I live in the rural south. While I agree with what you're saying, you'd be hard pressed to convince most people here of that.
Professional football is by far the most respected profession here. Top of the food chain. Of course, most teenagers recognize they aren't going to make the high school team, let alone make it into the professional realm. If you do make the team, well, try as hard as you can. And of course, most people still don't make it, there's just not enough demand for pro football players. But it's still a huge thing that people aspire to. If you do make it, everyone is going to speak of you with awe. There's a couple guys who grew up near where I did and every single person who knew them or knew of them (anyone you meet will eventually bring them up in conversation) speaks of them with total reverence - they _made it_.
Unless your parents are wealthy and/or well-educated, most people don't have a "career" as such in mind - just jobs. Football stands out - especially since the perception is that the only other professional careers boil down to things like "doctor" or "lawyer" which (so the thinking goes) require highly exceptional intelligence beyond the ken of most people, and anyway, they aren't nearly as glorious or high-paying. So it's all about aspiration - and in some places, pro sports is at the top, even if you or I think it constitutes a terrible or unrealistic career choice.
Now, in my experience, that aspiration is strongly correlated not so much with race but with your family's educational history, professions, and income. "Rich" kids (parents with income > 60k) grow up in an environment where they really understand there are other opportunities out there. They're more likely not just to go to college, but grow up believing that college is an inevitability and part of life. A ton of kids never even get that far. I think that's the kind of kid he's talking about.
Professional football is by far the most respected profession here. Top of the food chain. Of course, most teenagers recognize they aren't going to make the high school team, let alone make it into the professional realm. If you do make the team, well, try as hard as you can. And of course, most people still don't make it, there's just not enough demand for pro football players. But it's still a huge thing that people aspire to. If you do make it, everyone is going to speak of you with awe. There's a couple guys who grew up near where I did and every single person who knew them or knew of them (anyone you meet will eventually bring them up in conversation) speaks of them with total reverence - they _made it_.
Unless your parents are wealthy and/or well-educated, most people don't have a "career" as such in mind - just jobs. Football stands out - especially since the perception is that the only other professional careers boil down to things like "doctor" or "lawyer" which (so the thinking goes) require highly exceptional intelligence beyond the ken of most people, and anyway, they aren't nearly as glorious or high-paying. So it's all about aspiration - and in some places, pro sports is at the top, even if you or I think it constitutes a terrible or unrealistic career choice.
Now, in my experience, that aspiration is strongly correlated not so much with race but with your family's educational history, professions, and income. "Rich" kids (parents with income > 60k) grow up in an environment where they really understand there are other opportunities out there. They're more likely not just to go to college, but grow up believing that college is an inevitability and part of life. A ton of kids never even get that far. I think that's the kind of kid he's talking about.