The Cultural Divide has often appeared in athletic competition
by Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba
Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba
Many times, in the athletic fields of endeavor, the cultural divide often identifies itself with the competition of the athletic participants. This practice really is a side effect of oppression of one culture over another. Some examples in history:
Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling (Boxing)
Althea Gibson Winning Wimbledon
Larry Holmes vs Gentleman Gerrie Cooney
Jesse Owens and Mack Robinson won gold and silver medals in the 1936 Munich Olympics
Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson in 1979 NCAA Championship
Most recently, society and many members of the media drafted Caitlyn Clark to be that person. This is regarding her being the best player in the country, but her competitive antics were glorified when Iowa was winning. Part of the competition is to make your opponent doubt their abilities by challenging them. Clark’s wave at Raven Johnson, which I am not going to bother to check you made Raven Johnson hit two key three-point shots. An area where she has struggled. Sometimes those antics can come back to haunt you if your opponent defeats you and throws them back in your face.
That is the beauty of high-level competition. The controversy was started in social media and professional media by glorifying Caitlyn Clark but criticizing Angel Reese of LSU for bad sportsperson like conduct. This is why I tell so many young aspiring sports broadcasters to keep telling the story because if you do not somebody else will. If not for Shannon Sharpe, Stephen A Smith and others critiquing this incident it would be portrayed from another vantage point without proper debate.
This incident still shows the glaring divide that exists between cultural groups in this country. This division shows that America has a lot of work to do to correct the damage of oppression. It has been 55 years since Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee and many feel that we as a nation seem to be going backwards instead of progressing to the point that everybody understands that there is but one race on this Earth and that is the human race. It is up to us to be respectful of all cultures, beliefs, and rituals. Let all see that we can Love one another doing good unto all!