It's Not About American Football: Tony Dungy's Journey of Self-Emancipation from Rejected Black Quarterback to Celebrated African American Coach

Abstract

The ideals of individual freedom and universal equality contrast with the persistence of oppression and inequality worldwide, making every case study of practical progress toward freedom and equality valuable. The example of Coach Tony Dungy, the first African American to lead a Super Bowl championship team, is an instance of incremental self-emancipation. Dungy's competitive nature shows up in everything he writes and says, but his emphasis on commitment to self-improvement and community-building illustrates the possibilities of individual and collective progress. Dungy's narrative, seen in the context of Jacques Ranciere's theoretical approach, is an instructive example of "intellectual equality." Ranciere insists that we are all intellectual equals, and Dungy's autobiographical writing exemplifies a pragmatic application of this attitude, which also suggests a theoretical and practical approach to the development of community through a process of dedicated self-emancipation.