As an African-American growing up, there was always an emphasis on sports from my community and friends. Even now when I turn on the television, the most heavily reinforced images of successful black men are sports figures.
The latest news has been surrounding Kobe Bryant’s $48 million two-year contract extension. Prior to that, all of the attention was about Floyd Mayweather Jr., as he was featured in Forbes magazine as the highest-paid athlete in the world for the second straight year, earning an estimated $85 million in 12 months.
These numbers are very high, especially to young black males who grow up in poverty, but it sends the wrong the message to them.
The media seem to always fail to mention that these two guys are tremendously gifted athletes who come around about once in a lifetime. Most black kids take from this the message that the only way to make this type of money is to hit the genetic lottery and have super-athletic abilities. That is not true.
As a society, we idolize sports figures and teach black men, through symbolism and media, to dream about contributing to society through athletics, while the other ways that black men can contribute to society do not garner attention.
We can contribute to society with our minds and intellects and become doctors, lawyers, scholars and writers. We don’t have to be born with a 40-inch vertical leap or be able to take a punch like a Mayweather to make that type of money.
Author E.L James made $90 million last year for her series of books called “50 Shades of Gray.” The C.E.O of McKesson, John H. Hammergren, made $131 million last year. Neither is a professional athlete. They contributed to society with their own God-given abilities and made more money than most athletes. So why aren’t their salaries plastered on CNN or in every magazine?
Mainstream media send out the message that as black men it is okay to be allergic to knowledge and quarantined in ignorance, because we are only useful when we are athletically gifted. As black men, we have to wake up and defy that type of self-destructive thinking. We must make a steadfast commitment that we can compete in mainstream society with our intellect and show that through the life of the mind we can add to society.
You, young black brother, can be whatever you set your mind to, no matter what people think about us.
