Bo-Dean Sanders - Race Against ... Against Race: My Journey of Diversity and Inclusion Through Sports

Race Against Against Race

Advance Praise for Race Against... Against Race

In Race Against Against Race Sanders tells a riveting story of pushing himself to reach the goal that he thought mattered mostbecoming a collegiate and professional football player. It is a gripping tale of growing up under the weightiness of segregation and poverty in the South and leaving home to go north to start life on his terms. Much of what he learned along the way is the same things that many of us come to appreciateto value family, friends and to embrace new beginnings. In this way, Sanders pushes the reader to recall their own childhood and dreams for the future. But Sanders learned so much more in his race against race, and in the end, things work out exactly as they were meant.

Allener M. Baker-Rogers, Ed.D.,
Retired university administrator and assistant professor of educational researcher and co-author of They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphias Black Women Leaders.

Although race appears in the title of every chapter and topic in this book, the intense introspective by Bo-Dean Sanders is really a wonderful look at the race through life by a person who lived much of it in totally different worlds. The best part about it is to see how he is winning that race.

Tony Leodora,
Owner TL Golf Services, host of GolfTalk Live radio show, and host of the Traveling Golfer television program

Race Against Against Race is a riveting memoir that delves into the highs and lows of Bo-Dean Sanderss growth as a talented, young Black football athlete and first-generation college student, navigating identity and race. As a former Black college football athlete, this book resonated with critical moments of my life, which helped shape my identity and spearhead the launch of the National Diversity Council. I highly recommend this moving and inspiring book that you wont want to put down!

Dennis Kennedy,
Founder and chairman of National Diversity Council

We have reached a once-in-a-lifetime momenta chance to affect changeand ignite a cultural shift in the ways we view each other as human beings. One mans story might be enough to influence that change. Bo-Dean Sanderss story is at the same time both common and unique. Race Against Against Race is one read that could affect your life and those of many others.

Marc Zumoff ,
Play-by-play voice of the Philadelphia 76ers on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Bo-Dean captures the mindsets of not long ago, and even today. His story goes beyond sports, breaking down barriers to everyday lessons of reaching out, talking, and building relationships. A must-read for young and old.

Rosa Gatti,
Retired Senior Vice President, ESPN

Race
Against

AGAINST
RACE

My Journey of Diversity and
Inclusion Through Sports

BO-DEAN
SANDERS

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

Race Against Against Race

My Journey of Diversity and Inclusion Through Sports

2021 Bo-Dean Sanders

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

ISBN 9781631953552 paperback

ISBN 9781631953569 eBook

ISBN 9781631953576 Case Laminate

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020947937

Cover & Interior Design by:

Christopher Kirk

www.GFSstudio.com

Morgan James is a proud partner of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg. Partners in building since 2006.

Get involved today! Visit
MorganJamesPublishing.com/giving-back

To my mother, Ceola.

The most powerful love between mother and son.

I miss seeing the joy and pride on her face.

To my godmother, Juanita.

I miss the guidance in her voice.

definition

COMPETITION

RACE

ETHNICITY

meaning

I changed and omitted the names of a few individuals in this book to protect them, not knowing their current circumstances. The content in this memoir is based on memory and conversations that are intended to convey the general idea and feel for what truly happened and said. Some words were softened to steer clear of four-letter words.

While writing this book, some of the same social (race relations) issues from the past have continued to unfold. I hope my book leaves the reader, Black and White, smarter and with the energy to think about how to build a relationship with someone from a different race.

Whenever race issues happen in our country, everyone, including the media, makes the statement, We need to have the race conversation. I am sure that most athletes on diverse teams have already had the race conversation.

Thank you to everyone who believed in the value of this book.

I wake up from my recurring nightmare feeling the same way I usually do in the dark of night. Depending on the time of year, Im either in a cold or hot sweat, plagued with the feelings of fierce anxiety and downright terror. I feel my heart pounding through my chest, and I have trouble catching my breath. Wondering, Where am I and whats going on? I sense the smell of smoke, as if a church is on fire and burning to the ground. The smoke smell clouds my judgment, and I think of the Friendly Missionary Baptist Church I attended growing up in the former Confederate South. My shins hurt like someone just smacked them with a hammer, and my knees feel like a 300-pound offensive lineman just chop-blocked me. My feet are in pain, as if I have run shoeless while escaping the segregated Confederate South by way of the Underground Railroad trail while being chased by hound dogs.

When the nightmares first started, I shrugged each episode off as a bad dream, and then after the bad dreams continued, they became my nightmares. Heres how my nightmares tormented me: Id feel miserable and tired while running in the suburbs (an affluent, predominantly White community with old Main Line money) of Philadelphia. As I continued to run, Id think, Why am I running? From who or what am I running? I felt like I was running blind... and sadly, for my life (a Black man on the run).

I knew as a Black man running in a White, wealthy neighborhoodor in any White communityit could mean trouble or death. (I wasnt scared so I kept it moving.) I was running west, away from the big-city skyline, on Lancaster Avenue, also known as Route 30. I reached the point where I began running up the steepest incline of my race, the area of my run called The Hill. I started my run at The Crib. The Crib was a frat house-like place on Arthur & County Line Road, where a group of my Black classmates and friends and I lived for a little while. We were the only Blacks living on that block.

In my late-night ordeal, I am running on empty as I struggle up the hill, and I notice a police car with a White officer racing toward me. Im not sure if the cop is from Radnor Township or the Lower Merion Police Department. My mind plays out a number of scenarios. Did I do something wrong? Is the cop thinking that a Black boy is out of place? But it doesnt matter to me; I am too determined and focused on making it up that dang hill. I turn to look back a few times as the po-po drives by, and each time I turn to look, I see my Hood, the neighborhood where I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. And each time I turn back around, I see something differentthe old Nissan car dealership in Rosemont, a not-so-nice looking used car lot. The AM-PM gas station on the corner, a run-down building passing as a corner convenience store, is not worthy of a Wawa street sign. And across the street is a drive-thru beer, cigarette, and liquor store. I never expect to see those types of businesses on the Main Line filled with wealth, but I dont question it. I keep it moving.