Simone Manuel
Manuel became the first black woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming at this past Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. As a matter of fact, I remember watching it and rooting for her as she swam her tail off the same way I root for all Americans.
There’s something about seeing an athlete celebrate winning a medal in the Olympics in less glamorous sports such as swimming or track that touches me more deeply than seeing a wealthy professional win a ring in the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, etc. Olympic athletes seem more down to earth, more accessible – every day heroes dedicating their lives in pursuit of greatness and love of the sport, rather than for big money contracts, fame, and corporate endorsements.
I felt great for Manuel the way I always do when one of our own takes home a medal – but the more she spoke, the more unamerican she came off. The speech started off with this:
“This medal is not just for me. It is for some of the African-Americans who have come before me,” she added, referencing former Olympians Maritza Correia and Cullen Jones. “This medal is for the people who come behind me and get into the sport and hopefully find love and drive to get to this point.”
Then it went over to this:
“The title of black swimmer suggests that I am not supposed to win golds or break records, but that’s not true because I train hard and want to win just like everyone else.”
And finally ended on this:
“It means a lot, especially with what is going on in the world today, some of the issues of police brutality,” Manuel said. “This win hopefully brings hope and change to some of the issues that are going on. My color just comes with the territory.”
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking a moment to acknowledge that she’s the first black female gold medalist in swimming. That’s a record to be proud of. It’s where she goes from there that reveals her as classless in my eyes.
The Olympics is about competing for national pride on the world stage – it always has been and always will be. Patriotic American athletes at least take a moment to acknowledge their country when they get that big win. It’s how we share the moment together as Americans. It renews us and builds cohesiveness – but Manuel only pays tribute to black swimmers before pulling out the victim card on how the swimming world sets low expectations for people of her skin color. Finally, she takes her moment in the sun to deliver a good kick in the ribs to police officers – and the media fawns over her.
Try and imagine this white cop cheering you on as you swam for glory in Rio, Ms. Manuel. As hard as it may be for you to believe, I didn’t see black. I just saw red, white, and blue.
