Super Bowl MVP Ward embraces heritage on trip to birthplace

Posted 3:56PM on Tuesday 4th April 2006 ( 19 years ago )

SEOUL, South Korea - Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward was nervous for the first time in his life as he prepared for a trip to the land of his birth. He also looked forward to learning more about his heritage. ``I'm proud to be a Korean, that's something when I was little as a kid, I was ashamed of,'' Ward told a packed news conference room at the Seoul hotel where he was staying in a complementary suite normally reserved for world leaders. ``I had to overcome a lot, being teased a lot by American kids about my being 50 percent Korean, being 50 percent African-American.'' Ward, who is from suburban Atlanta and played for Georgia, was virtually unknown here before the Super Bowl, since American football isn't widely followed in Korea. But since his Pittsburgh Steelers' victory and Ward's MVP award, he has become a media phenomenon in South Korea also drawing attention to the discrimination faced in this country by children of mixed parentage. ``The Korean community has supported my mother and I for the first time in my life,'' Ward said at the news conference, carried live by several TV channels. Ward had lunch later Tuesday with President Roh Moo-hyun, presenting him with an autographed ball, cap and jersey. Roh gamely tossed the ball to Ward before the meal at the presidential Blue House. ``You came back a hero,'' Roh said. ``Children growing up in South Korea can have big dreams by watching Hines Ward.'' During his 10-day trip, he will also be granted honorary citizenship by the city of Seoul and be greeted at a reception hosted by the U.S. Embassy. He will also meet with children of mixed backgrounds. Ward was born in Seoul to a Korean mother, and his father was a black soldier. The family returned to the United States while Ward was a baby and his parents soon divorced. His mother, Kim Young-hee, was initially ruled unfit to keep her son, but he ran away to live with her in second grade. She worked three jobs to support him, a story that has drawn sympathy from hardworking Koreans. This is his first trip as an adult to South Korea. ``I'm very intrigued with the Korean heritage. It's something that I missed out for 30 years of my life,'' Ward said. He said his mother taught him that race wasn't important, and called for understanding among people of all backgrounds. ``You can learn a lot from someone else's culture,'' Ward said. ``If two people love each other, then love has no color.'' (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/112889