Jorge Rivas

Skating, No Longer a “White Sport” ?

Remember stand-up comedian Paul Rodriguez? Well, he has a son, Paul Rodriguez Jr. and he’s a pro skater.

Which is so interesting to me because when I was growing up, skating was seen as a white thing. In East Hollywood, where I grew up, only white kids could skateboard. It was an unspoken rule, if you were Latino or Black you were suppose to play football or soccer and if you were on a skateboard you’d be teased and be called a ‘white boy.’

The video above, produced by Nike, to promote Paul Rodriguez’s new shoe has some more POC cameos including Kobe Bryant and Ice Cube. I don’t know what to make of it. We can get in to Nike appropriating street culture and then selling it back to young kids of color, but for starters, I’m just happy to see people of color on bikes and skateboards getting some play on TV and gaining acceptance.

What do you make of all this?

Posted at 11:15 AM, Aug 04, 2009 in Sports | Permalink | View Comments