The Football

An artifact that represents my identity the most would have to be the football. Soccer in many ways has saved my life. It has given me opportunities a young minority in America could never dream of. I never thought I would be going to college because mostly college is meant for people with cake, but ever since I was five I kept the football close. I didn't just play the game, I cared for the football, I showed the ball love, and in return, the ball gave love right back.
In most parts of the world soccer is known as the poor mans sport. When you don't have much to look foward to you can always grasp the football. It is "world" culture. It is one thing that most humans have in common, no matter what race, religion, age, or class you are. That is an aspect of my personality which me and soccer have in common. I am very open to all cultures and people. Being half black and half white, I already had two completely different American cultures mixed in my household growing up. Out of all the places I've been in the world, Ive noticed that America is unique. It really is one of the more "racial" or "racist" places out there. Racism lurks in the American air and we breathe it everyday, through media and deep rooted living styles. Where I grew up is a very segregated area, like a lot of the U.S. for that matter. I noticed at a very young age when I was playing soccer with my teammates, race was never an issue. The football brought us all together and all the sudden it seemed like we all came from the same place.
The football has a power that is difficult to explain. For instance, just a year and a half ago a civil war was put on hold while Ivory Coast was participating in the world cup.
The football is the story of the "have not" who skipped school to score goals, and never asked for anything back, because the football itself was just enough.




Brazil national team in Haiti