Take Care of Home
On December 11th, 2020 Alan Abrahamson a widely known, and likely well-respected gatekeeper of information on everything track and field wrote an article for his website 3WireSports titled “Does anyone at the USOPC realize there's a world out there beyond the 50 states?”
This article was his reaction to learning that the USOPC decided it would NOT punish athletes who decide to peacefully protest.
“If you can’t say something nice don’t say nuthin’ at all” was my reaction to his reaction.
I respect Alan, and his writing, and I’ve had a few conversations with him over the years that I’ve enjoyed.
But this?
Nah.
It pissed me off.
Like it dripped and oozed…
With the self-righteousness of blind privilege dusted in a powdered sugar coat of arrogance. While accusing the USOPC of the same.
Palatable to some, as evidenced in the comment section. But a little too much for others. I include myself one of the latter.
But I left it alone. Because I didn’t want to whip out pen and paper and be seen as lashing out emotionally to this article simply because “I didn’t like it.”
And then January 6th, 2021 happened.
Pro-Trump Rioters turned domestic terrorists stormed the capitol building to disrupt the proceedings to certify the election results from two months ago.
A noose hung near The National Mall. Undisturbed, someone was able to build gallows.
I heard “USA” chants as the insurrectionists smashed glass, tossed offices, and stole podiums.
The USA chants lulled me into a flashback.
I remembered the feeling of having a whole country behind us as our 4x100 meter relay stepped out to run our way into the final, solo at the 2016 Olympics.
The presidential campaign season was in full swing at that time. In fact, the condo that I was renting for the duration of my stay in Rio had rolls of toilet paper stamped with then President Barack Obama’s face.
But now, America had to rally for a common goal. Victory. U-S-A…. U-S-A….U-S-A.
Meanwhile…
back at the ranch….
Alton Sterling had been killed, Philando Castille had been killed.
And we, four black women, stepped to the line with USA on our chests and America on our backs.
We stepped out there against all odds, and ran our asses off FOR ALL OF US
We ran against shadows created by flickering stadium lights, we flew by oversized moths, and low flying birds.
And we won.
And you were proud, as we paraded around glowing golden with pride momentarily blind to the prejudice.
And we returned home.
To relative anonymity in conspicuous skin.
We returned to the monotony of training, frequent sacrifices of our social lives on the altar of high performance living, for the chance, privilege, honor to count ourselves as members of TEAM USA. To not only step into the arena and learn what we’re made of, show what we’re made of, but to also represent the best of ALL of US.
And I’ll just say it…the entertainment industry has long been one of the FEW spaces that black people in this country were “allowed” to excel.
As long as we’re singing, dancing, scoring points, or making people laugh America was largely “OK” with us excelling in those spaces.
So if you weren’t sure why the “shut up and dribble” retorts are so offensive it’s because that statement is rooted in the rot of racist ideology that permeates the fabric of our country that’s why. It comes from a person thinking that they have the position of power over another person to tell them how they should or should not be.
It’s a tell-tale way to see if the person who is spouting this insult believes themselves to be the decider (from their perceived position of authority) of what another man or woman can or cannot do.
A person who believes themselves to be equal to their fellow human has a much harder time telling that fellow what he or she is or is not allowed to do with their freedom.
And as a country we were still in denial about just how deep it goes until January 6th when a man (Kevin Seefried) paraded a Confederate Flag in front of Abolitionist Charles Sumner.
This man carried this flag as hordes of people “stormed” the Capitol to “take their country back,” overturn a free and fair election, and install Trump as President for a second term.
Guess what…sounds to me like America needs to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing for once and take care of home.
And THAT is what the USOPC was attempting to do. Take Care of Home.
Take care of the people who make THEM who THEY are.
Unlike our country, that built its wealth on the backs of my ancestors for century after century.
Shall we review the Team USA rosters from each games?
Would that help us all see and understand the ways in which we have DIRECTLY contributed to this feat?
We love to hold my personal hero Jesse Owens up as a shining example of the power of sport in the face of atrocity. We love to call him an American Hero, stepping into an arena unshaken to compete in front of Hitler himself and prove him absolutely wrong about his ideas of superior/inferior beings.
And yet, Jesse still had to come through the back door to be “honored” for his accomplishments. Only his white teammates were invited to the White House to be congratulated and greeted by then president FDR who couldn’t even be bothered to write him a letter congratulating him.
So it’s about damn time TEAM USA says you know what? Let’s take care of home.
It’s not about the USOPC telling the rest of the world what to do.
It’s about US. For once.
How infuriating that the same people angry about kneeling, angry about protests over the summer, angry about the idea of someone using their moment to peacefully deliver a message about something central to their core
NOT LOOTING AND RIOTING (for those of you looking for a whataboutism to pivot to)
Those angry people, are some of the SAME people saying “We need Martin Luther King Jr. Right now.”
Guess what, he was ASSASSINATED.
So if we’re going to live in this “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” world of American double standards and hypocrisy…
The least TEAM USA can do is take care of home. And of course, we’d encourage others to follow suit (and btw we weren’t the first country to make this call either). Supporting your own people shouldn’t be as controversial or as divisive of a position as it seems to be.
But it isn’t really about what other people are doing. It’s about us. This family.
This high-performing dysfunctional family that has benefited from our efforts for so long.
We have our memories, our medals, and a few grants for our accomplishments.
While they retain their legacy and billions upon billions of dollars.
I know it’s hard. But “let” us have this one thing. This one time.
Thanks.
Blogger’s Note: I am aware that there is an entire world of things with which we can raise awareness about. I’m aware that there are countless ways in which to express our views. I am extremely passionate about the homeless population the factors that contribute to this epidemic, and their access to necessary resources. But the IOC’s guidance via Athlete 365 updating their document to include hand gestures and kneeling after praising Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman was a not so subtle message to the Americans. And even though there is still a frighteningly large number of people who pretend to still not understand what Colin Kapernick was kneeling for. We know, because he told us that it was about police brutality.
And what better display of the disparity of treatment than the events of January 6, 2021 when insurgents were helped down the stairs and allowed to leave the Capitol grounds without getting arrested. Even as a police officer was beaten with a fire hydrant, even as these traitors’ actions got one of their own shot in the neck and killed. They were allowed to leave.
But we justify black people getting shot in their backs here by cops when they “try to leave.”
“Don’t break the law then” People yell. “Just Comply!” Yell others.
Not hearing too much of that are we? What we are hearing is “it’s time to heal and move forward.”
Well friends, it’s time we clean our shit up here at home. And as far as athletes of color are concerned the USOPC’s decision was a small step in that direction. Finally.
And btw guess who cleaned up after the white supremacists that stormed the Capitol Building…you guessed it.
