I cannot think about a job I got based on my race. In fact, for part of my career my race was a disadvantage as companies sought to increase their hiring to meet minority quota targets mandated by government regulations as I reach higher levels that became less of issue and actual past performance mattered more.

As for opportunities to attend college, like many African American athletes, my access to a great college education was through sports. I earned a football scholarship and today I have the long term issues that come from competing at that level. An opportunity anyone including you could not argue was due to my race in fact football scholarship go disproportionately to African Americans… not because of their race, but because like me they deserved them.

I did have one huge advantage over many others people, regardless of skin color. I grew up in a large (9 children family), where both parents were there. My dad has a small business owner that almost went broke because of a teamsters strike. I got to watch him struggle to provide for his family, I saw him get a heart attack from the stress it brought about. I saw him get back up and return into the fray. I do have that and that is a lot, he not only told us we could be make our futures… but he showed us how to never give up.

I also got to witness how one of his employees (there were others), but this man’s example is one I will never forget. He “changed the stars” for his children. A man who grew up in the deep South and could barely read or write. He had even more children than my father… 12 children. He worked two jobs… during the day for my father… at night as a janitor for Rutgers University. And after working two jobs, he and his wife hauled off their children to church every Sunday and he served as Deacon.

He was not the “smartest” guy I ever met, but one of the wisest. He figured out that Rutgers allowed the children of any employee to attend the university for free as long as they met the academic requirements. His wife made sure that happened. His children went to on to far greater career success than this factory worker and janitor. But to this day, I admire this man more than most that I have met in life. I wish I knew more about how this man arrived to where he did, given he started out life under Jim Crow in the South and was educated in a segregated school.

It is not about race… And I hope you will do your part to help people realize that most people in the world are on their side, but they need to do three things when it comes to picking a career.

1. Pick a career that pays well. You are going to spend a lot of time there so make money doing it. There is a career for virtually everyone that meets this criteria.
2. Pick a career that you are good at. It is hard to get ahead doing something you are not very good at.
3. Pick a career you like doing. Being good at something and getting paid well is great, but if you hate going to work, it won’t last.

Then once you pick a career do your best. Don’t let people tell you why you can’t succeed, you can. I wish you well in life and that you have a prosperous career that you enjoy.