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After Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual, Olympic swimming medal, almost every sports medium emphasized in their headlines or in their social media captions, “first African American.” Many fans commented their discontent about the need to state those three words, making the point that it’s not about race but about American athletes well-representing the United States and winning gold medals for their country.
However, if all Americans acknowledge that there was a time when African Americans weren’t counted as equal citizens like white Americans and afforded the opportunity to participate in certain sports at the highest level, then everyone would understand the need to emphasize “first African American.”
Although this article focuses on the importance of African Americans being recognized as the first to accomplish milestones in their respective sports, the same applies for any other minority group, whether it’s in sports, business, television and film, or many other genres of life. Even though progressions have been made, the struggles for people of color in the aforementioned industries are still quite obvious. If all Americans were afforded equal opportunities and resources since the birth of America, every time anyone accomplished something that previously hadn’t been done, the news caption would likely always read, “first American, first American male or first American female.” The need to specify gender is a topic for another day. Continue reading “A Progressive Triumph: Why News Mediums Stating “First African American” Matters”
Brittany Young 