A Matter of Identity

Threw our lives, people have taught us that we will encounter many situations that could take us off of the route that could lead to our dreams. Billy Mills is a great example for this matter, and one that we can study openly threw media. Mills was a North American Indian that got the chance to run for the USA in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The story of his life is viewed threw the eyes of the beholder in the movie Running Brave. In a sort of quick summary, Mills was born and raised in an indian reservation in South Dakota. When it was time for him to go to college, he got offered a scholarship to study at Kansas University so he could run for this team. Once he left the reserve and became a student at this university, he encountered many problems due to his heritage. While he was there, others addressed him as "chief" as an insulting matter, he was denied entrance to a fraternity because he was indian, and neither his or his girlfriend's family approved of their relationship because she was white and he, as stated before, wasn't.

All in all, Billy went threw a lot of upsetting situations due to the encounters that he had with his peers, but eventually, he learned how to let all of those negative things slide off and become a better man and a better runner, but before that happened, he took some tough decisions. After college he went back to the reservation which he called home, and once he was there everyone kept asking him if he was gonna make it to the Olympics. This factor motivated him to actually make that dream come true, so he joined the marines and in 1964 he got the chance to run for the USA and won. Threw it all, Billy went threw multiple confrontations with others and most importantly, with himself. He had a really hard time trying to fit in a world that didn't accept him for who he is and where his family comes from. If you think about it, that's a very interesting matter, we can see how our families affect us in the future. Obviously they are a part of us, they influence who we become, but in reality, they are not us. Now, going back to the story of Billy Mills, the funny part of it all is that in reality he is half white, so, can I ask: when he won the race, which half one? Was it just the white half, or the indian? Well that's a silly question, we know both did, and that is because both those sides make what Billy Mills is, so in the end he won and he should be rewarded for it and shouldn't be judged because of anything else. In that moment he wasn't Billy Mills the indian, or Billy Mills half white, he was Billy Mills the runner, and a good one at that. In the end, everyone should be seen this way. By this I mean that they shouldn't be categorized to a social group, but they should be seen as a human being fighting for what they want like any other. It is a matter of people understanding that we are all equal and treating each other with the respect they deserve.