Full disclosure, I'm not Tyler Adams. He's in Qatar preparing for an elimination round match with the the Netherlands tomorrow.
Captain America wouldn't have time to pen an opinion piece, nor would he be so braggadocious. The Captain America title isn't even hyperbole; Tyler was in fact captain of the U.S men's soccer team during their last match. So, as far as the football world goes, he was Captain America on that day.
We're not here to discuss titles or even football. We're here to brilliantly and eloquently diffuse loaded questions.
In a press conference recently, Mr. Adams was asked a provocative one. But before asking the question, this particular reporter from Press TV looked to educate the room on pronunciation:"First of all you say you support the Iranian people, but you're pronouncing our country's name wrong, our country is named E-Rahn, not I-Ran. Please once and for let's make this clear. Second of all, are you ok representing a country that has so much discrimination against black people in its own borders?"
The reporter went on to site the Black Lives Matter movement and repeated his question on whether Adams was fine representing the United States.
Tyler Adams replied, "My apologies on the mispronunciation of your country. Yeah, that being said, there's discrimination everywhere you go… in the US we're making progress every single day. I grew up in a white family with an African American heritage… I was easily able to assimilate into different cultures… not everyone has that ease. It takes longer to understand, and through education I think it's super important, like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. As long as you see progress, that's the most important thing."
You can listen to the exchange here.
Adams did a few things simultaneously. He acknowledged a grievance, and began with an apology. No one likes to have their name, or their country's name mispronounced. He then accepted the premise that there is discrimination, but it wasn't uniquely American and in fact a global problem. Adams concluded by declaring a solution; cultural understanding through education.
I'm not sure if this was sufficient for the reporter, let alone the answer he expected; but it was a master class in how to handle these types of questions, on a tense, politically fraught, global stage.
Well done Cap!
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