The way I was brought up by my parents and guided through my football life by the influences of various managers means that in some ways I am black and white.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My grandfather was coloured, my father was Negro, and I am Black.
I am black, and there's no getting around that, but being black doesn't define every aspect of my life.
I always enjoyed playing ball, and it didn't matter to me whether I played with white kids or black. I never understood why an issue was made of who I played with, and I never felt comfortable, when I grew up, telling other people how to act.
The man who raised me is black. Culturally, he made me who I am. He was a theatre director, so he also guided me artistically.
Nothing is black-and-white, except for winning and losing, and maybe that's why people gravitate to that so much.
The white audiences thought I was white, my features being what they are, and at every performance I'd have to take off my gloves to prove I was a spade.
Black culture has been a huge influence in my life.
Its a touchy subject, 'cause I never want to take it there, where it seems like it's all about race. But I feel like that's something that comes along with the territory of being a black quarterback. When you have success - 'Oh, you're a freak athlete.' Not, 'Oh, you're a good quarterback.'
I also believe that you are what you have to defend, and if you're a black man that's always going to be the bar against which you are judged, whether you want to align yourself with those themes or not. You can think of yourself as a colourless person, but nobody else is gonna.
Merely by describing yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being.