?Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat?. A 1925 US Army War College Study had this to say about black soldiers at a time when segregation in the US was as rife as extra-marital affairs are in today?s Ghana. At that time black soldiers struggled to get into the US army, once there, they were faced with several challenges one of which was getting into the cock-pits of the many US fighter jets. This was 7years after WWI. An all black fighting unit, 20years down the line would however come and rubbish this ill-conceived assertion albeit not without considerable pressure on the then government to determine the veracity or otherwise of this myth.
Now I need not tell you the atrocious conditions and biased environment in which that 1925 study was conducted. Indeed your guess is as good as mine. I bet during the survey, all attempts were made at glossing over evidence which sought to contradict the overriding interest. But I could hardly see them drawing any other conclusion than the one arrived at. Even till today, sections of the white population still hold primitive beliefs about black people. Ignorant twats ? public decorum dictates that I can?t call them anything more derogatory than that.
Initially put together as an experiment to validate the 1925 study, this fighter unit, which will later be known as Tuskegee Airmen more than proved their mettle. As if the colour of their skin wasn?t enough, they painted their aircrafts with red paint so as to be able to standout even more. They more than excelled in the many missions they embarked on, in the process earning them the nickname ?REDTAIL ANGELS?. In 1943 while helping the Allied forces defeat Hitler in Europe, they had inadvertedly won the fight against segregation back home. Or in the very least, they had paved the way for the end of segregation not only in America, but the rest of the world. You may want to checkout the motion picture based on this story ? REDTAILS
In their own way, they had forced the world into taking note of the black man?s capabilities and aptitude. The black man was no less a human being than the white man. Indeed the only thing that was proven as was so rightly said by Rtd. Lt. Col. Herbert E. Carter was that ?the antidote to racism is excellence in performance?. In the course of history, many black people have blazed the trail in diverse fields. In Academia, in Politics, Business, Religion and of course Sports, black personalities have more than held their own.
In 2008, during the African Nations Cup, I sat behind my TV hurling insults at some images. Many victims there were, but one in particular ? a certain ?white witchdoctor?, now in the DRC mixing his concocted stuff. His crime? He had continuously kept on the bench a kid many believed was the hero the entire nation had been waiting for. This kid they said was just as good as the maestro Abedi Pele. Some even said he was way better than the great one himself, as is so often the case with Ghanaians when something new appears on the scene. One can then imagine my frustration when Le Roy stuck with the maestro?s offspring at his expense. Indeed if you are as gullible as a Ghanaian voter, you will have no difficulty believing tales coming out of certain quarters about a rift between the two. Hey, am talking about Andre and Asamoah if you haven?t deciphered the ?coded? language by now.SMH. Born the 9th of December 1988 (*coughs* because am still older than him, obviously), Kwadwo Asamoah like many of the talent in the Black Stars setup came through the ranks at Liberty Professionals. Under the tutelage of the late Alhaji Sly Tetteh it wasn?t long before he was knocking on the doors of Europe. Because the truth is, his considerable talent and ability was never in question. It was all too noticeable.The kid wasn?t called Asokwa Pele for nothing.
Kwadwo?s journey to the top in his peculiar context wasn?t one of a talent treated with disdain initially. But as it is in most situations, it doesn?t take many lacklustre performances for people to start questioning the talent and all the hype. This season aside, Kwadwo Asamoah?s best performances for the Black Stars had come in the year 2010 at both the Afcon and the World Cup. His performances for club side Udinese were always consistent in that time-usually so with many African players anyways. Many tipped him for a big-money move to one of Europe?s elite in the summer of that year. But it wouldn?t be until this year that this dream will materialise. For many, it was an inevitable occurrence regardless of his continuous poor showing for the Black Stars especially at the 2012 Afcon. Though, I fully expect him to right this wrong in the next tournament.
His arrival at Juve wasn?t much heralded especially in Turin. The general feeling was, yes, he is a good player. But it wasn?t intended for him to be the missing piece to that Juve puzzle. Minds would soon change however, and fast. In the larger context Kwadwo Asamoah is well on his way to add his name to the legion of African talent that have left our friends in the West smitten. George Weah, Samuel Eto?o, Didier Drogba, Samuel Osei Kuffuor, Nwankwo Kanu all legends in their own right have more than attained ?Redtail Angels? status. In fact these guys were so good it became increasingly difficult to describe them as black. They are spoken of and adored in equal measure as a number of their European counterparts. In certain corridors of Europe, a good number of them are cult heroes ?Legends.
In a matter of months Asamoah has managed to arrogate the left hand side responsibilities in the Juventus setup. 4 goals in 16 appearances so far, one of which came in his debut against Napoli in the SupaCoppa Italiana and he is already looking like a bargain at 9million euros.
Europe is taking note as well, as he so magnificently tore the Chelsea defence into shreds in one of their Champions League games recently. But the price he has had to pay for these impressive performances is that he has had to shed the ?gorgeous? garments of the Pirlos, that which was so evident in his early days. Instead he has become a more balanced talent, an ?animal? even. He is now more, a mixture of talent, skill and sheer determination and brute force -shades of tennis sensation Novak Djokovic. But even with that, his grace-like approach on the ball isn?t entirely lost on you. Very much in sync with the rich history and culture of his new home.He has more than matured and that could only mean well for the Black Stars.
In all you get the impression ?the colour of the hands on the controls has absolutely nothing to do with the skill or ability of the crew?. Eventually, you get that it?s all about the MAN.
