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Did anyone raise stink like this over Michael Phelps, the swimmer? Didn't he have to return his medals or something? Memory is not serving me too well. Too much Sun.
Did anyone raise stink like this over Michael Phelps, the swimmer? Didn't he have to return his medals or something? Memory is not serving me too well. Too much Sun.
No, not really. He was photographed smoking weed after the '08 Olympics. He was barred from competing for 3 months and lost a Kellog's sponsorship, but he didn't have to return any medals and he never failed a drug test.
Did anyone raise stink like this over Michael Phelps, the swimmer? Didn't he have to return his medals or something? Memory is not serving me too well. Too much Sun.
And let’s be honest, with a name like “Sha’carri” with fake weave, long nails, fake long eyelashes, and tattoos, she wasn’t exactly the best representative for black Americans to begin with.
The world must think we black Americans are high (pun intended), when we represent America on the world stage looking like drag queens. Luckily most black Olympic athletes have some pride in their appearance, and actually refrain from weed a month out from the biggest event of their lives.
We blacks try so hard to be different from white America or western culture that we break laws and rules and give our kids silly names because we think it’s what defines blackness, then claim to be a victim after we created our own problems.
I don't know too many details on this girl's background, but it's clear by her accent, body language etc she's from da boondocks... and can barely compose a sentence. It's not a good look, and she behaves more like Nikki Minaj than an Olympic athlete.
Black Women in positions of prominece in the media have to put up with exactly what you mentioned, this dichotomy of one the one hand - "Code Switching" and not being their "Authentic selves" and on the other hand the burden of having to compensate for uneducated Black Women and what image and stereotypes they project. Gayle King is paid a lot of money to counteract exactly this.
The problem is we need to clear up a misconception - Educated Black people do not speak this way (Sha’carri style) in the home...And this is not just a Northern vs Southern thing either. There is a difference between a Southern accent and a Ghetto manner of speaking. Think Frederick Douglass or more recently James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey etc. Choice of words and intonation can be a way of expressing ourselves as a people without unnecessarily butchering grammar.
Why am I focusing on this? Because a person's manner and style of speech can determine if they are sympathized with/related to or not. Being barely able to compose complete sentences or logical thoughts is not "Code Switching", and a key reason why Sha’carri will not be empathized with is this... She is unable to articulate herself to explain why she made the mistake.
A good comparison is Naomi Osaka, she is shy and mumbles but that is very common for her generation and age. Most people are not comfortable or acclimated to speaking to millions of people. She is not code switching, and you understand how she was feeling during the whole Serena referee thing. But when I was watching Sha’carri on TODAY I had to just cringe.
Thankfully there are enough well spoken, articulate Black female athletes out there, but I know Whites basically believe that without the running, she would be just another baby mother on welfare.
Did anyone raise stink like this over Michael Phelps, the swimmer? Didn't he have to return his medals or something? Memory is not serving me too well. Too much Sun.
No, but in fairness, we've come a long way as a society when it comes to marijuana laws. Back then it wasn't legal, so it was more taboo and there was really no social argument that could be made for not suspending Phelps.
Now it's legal for medical reasons in almost every state, and fully legal in many states.
That's the big difference. If Michael Phelps had been disqualified now, there would be a much bigger uproar, although the same rules that are being discussed now would apply.
Every nation that seeks to enter athletes in Olympic competition has to follow the same rules on drugs and doping.
The World Anti-Doping Code (WADA) has developed Model Rules for National Olympic Committees, International Federations, Major Event Organizations. Everyone, from every nation, must follow them, she didn't. That's it.
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