actually all learned from this election. Although Blacks are still belittled and labeled as a minority, this election has educated many African-Americans as well as other races on the politics in America. We have all learned whether black, white, Asian, or Latino about the politics in America and we also have realized that unfortunately, racism still exists in our country. America has broken through many barriers dealing with terrorism, racism, economy, and technology over the years but our country will never be perfect. This doesn't mean strives towards perfection should not be made because progression will make life easier for Americans but my point is that racism will always exist. It will subside over time, but will always be evident.

As a first time voter, and friend of many first time voters, I realized the appeal that Obama has to encourage young and old to become knowledgeable of the politics in America. Being completely honest, his appeal to many may be that he is an African-American but let's not take away the facts that he is a highly qualified and intelligent choice for our countries highest position which is much more than I can say for his predecessors. I am much more knowledgeable of the politics in this country and foreign policy as a result of this election and my colleagues share the same sentiment. Even if people voted for him solely based on the fact that he's black, Americans dug deeper and educated themselves on many of the issues that might have otherwise been ignored.

More than ever before, I am proud to be an African-American male. There is a sense of pride amongst all African-Americans as a result of President Obama's success and we as Americans have broken down yet another barrier in our country. To all those parents who express to their children on a daily basis that the sky is the limit and they can be whatever they aspire to be, you can use an example from now on. This rags to riches story is not a fairy tale but a reality, even thought it produced the ultimate fairy tale ending with a black man being named President Obama.