To Some, Winner Is Not American Enough

[Ryan]

Personally, I find this a completely ridiculous and, to some extent, disturbing argument. I'm only 3 generations removed from immigrant ancestors. Am I American enough? My wife was an immigrant. Is she American enough? Is my daughter American enough? It's all ridiculous. We're a nation of immigrants but there are people out there who won't accept immigrants as fellow Americans.

As for Meb and his running specifically, he wasn't a runner before he came to America. He grew up as a runner in the American system. The talk of "importing a ringer" or whatever is ridiculous. He came here not as a potential great runner but as someone escaping circumstances that most of us couldn't even imagine. He took advantage of the opportunities available to him in this country and became an Olympic medalist and the first American to win NYCM in 27 years. He is the personification of the American dream, a living example of the American story. Embrace that, don't turn away from it.

That said, here's what's going on...

As soon as Mebrahtom Keflezighi, better known as Meb, won the New York City Marathon on Sunday, an uncommon sports dispute erupted online, fraught with racial and nationalistic components: Should Keflezighi’s triumph count as an American victory?

He was widely celebrated as the first American to win the New York race since 1982. Having immigrated to the United States at age 12, he is an American citizen and a product of American distance running programs at the youth, college and professional levels.

But, some said, because he was born in Eritrea, he is not really an American runner.

New York Times article

[grasshopper]

This just exposes a couple of tendencies as old as life on earth: xenophobia and entitlement.  These are not exclusive to Americans, though Americans support them as well as any.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627019,00.html

[Run]

He is the personification of the American dream, a living example of the American story.

[/quote]

This is really the main point for me.  I think it sounds like the whole Keflezghi family embodies the "American dream."

[grasshopper]

He is the personification of the American dream, a living example of the American story.

This is really the main point for me.  I think it sounds like the whole Keflezghi family embodies the "American dream."

Well, he's not obese.  Yet. 

[Andrew A.]

It is simply perception, which is based on both rational and irrational feelings.  

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.” -- Johnathon Swift

The U.S. is still rife with bigotry (scroll through youtube comments sometime if you do not believe me) so it really comes as no surprise that there would be a member of the media accurately reflecting that fact.  I prefer that people like this are allowed the right to express views such as this and are not shouted down.  Through freedom of speech they expose themselves for who/what they really are to everyone else and if that freedom were suppressed for unpopular views then they would be kept concealed.  And so, how much Meb's image resonates with U.S. Americans will be born out in how much ad play he gets here -- marketing execs are loyal to $ first and foremost.

[Ryan]

I agree that they should be allowed to expose themselves for what they are and not shouted down. That said, I hope some of us will use our freedom of speech to offer counterpoints, not shouting them down (stooping to their level in some regards) but bringing up valid points for the "listeners" to "hear".

I did see some of the comments on a YouTube video of his Letterman appearance. Some were great examples of the ignorance of some of these people. "He's not American, he's just another Kenyan." Of course, such comments are hardly just attached to Meb.

[oldcolonial]

My guess is that the sentiment has a lot to do with Meb being not only a naturalized citizen but a dark skinned one from Africa.  Its too bad.  The best we can do is call people out when the say stupid xenophobic and probably racist things.

To me a, also a naturalized citizen ( I moved to the US when I was 10 ) he is as American as I am, that is 100% percent.

OC 

[Ryan]

OC, I wouldn't be surprised at all if his skin color and his "different" name played a role in the thoughts of some. It's a shame that some people still see things that way but, unfortunately, it's simply a fact that some do.

As I saw stated elsewhere, people like Meb and yourself probably have greater knowledge of and appreciation for our country than many of us who were born and raised here.