When I was young "representation" wasn't an issue. Instead you had "mobility", the idea that immigrants climbed the ladder from poverty to middle class with some striking it rich. Actually there were different ladders--Jews were noted boxers and basketball players before they became doctors and lawyers. Mobility was often about "firsts". We noted the "firsts"--the first Jewish SCOTUS justice, the first Polish cabinet secretary, even the first black cabinet secretary.
Emphasizing the firsts obscured our view of the many, or perhaps was just a way to avoid looking at the many. But "firsts" are still important; they show what is possible, what isn't prohibited. Similarly the extreme cases, like Muggsy Bogues, may be outliers but they too show what's possible.
Somehow this discussion ties into "intersectionality" to me. But that's for another day.
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