Connections of Gates’s Assessment of Expectations of Some Younger People Admiring Sports Figures with Issues of Races and Class
According to Gates, issues of races and class affected the African Americans’ participation in sports. Some of the Africans, who were successful, had obtained ownership of property and wealth and their class determined their success (Gates, 3). Therefore, people who owned property had a sense of belonging; they studied, saved, worked and even had a right to vote whereas those who did not own property had no any right and they did not achieve education. Therefore, that is the reason why few African Americans participated in athletes and the expectations of young people to participate in sports was ruined as a result of their lower class due to poverty.
According to (Gates, 1), there are few professional athletes in the US compared to other professionals such as lawyers, dentists and doctors. As a matter of fact, African American youngster becomes a professional athlete by chance. Thus, the blind pursuit of attaining in sports is having an upsetting effect on African Americans. There is a failure of public schools to educate athletes and this has affected so much (Gates, 3). Young athletes especially young African American athletes are ill served. Most of them are functionally not educated yet it is a necessity for one to become an athlete. A small percentage of black athletes earn their degrees at college level. According to the statistics, for each successful educated African American athlete, thousands of them die and some get wounded. This is possibly because of their poor status. However, young African Americans continue aspiring for careers as athletes. Therefore, it would of great importance when those successful black athletes play a role of supporting and educating the young people no matter athletes or non athletes (Gates, 3).
Work cited
Gates, H, L. Forty Acres and a gap in Wealth. Published by the New York Times. (2007).
Gates H, L, Jr. Delusions of Grandeur. (1991).
