The closing ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics coincided with the closing ceremony of my summer break. However, mine was sans the pomp and circumstance. Over 36 million people in the U.S viewed the Olympic ceremonies where Team USA collectively received 110 medals. My pre-semester routine didn’t even include 110 people, including NEIU staff and faculty members, a few bank-tellers, and some bookshop dealers. My get-ready-for-school team wasn’t doing any triple-back flips. But the cultural diversity among members of 2008’s Team USA finally reflected faces of the teams I encounter daily.
The U.S. Olympic team included nearly 600 athletes from all over the country including 28 foreign-born citizens. The 29th Olympiad showcased the first ever Arab-American boxer, Sadam Ali, representing the U.S. Ali, a former National Golden Glovers Champion from New York, is of Yemeni descent.
As the Chinese watched their city light up for the world, David Zhuang received cheers from both the host country and his home team. Hailing from New Jersey, the Chinese-born Zhuang, represented the U.S. in the men’s single Table Tennis.
Then there is the extraordinary story of the Sudanese track and field star, Lopez Lomong. Lomong, whose childhood included being abducted by a militia group in Darfur and living in a refugee camp for 10 years, made his Olympic debut this summer representing the U.S.
The 28 foreign-born members of Team USA each have their own stories, as do the several first-generation Americans on the team. This is a testament to the changing state of American culture.
It is not new to see colorful faces representing the U.S. in our communities. During my summer-end, back-to-school routine, I bought my books from a Korean. I got some coffee at a Mexican bakery. I cashed a check with an Arab-American bank-teller. I registered for classes with an African-American advisor. I spoke Spanish with my new classmates. At NEIU, this is the color of my team. It is only about time that our global representatives begin to reflect the same diversity.