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Friday, November 22, 2002
An Interview with Saia Makakaufaki
Saia Makakaufaki is a fifth year history major and a minor in social welfare. He plays tight end for the UCLA football team. He has been play for 5 years since 1999.
By:
Yee Lim with Edward Hsu
How do you classify yourself as an API at UCLA? I consider myself a Polynesian within the Pacific Islander group who is stereotyped in many ways. What are do you think are the top stereotypes you face as an athlete? The top three stereotypes are that others feel that I’m stupid, that don’t want to go to school, and that all us athletes want to do is play football or sports. That they don’t know anything else but sports. Have you ever experienced any prejudgment on your ethnic background? No,
I think it really depends on the school, it really reflects on the community.
Have you ever experience racism in the sport community? No, I don’t think I have experienced any racism in the sport community. What about if you decided to go professional? No. Its all about the same for everyone. Then it's all based on merits? Politics and merits, a little of both. Just like anything in the world. So do you feel that the media treats minority athletes and white athletes equally? No. I think the media covers all players, but some players do get picked on more than others. Like Allen Iverson. What he did with his wife was wrong, but I think the media over-exaggerated. Because he’s black and has tattoos, he would get more coverage compare to his white counterpart. You spoke of Allen Iverson, how you feel about a API player like Yeo Ming and his place in the media? I think the media picks on him, he came from China, but he’s been playing his whole life. He’s a first round draft pick from China and came to the NB People on TV are clowning him and making fun of him. He wasn’t asking to be first picked overall. What do you think APIs in other sports in general? I think it’s a change in times. The NBA has talented players coming from China, Sudan, every part of the world. I think it good that they do that, that people see the world is diverse. Sport like tennis is world wide, but for football is mostly an American sport. A tennis player probably be more accepted, but everyone has their own opinion. Do you feel that API athletes from overseas get more media cover compared to the API in the USA? Yes, there’s much more attention on them. You think that we will ever see API sportscasters? Yeah, in the near future. But you never know how long really.
Do you feel a certain amount of pressure to perform better, because
your an I do
feel pressure from my people and my family, but not from the media or
anything. I am the first
in
my family to make it to college and I also represent my people. But it’s
more of a Finally, do you feel the media representation affects you in UCLA? Overall, it doesn’t affect me. I’ve seen it affect some of my teammates. But I think that it only affects you if you let it affect you. Thanks for your time and good luck with the game on Saturday. You're welcome, no problem.
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