Olympic Lives Matter

The US Winter Olympic team shows what unity in diversity looks like.

Over the past six years the U.S. Olympic Committee has made concerted efforts to promote diversity among its team members. In 2012, a committee was formed to improve diversity and Jason Thompson was hired as director of diversity and inclusion.

In an angry tweet, Davis, who has won two golds and two silvers in previous Olympics took a shot at Hamlin, the holder of a single bronze medal.

‘I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event,’ Davis wrote on Twitter. He then slammed TeamUSA for ‘dishonorably’ tossing a coin to decide who would have the honor of carrying the flag. ‘No problem. I can wait until 2022,’ he added before using the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth2018.

Why don’t African-Americans simply compete as their own team? After all, we are frequently informed by them that they are a separate nation and a proud and vibrant people with their own history and culture. Shouldn’t they be able to have their own Olympic team too? Isn’t it racist to deny them that right? Why should they be forced to march behind the flag of bigoted white people, like slaves, instead of behind a proud Black Power flag?

On a tangential note, there are few things more reliably predictive of things about to head south than a commitment to diversity.