It’s no secret that Cam Newton is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, so why are we still talking about his race?
The Super Bowl-bound quarterback was quick to shut down a group of reporters yesterday afternoon who were relentlessly bringing up his race, reports the Guardian.
“It’s not an issue,” Newton said matter-of-factly. “It’s an issue for you. I think we shattered that a long time ago.”
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And that we did. Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb, Colin Kaepernick and Doug Williams have all played a hand in leading their teams to the Super Bowl. Shoot: In the last two years, the Super Bowl has seen multiple appearances by the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson. Clearly, the issue of race is, in fact, a non-issue.
“I don’t even want to touch on the topic of ‘Black quarterback’ because I think this game is bigger than Black, White or even green,” Newton said. “I think we limit ourselves when we just label ourselves just Black this [and] that.”
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He continued on, saying that he didn’t want his legacy to be limited by his race. He wanted to be a role model that children of all colors could relate to.
“When I go places and I talk to kids and I talk to parents and I talk to athletes all over, they look at my story and they see a person—African-American or not—they see something that they can relate to,” he said. “…It’s bigger than race. It’s more so of opening up a door for guys that don’t want to be labeled, that have bigger views and say: ‘Well, I’m in this situation, I’m living in this environment right now, but I also want to be an artist; I want to be a poet. But I don’t have the means, you know, to necessarily do the right things at that point.’ As for me, I just want to give those people hope.”
Amen.