Run Ricky

There are many athletic African Americans in college, but not every athletic African American plays a sport for the school or is given a scholarship. In some white individual’s minds, when they see a black student who has an athletic stature, they believe that this person must be there because abilities. This is not always true but this is how a lot of people view African Americans in college. No matter what race you are, everyone makes an opinion of someone the first time they see them. “One of the first things we notice about people when we them is their race. We utilize race to provide clues about who a person is.”(Gallagher pg.20) In Boyz n the Hood Ricky was the athlete of the group. He would always carry around a football that his father gave him before he never seen him before. All Ricky wanted to do was make a better life for his family. He was a high school senior with a child he was responsible for. Ricky grew in to one of the top high school prospects in California and the only way he was going to USC was through football. He did not have the grades to get accepted to the school, so he had only one option and that was to get a certain score on his SAT to accept a scholarship. People do believe most athletic built black people in college do play football or basketball. In my mind I believe 1/10 students you meet in college are truly an athlete. Even if they are a black athlete and the school pays for their school to play; there should not be a problem with it because they work very hard to get and keep their scholarships. These colleges that are helping them escape the poverty they were born into because without these opportunities they probably would never go to school because of a financial stand point. “If they are not admitted into college, it must be because of a minority.”(Bonilla-Silvia pg.83) People of all races believe athletes get away with a lot more or were accepted because of their talents. What people do not understand is that athletes have to get the right grades also it’s not just about shooting, throwing, or running fast, you also have to get your lesson. Back in to the movie Ricky had to prove he deserved the scholarship in school before he could receive it. Too many people are worried about how someone else got into a certain school instead of sitting back and determining how they will get into the school they want. In all races has nothing to do with someone being an athlete or going to a school. You can be any color and get accepted to a college. Ricky proved he was college ready and passed his SAT to attend USC.