An Immigrant Country

WEEK 1, Day 2: 8+ miles (59min)

So first I read this terrible article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/33587668

And this is my response to Mr. Rovell:

Did you also know that the last American before Meb to win was Alberto Salazar? And do you know where Salazar was born? He was born in Cuba, and shared a very similar background to Meb. Though Salazar immigrated with his family when he was two-years-old and Meb was I believe closer to 12 years-old, the fact is they both went to school in America, lived here their entire lives leading up to their vicotries at the New York City Marathon (Salazar won three years in a row), and are in fact U.S. citizens.

So why do you degrade his accomplishment and not Alberto Salazar's? The only possiblity I can deduce from your article and apology may be the color of their skin. Salazar: white; Meb: black. You said: "But Keflezighi's country of origin is Eritrea, a small country in Africa. He is an American citizen thanks to taking a test and living in our country." You had to point to the fact he was from Africa, and belittle his great success.

I assume now that you know Salazar was not American-born, you can write-off his accomplishment as well in another article. The last American born victor was Bill Rodgers, winning four times in a row, spanning from 1976-79, since you are really concerned with when an American-born runner last won.

It saddens me that in this country, ethnicity plays such a huge role with identity. Just look at the questioning of our own President Barack Obama's nationality. It illustrates a huge problem with the media and demonstrates an underlying discomfort with ethnicity in our country. Articles such as your own Mr. Rovell only perpetuate and bring to light this problem.

Other than this seemingly racist article my day was pretty good, tiresome, so I'm going to bed "early": midnight. Busy day tomorrow, need all the sleep I can get.

_nick

Good sleeping music and appropriate video because I have a fruit fly problem in my room: