@Starr;
Bronze Age Pervert
Double standard alert: U.S. distance runner Galen Rupp wins silver medal, media suddenly decide race isn’t important
When Gabby Douglas won the individual all-around gold medal a few nights ago, NBC sports anchor Bob Costas
called attention to the 16-year-old’s race
. So did virtually every media outlet:
- “Olympic superstar Gabby Douglas, the first black gymnast to win the individual all-around gold medal, is inspiring young tumblers from across the city to give their all to the sport.” –The New York Daily News.
- “Douglas, a 4-foot-11, 94-pound puny package of rocket-fueled energy, on Thursday became the first black gymnast to win the individual all-around Olympic gold medal.” –New York Times
- “ She’s the first African-American all-around Olympic champion” –Time magazine
- “ She’s also the first African-American to win the all-around title.” –Washington Post
- “At 16-years-old, Douglas, who also made history as the first African-American woman to win the all-around gymnastics competition, could come back and do it all again in four years.” –ABC News
Gabby Douglas has become the first black individual all-around gymnastics gold medalist in the Olympics, as well as just the fourth American woman to win the event. (The others: Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, and Nastia Liukin.) I couldn’t be prouder. Sure, Jordyn Wieber, the reigning all-around world champion, came into the games with a lot of hype, but Gabby’s the only one I’ve really been paying attention to. I could say it’s because she’s an amazing athlete (she makes it all look so effortless, like Astaire in his dancing shoes) and that would be partially true. But a big reason why I’ve been cheering so hard for her is that the 16-year-old from Virginia looks like me, and that makes me incredibly happy.
I don’t usually throw my support blindly behind anyone of color, whether they’re athletes or politicians or business owners. In fact, I consciously avoid it since that can lead to ill-informed and naïve decisions. But seeing a young black girl perform such amazing feats in a sport where black faces are so rare has been nothing short of exhilarating, and it makes me throw aside my worries about having a racial bias towards a specific athlete.
Fast forward to last night. American distance runner Galen Rupp scored a silver medal — the first white male of any nationality to win a medal in the 10,000 meters since 1984 (28 years ago).
Twitter users (both black and white) noticed:
[SNIP BIX NOOD TWEETS]
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