From: michael seium (michael.seium@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Nov 05 2009 - 13:14:42 EST
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2009
Eritrean Americans are Americans
too.<http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/2009/11/eritrean-americans-are-americans-too.html>
http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/
Eritrean Americans are Americans Too.
After Native Americans and the real indigenous people were unfairly shoved
aside in the beginning of what we now know as America, it was immigrants
that founded the modern day United States of America. The America that
prides itself as the most strong and advanced nation on earth. As part of a
melting pot from all continents throughout the world, members of immigrant
families have contributed their share in every sector of American society.
They are from Europe Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania, and Latin
America. The America founded by immigrants has also done its fair share of
terrible things in order to protect its selfish interests. You see, it was
in the 1950’s when the very same nation that New York City marathon Champion
runner Meb Keflezghi waived his flag for, the United States of America,
committed a major crime against the Eritrean people by forcefully annexing
it to Ethiopia. The secretary of state at that time John Foster Dulles and
the State department did not foresee that one day a young Eritrean born kid
would represent the United States in the Olympics or that same person would
be the first American to win the New York City Marathon. Let's go back to
memory lane & recite the a quote from secretary Dulles in 1952,
*“From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people
must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interests of the
United States in the Red Sea Basin and considerations of security and world
peace make it necessary that the country [Eritrea] be linked with our ally,
Ethiopia.”*
Only if more Americans knew what Eritreans had to endure during these
troubled times, they would appreciate their lives more. So how did Eritreans
respond back? They did not dwell on the negative but decided that they
needed to do something in order to get their dignity back. They rose up and
stood up to claim what was theirs. The thirty-year struggle against
occupation and rampant racism molded them into a strong, hard working
people, united amongst nine ethnic groups and two major religions. In the
process which took more than four decades, Eritreans were also being forced
to leave their homes in large numbers and join the mass migration to the
Middle East, Europe and the United States from the African continent like
other immigrants before them.
Meb Keflezghi who made his way with his large family to southern California
is a by product of this migration and like lots of Americans who came here
to seek a better life, he went to high school in San Diego, college at UCLA
where he won four NCAA titles and won a silver at the 2004 Olympics in
Athens for the United States. He was well educated by the system that
provided him refuge and taught him to be a good citizen. He was trained and
built ready made to run in the toughest conditions right here in the USA. He
took on the challenge with sheer determination, hard work and ethics. I can
guarantee you that there are millions of other immigrants who had the same
opportunity as he did but he happened to shine and he became a success story
as a result of hardwork. His strong discipline as an individual and an
excellent family value which is a huge part of the Eritrean culture & add to
that some great coaching at UCLA to go along with it, Meb proved that
anyone, can become the best at anything they set out to do.
As an Eritrean American myself who has made my home here for more than 25
years, I am outraged by certain media coverage and responses about the
Eritrean American runner who also happens to be a friend. Eritrean American
immigrants are among the hard working population of America’s melting pot.
They are well educated, they value respect for all human beings no matter
where they come from, they are kind, and self reliant, all threats that they
brought with them to their adopted homeland of the United States many years
ago. Like millions of other immigrant Americans who have paid their dues,
Eritrean Americans have been a great Diaspora that have been able to
intermix their great culture and assimilate it to the lifestyle of America.
They are law-abiding citizens for the most part, they are active in their
communities. They in the true sense should be embraced by America as they
are a classic example of the term "It takes a village to raise a
child". They also happen to love sports and the writer of this blog can
strongly vouch for that. Yo can even ask Meb Keflezghi.
CNBC sports writer Darren Rovell probably wishes he did not write a racist
article about the Eritrean-American champion athlete of the NY city marathon
who has been demeaned and disrespected at the very least. Rovell who claims
to have run the NYC marathon failed to do his research before he pulled the
trigger. CNBC's editorial managers also failed. Could it be by coincidence
or purposely done to create controversy? It begs the question as to why
racism is still so rampant in today’s America. As an Eritrean-American
sports buff I would like to make a point and also tell the story of a great
American athlete and of a racist America which we must always remind people
about in order to eradicate this ugly disease. It is the story of probably
the best US athlete of the 20th Century a sportsman of melting-pot heritage,
child of part Native American, Irish and French parents. His name was Jim
Thorpe and he was in the 1950’s named the best American athlete by sports
writers for the first half of the 20th Century. Thorpe was a multi athlete
who excelled at everything he did. He won the Olympic gold in pentathlon and
decathlon, and starred in football, baseball and basketball at the highest
level of competition. By 1950, when diagnosed with cancer, and on March 28,
1953, Jim Thorpe died of complications from a heart attack. Only after his
death was the racism and unfairness publicly recognized with which Jim
Thorpe was treated. His sacrifice and ill treatment was never told while he
was alive. He did not have a medium to speak up. Thank god to new media and
technology articles like Rovell's and the many other racist statements that
were written about Meb have been repulsed. My point in bringing Jim Thorpe
into this story is because people like him are those who paved the way for
other Americans to succeed and be the best they can be. The Thorpes and
Jackie Robinsons and the thousands of immigrant and minority athletes are
those who opened doors for some of the best athletes America has produced
including Meb Keflezghi. They also opened the doors to other important
positions for immigrants and children of immigrants. Look no further than
the top executive of the United States of America. Meb can be put in the
same category as he stands today as the top American runner. There is no
doubt that he will even go down as the greatest long distance runner in
American history when he is done. Racist columnists and sports writers must
stop their arrogance and respect all athletes no matter what as long as they
are RIGHTFULLY & LEGALY AMERICANS. Many years after the battle for civil
rights and many years after so many people paid dearly we continue to
witness stains of the dirty & ugly piece of Americana. Darren has apologized
as a result of responses from outraged citizens of America from all walks of
life. They were highly offended by what he said. He was forced to respond as
follows,
*All I was saying was that we should celebrate an American marathon champion
who has completely been brought up through the American system. This is
where, I must admit, my critics made their best point. It turns out,
Keflezighi moved to the United States in time to develop at every level in
America. So Meb is in fact an American trained athlete and an American
citizen and he should be celebrated as the American winner of the NYC
Marathon <http://deadspin.com/tag/nycmarathon/>. That makes a difference and
makes him different from the "ringer" I accused him of being. Meb didn't
deserve that comparison and I apologize for that.*
While I commend him for his apology, as a sports writer he should have done
his homework. It would have been much easier to research rather than assume
that another African with a weired name has just won the NYC Marathon for
America. Let us not forget that, as Americans the stories that have shaped
this nation into a superpower is not it’s arrogance, but it’s amazing
stories of immigrants. Immigrant Americans built this nation and they will
break it if not respected and treated with dignity and respect. So that we
are aware, like Meb Keflezghi many immigrant Americans have played a big
role in the well being of this nation and continue to do so today. Just to
name a few, Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Madeline Albright,
Albert Einstein, Martina Navratilova whom I have had the pleasure of
meeting. If we went further and even spoke about children of immigrants then
I would not have enough space on this blog. So the point I am making, every
American should celebrate Meb's victory as it is for America by an American
runner who happens to be born in Eritrea.
FYI: Eritreans like other immigrants play major roles and contribute in
building grass roots movements in many sports including football, running,
Soccer, college woman’s and men’s basketball and more. Don’t be surprised if
the next Eritrean American is an NBA or NFL star or one that will represent
the US in an Olympic event. It’s bound to happen sooner than later. Sports
writers and every American should embrace them and remember that it is the
spirit of competition that binds humans together rather than where they came
from. I want to say that I am an advocate of Eritrean American sports and
will continue to enlighten people about their great achievements. The writer
of this blog is an Eritrean American sports journalist who has covered major
events, including the US national soccer team, the NBA, NFL and major
college sports as well as other American sports.
Mike Seium
Eri-international sports blog.
http://eri-internationalsports.blogspot.com/
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