Progress After "The Soul Bowl"

So, Tony Dungy won. And Lovie Smith lost. Or did he really?

More than once, Super Bowl XLI has been characterized as a no-lose situation for African-Americans since either way one of our own will win the first Super Bowl for an African-American head coach.

(For the record, I'm a Cowboys fan, which might not be a good thing since I like to do some ribbing. But I digress.) 

Before the game, I simply enjoyed being on the fence, not having to pick an allegiance - a task so ingrained in the American experience, acutely so for African-Americans. It was just nice to be able to watch without the weight of the whole race hanging in the balance. (Though, I must admit I pulled for the Bears because DE Mark Anderson and I are fraternity brothers; we pledged at the same chapter, though I was years before him. Suffice to say, some allegiances can't be forgotten.)

In any event, during the game, I inwardly reflected much like Commercial Appeal editor of opinion and editorials Otis Sanford did in his column Sunday. It certainly felt like an Up From Slavery moment, a pivotal time for the consideration of African-American achievement much like when Booker T. Washington directed Negroes to cast down their buckets.

How should younger African Americans follow Lovie's and Tony's example?

In his column, Sanford writes about Fred Davis, an African-American pioneer in Memphis, Tennessee politics as well as a successful businessman. "Davis is proud of his role as a black pioneer in Memphis politics. But he speaks more fondly of his success in business and is quick to credit a white insurance executive, the late John Stuart Collier, who was his mentor."

Sanford continued, "Politics historically has been a means for many African-Americans to crack racial and gender barriers, but our political leaders today have done a woeful job of mentoring and preparing the next generation of officeholders. 'We are not getting the best and brightest in public office,' Davis asserts."

Article Author: Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson is a veteran business journalist who originally hails from Montgomery, Ala. He currently resides in Memphis, TN, where he spent seven years as a reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. …

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