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Kobe Cummings

Mrs. Martin

Racism

07 September 2017

Race

Many think of sports as being a sanctuary which racism cannot penetrate, but they

often reflect what is going on in society. There seems to be a broad agreement that acts

of racism in the United States are increasing at an alarming rate. The same was true in

sport in 2016, where such acts tripled from 11 in 2015 to 31 in 2016, according to

research and analysis from the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and

Ethics and Sport. There were 104 reported incidents of racism in sports internationally

in 2016. (Lapchick, Richard) I can not control what skin color I am, I can not control

what has happened in the past, I can not control what people think of me or assume the

way I am due to my ethnicity, what I can control are my actions and what defines me as

a real person no different than any other human being.

It was a Friday, Something about Fridays makes you get up a little easier, School week is

coming to an end and the weekend is right on your doorstep. There was something a little more

special about this Friday though, This Friday had a nice scent to it, almost like a whiff of being

victorious, I get out of bed and do my morning routine, hop in the shower, brush my teeth, put on

my clothes and put my jersey on over. I get to school and go to my first hour, Friday night lights

takes over my mind and it seems to be the only thing I can think about yet its only 7:30 in the

morning. Every class and everywhere I walk i get the question, Are you guys gonna beat them
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this year? of course my answer is, Yes. but many people have doubt that we will actually win,

even some players on the football team dont truly believe we can win. When your mind is

occupied on one thing the day seems to go by much faster, 2:40PM approaches quickly, the bell

rings and we are dismissed from school, I do my pregame routine, get my football stuff together,

take a nap and get some food all before we have to be back at the school by 4:30PM. We start

with a pre game prayer which leads us into our team meetings, team meetings is where we revise

over our objectives for the week and what we need to do to be victorious. We walk down to the

locker room music blaring, the word nigga is thrown around and played with as we listen to the

music but nothing is thought of it. In rap music, it is nothing out of the ordinary to hear the term

so you think nothing of it, but when its used against you or in a non mannerly way feelings

change, thoughts change, rage boils through your blood and all you can think about are your

ancestors, people that actually lived through times where nigga and nigger were a lower class

and not treated equally. We head out to the field for pregame, nothing better then seeing the

crowd starting to pile in one by one, you can tell its gonna be a big game, all different types of

ethnicities walking side by side with smiles on their face, 7:00 pm.Game Time, ahhhhhhh

whew, the game begins, but not only the game, trash talking. Trash talking is a part of the game

of football but there is a certain extent you go to and a couple of golden rules you should never

cross. Never bring someone's family into it and never say racial slurs. First time Ive ever been

called a nigga on the football field and I lost it, I've never hit a team so hard, the feeling I had

inside me was a straight burning sensation from hell and all I could see was red. Every tackle,

every time I touched the ball I made sure that someone was going to feel the force of not only me

and my heritage but remind them of who I was and where I came from, its a new year, new

season, new team but the same boiling blood when I hit that field against the gross purple and
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yellow Kearney Bulldog team, 2 weeks, 10/13/2017 I redeem myself and stay powerful for my

race.

In conclusion, I want to bring it to peoples attention that racism isnt just on social media

or in the streets, its everywhere even within competitive sports, especially football when you

have a football helmet covering your face and mouth pieces covering your mouth so the refs

dont see or hear people talking very much. If this happens to you stand up for yourself but do it

in a way that you still respect yourself and your race. Do it within the guidelines of the game,

Whenever I get called the n word it makes me play harder, more adrenaline starts to pump and

everything slows down. You never feel an ounce of fatigue cause all you want to do it punish the

other team for what they are saying or doing. My encounter with this has made me into a better

man and the man I am today, I know there are better ways of dealing with situations like this

instead of battling with words, instead you battle on the field and win the game and then the

glory is all yours. What I want you to take out of this experience is that your will for the game

should be enough to make them quiet down and learn a lesson that talking trash only adds fuel to

the fire when you're facing a team that is better than you.

Works Cited

ESPN, R.
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ESPN, RICHARD. "The Year In Racism And Sports." ABC News. N. p., 2017. Web.
29 Sept. 2017