By Sarah Goldman & Don Valentine
She-Said: Don, have you seen that simply charming Proctor and Gamble commercial. It was refreshing to see a doting father participate in his kid’s passion for playing football. It was so cute I was hoping the kid could make it to the NFL and make his family proud.
He-Said: Sarah, you missed the message of that expository. You’re White and don’t know the real nuanced message of that tv spot. It separates this father from all the Black dads who are called Pop “Up” Warner dads. Those are the dads that are doting and attentive about Jr, from late Aug to Dec. That’s football season and dad is gambling on his dreams that Jr will be the next Emmit Smith, Jerry Rice or Deion Sanders.
Consider the spot from another perspective. It opens with his son catching a pass and getting praise from the White coaches “That kid is good, take care of those hands.” The son is ecstatic and brags “I’m going to the pros!”
The father reflects for a second, then tells his son to go long and they give a visual recitation of the great Black men that used “Those Hands’’ in other diverse nonathletic areas. The emphasis is to eradicate the myth “if you’re Black you can only be successful as an athlete or a rapper!”
“Those Hands” could become the next Dr. Myron Rolle. Dr. Rolle is an accomplished Rhodes Scholar brain surgeon. He also played football at FSU as a safety, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans . “Those Hands” could become the next Rich Paul, a major NBA sports agent (Lebron James agent). “Those Hands” could become the next Leland D. Martin, a NASA astronaut aboard the space shuttle.
She Said: Wow, I didn’t see it from that perspective.
You Tube: Proctor-Gamble “Those Hands”
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