tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post3914881963093266314..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: overlook the inherently racist nature of pool (aka, billiards)macon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-68763690254147798122010-03-01T18:33:52.938-08:002010-03-01T18:33:52.938-08:00On the topic of racism and the Olympics, I'm s...On the topic of racism and the Olympics, I'm surprised no one else has mentioned (unless I missed it) the Russian team's ice dancing costumes. <br /><br />http://www.racialicious.com/2010/03/01/cultural-appropriation-can-win-you-olympic-medals/nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11285430099883802519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-10954308354622266042010-03-01T15:20:27.901-08:002010-03-01T15:20:27.901-08:00karinova
Yeah. I don't know why, but this spe...karinova<br /><br />Yeah. I don't know why, but this specific incident, though of course things like it have happened before, is just really hard to take. Maybe do you think it is because it hits so close to home (I'm from Northern California but go to school at UCLA)?any mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-89707024317356944772010-02-28T20:53:03.847-08:002010-02-28T20:53:03.847-08:00@any mouse,
Can you believe I live in California— ...@any mouse,<br />Can you believe I live in California— in a UC town, no less!— and I didn't hear about the UCSD mess until last night?? I simply don't understand. And you know what else? It made me cry. This exact same crap has been going on for years, but <i>this</i> time, it got to me. You just can't build a wall thick enough.karinovahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324280726621881771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-19550011583354461042010-02-28T20:08:39.806-08:002010-02-28T20:08:39.806-08:00I used to love the Olympics, but my interest has w...I used to love the Olympics, but my interest has waned each year since they went biennial. I haven't watched a single Olympic event this year; especially with the whole First Nations exploitation theme, I'm just off the whole thing.<br /><br />But for the open thread:<br />I understand Ghana had a (one-man) ski team this year. I'm definitely sensitive/biased,* but... am I the only one who notices (and is driven nuts by) the white fascination for black athletes competing in the winter Games? I'm sorry, but it just never comes out right. It always goes way beyond "hey, isn't that interesting" into the realm of "omg, isn't it absurd!?!!" I always get this sense that they're like, Omigod, black people in the snow! SNOW BUNNIES!! Next they'll be playing hockey and swimming and shit! See, it's <i>ridiculous,</i> cuz they're <i>black!</i><br /><br />It's fucking embarrassing, but they don't even know/care enough to be embarrassed. You know how many white people I've met who'd never seen the beach until I took them to it? LOTS!!!<br /><br /><br />_____<br />*For the record, I'm biased because I'm Jamaican. I don't think I'll ever get over that bobsled team thing. Especially since America hasn't really gotten over it either.karinovahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324280726621881771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-51674050920847047292010-02-28T15:49:44.063-08:002010-02-28T15:49:44.063-08:00...about the Winter Olympics, I would like to gene......about the Winter Olympics, I would like to generalize and comment about all sports as a whole because I do enjoy watching them. I've noticed many many times how the sports commentators/analyst will always point out the athleticism and strength of (for example) Serena and Venus Williams and whomever their opponets are they will comment on the opponent's intelligence for the game or how they play a smart game. That always rubs me the wrong way and I really wish they would stop saying those sorts of things.Zoëhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01301493964981073311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-16388426345968045912010-02-28T12:16:33.818-08:002010-02-28T12:16:33.818-08:00"Curling may be the only sport where "Cl..."Curling may be the only sport where "Class and Privilege" isn't a factor. It involves sliding a stone and sweeping fast, that my friend has minority written all over it"<br /><br />Not in my experience. The closest curling club to me is almost an hour away by car (and probably completely inaccesible if you rely on public transport). Member dues each year range from $300-1000 depending on age and ability, because the season is long (six months) and ice maintenance is expensive. I joined for a half season (had to drop out to gestate a baby), and it was very VERY white and very middle/high class. Out of all the various leagues, I only ever saw one other POC, and plenty of members drove BMWs and the like.<br /><br />And I do live in an area where black folks are the majority, but the curling club was a white haven.<br /><br />All that being said, it is a hell of a fun sport!Augustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-69639804344124851282010-02-28T07:11:50.820-08:002010-02-28T07:11:50.820-08:00Ever notice in the US when people are being descri...Ever notice in the US when people are being described for their abilities, black people are more likely to be described as "beasts" or full of "raw power" and "unnatural talent" whereas the description of many white athletes is that "they worked hard to get where they are", they're "intellectual and that puts them ahead of the game"?IzumiBayanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04101580925759207450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-74538292894233610202010-02-27T18:45:19.196-08:002010-02-27T18:45:19.196-08:00Since folks are listing people of color who are co...Since folks are listing people of color who are competing in the Winter Olympics, don't forget Elana Meyers from the US women's bobsled team. She and Erin Pac just won the bronze medal, see http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/bobsled/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=4944866ahimsanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-45081721451328262512010-02-27T10:28:28.755-08:002010-02-27T10:28:28.755-08:00GC,
I'm sure you were making a general statem...GC,<br /><br />I'm sure you were making a general statement, but although I "know" Latino/Hispanic is not a race, I decided to refrain from saying so after encountering several people who put down "Hispanic" as their race when asked. Since some people say that's their race, I feel like using the "formal" meaning is disrespectful to their right to self-identify (I don't think any of the people I've known are real eager to identify as "White").Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-63469581830656893972010-02-27T08:32:02.834-08:002010-02-27T08:32:02.834-08:00His analysis of pool comes from the book " Th...His analysis of pool comes from the book " The Isis Papers" By Dr. Frances Cress Welsing.<br /><br />It is one of the greatest books about racism of all time.Vickisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11059918062406870920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-77825617402923446772010-02-27T00:19:08.319-08:002010-02-27T00:19:08.319-08:00To be fair Argentina and Chile do have snow, but t...To be fair Argentina and Chile do have snow, but their winter season is during july, august and september. Which makes it hard for them to follow the regular winter sports international schedule. This plus the fact that practicing winter sports is expensive makes it hard for them to have high profile athletes. <br />And just to clarify Latinos/Hispanics is not a race it's a culture. Latinos/hispanics are of many races and can be black, asian, white, indigenous, middle eastern, and of mixed heritages.GCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-90971596287437209032010-02-26T21:45:58.045-08:002010-02-26T21:45:58.045-08:00I did not want to watch the Summer ones because of...<i>I did not want to watch the Summer ones because of the whole, China being a horrible place kinda thing</i><br /><br />A "horrible" place? Says who? Western media? Do you still think it?fromthetropicsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-905896845319325872010-02-26T17:33:59.841-08:002010-02-26T17:33:59.841-08:00I'm no apologist for NBC, but Shani Davis may ...I'm no apologist for NBC, but Shani Davis may have flown under the radar by his own choice. He doesn't like the media much, and especially before competitions, seems to be very keep-to-himself.<br /><br />However, Assistant Sports Psychologist Stephen Colbert didn't let him get away with that:<br /><br />http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/262387/january-20-2010/skate-expectations---speedskating-race---shani-davis<br /><br />And once the competition was over, he gave a fun interview with Mr. Colbert:<br />http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/265305/february-25-2010/freud-rage---the-iceman-counseleth---shani-davisExurban Momnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-72634511919064923482010-02-26T16:01:12.111-08:002010-02-26T16:01:12.111-08:00I've said it before to you and I'll say it...I've said it before to you and I'll say it again. It's a damn shame that there has been no coverage of the latest scandal at UCSD on here. It has been blowing up locally, and has even gotten national headlines.<br /><br />Today a noose was hung in the library. The shit is fucking real.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfLcIrRZ-SM<br /><br />Watch the entire series, but this one in particular has a lot going on.any mousenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-39720768028231352902010-02-26T15:51:12.637-08:002010-02-26T15:51:12.637-08:00Maybe its not such a joke after all...Maybe its not such a joke <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqYJnA_BPKA" rel="nofollow">after all</a>...krystal*lytehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05121648048964971321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-34925013119345472292010-02-26T15:44:06.998-08:002010-02-26T15:44:06.998-08:00@7thangel brings up a good point. There has been a...@7thangel brings up a good point. There has been a lot of toes stepped on in the name of the 2010 Olympics that have been relatively glossed over including REAL First Nations relations issues, huge oppression of Vancouver's homeless, and even laughable designated "Freedom Zones" where protesters are in theory supposed to go to protest.<br /><br />Something worth mentioning about these Winter Olympics is how <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2009/04/22/sp-skijumping-olympic-women.html" rel="nofollow"> Women's ski jumping was disallowed</a> because in 2006 the IOC deemed it "underdeveloped" while allowing the also underdeveloped women's ski cross.boy_louiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223693236692950406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-56232413583006082702010-02-26T15:15:03.221-08:002010-02-26T15:15:03.221-08:00@ Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist!
Those are very go...@ Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist!<br /><br />Those are very good points. In the interviews with family members between events is where we can see the "Class and Privilege". <br /><br />Curling may be the only sport where "Class and Privilege" isn't a factor. It involves sliding a stone and sweeping fast, that my friend has minority written all over it.Big thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03728437300843445339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-25300595295543143642010-02-26T14:40:33.474-08:002010-02-26T14:40:33.474-08:00it is what it is when it comes to winter olympics,...it is what it is when it comes to winter olympics, but if you check the wiki for this one you'll find that places like Jamaica (in the crazy ski cross and bobsled), Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia, Algeria, Bermuda, Argentina, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Columbia, Pakistan, Lebanon, just to name a few non-traditional winter olympic countries sent athletes. <br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics<br /><br />this isn't easy, as places like my country, Canada, struggle to fund athletes and train them, so it's even harder for countries that don't even have a type of weather that would allow for basic training. <br /><br />it's expensive and it takes time (for countries to develop their athletes), hell, the i.o.c. is threatening to dead womens hockey because canada and the u.s. dominate, not taking into account that it will take years for countries to cultivate the talent among the young girls even in those countries that have been in the winter olympics from jump, as it's still relatively new. hopefully we'll see more ethipions competing in the cross country events like this year for years to come. <br /><br />on another note, the omission of the Asian community in the opening ceremonies and the bs spin job about their respect for First Nations, never-mind their choices for the torch carriers, is typical and not much of a surprise to me. the great white north indeed7thangelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-17955704877776380782010-02-26T13:57:07.630-08:002010-02-26T13:57:07.630-08:00Jillian--
yeah that's weird how they ignored ...Jillian--<br /><br />yeah that's weird how they ignored Shani Davis. <br /><br />I'd never heard of Lindsay Vonn before the Olympics, but everyone knows who Apolo Ohno, being that: <br /><br />-this is his 3rd Olympics<br />-he won Season 4 on Dancing with the Stars<br />-he's hot<br /><br />but he didn't win a gold in the 2010 Olympics-- yet. There's still one more race to go tonight, maybe he'll win a gold. But yeah, that's just lame how they ignored Shani Davis, who won a GOLD!!!Sabina E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14679639206346030919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-76299899309408221392010-02-26T12:27:30.807-08:002010-02-26T12:27:30.807-08:00I think one of the more interesting things about &...I think one of the more interesting things about 'diversity' in the US Olympic teams is that a lot of times, it is not home-grown.<br /><br />They buy Olympians, or offer excellent athletes a chance at training in the top gyms, top facilities, with the top coaches, and amazing endorsement deals etc so those individuals will compete for the US instead of their home country.<br /><br />But as DIMA pointed out, it's a lot about geography and money too. Norway, CN, Russia, China will have a lot of Winter athletes simply because they have the facilities, and hell, it snows there! <br /><br />I mean tropical countries are often pretty poor, they are not going to focus on building ice rinks and luge tracts.<br /><br />The Olympics always have me conflicted. I did not want to watch the Summer ones because of the whole, China being a horrible place kinda thing, but at the same time, you get sucked into the nationalism and the fervor of the sports. I don't ever watch sports except for the Olympics.<br /><br />A lot of the commentary is quite racial, I am often surprised to see. But that can also be attributed to how, if a Russian commenter is talking about a Russian athlete, they are going to speak favorably for them and not for those silly Americans, Chinese, Norwegians, etc. <br /><br />Also, coverage ends up focusing on the one or two golden boys and girls, as someone mentioned earlier.<br /><br />It's all MICHAEL PHELPS and APOLO OHNO.plastiknoisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10462183018399794429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-76306172754680066232010-02-26T12:10:57.515-08:002010-02-26T12:10:57.515-08:00Not that i doubt or believe that there is a racist...Not that i doubt or believe that there is a racist aspect to the winter olympics, in all fairness a non-white person did win a gold medal in figure skating.<br /><br />for whatever that is worth.skyrunnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14196221908124650946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-30373069617318938972010-02-26T11:53:24.172-08:002010-02-26T11:53:24.172-08:00Here's what's bugging me: NBC's all &q...Here's what's bugging me: NBC's all "Lindsey Vonn" and "Apolo Ohno" all the time. I'd never even heard of Shani Davis until he won a medal, and even then, he's not in any of the montages, and I'm not seeing many interviews or any other coverage of him. What the hell is up with that?Jillianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792137126898623243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-56947130579812772662010-02-26T11:27:12.861-08:002010-02-26T11:27:12.861-08:00Off the top of my head for 'non-white' ath...Off the top of my head for 'non-white' athletes on team Canada there are:<br /><br />Shelley-Ann Brown, who just won silver in two-women bobsled! <br />Lascelles Brown is on the men's bobsled team. <br /><br />Figure skater, Patrick Chan.<br /><br />There are a couple of First Nation athletes on the snowboarding team.<br /><br />As that's just off the top of my head and I'm pretty sure there would be more to add to it.<br /><br />And I would like to say, Kim Yu-na's skate last night was EPIC!<br /><br />But yeah, otherwise a "white person's" game ... for now.Pegshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00591629057333815103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-8357012916815000002010-02-26T11:17:25.436-08:002010-02-26T11:17:25.436-08:00@Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist!
I live in Vancouve...@Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist!<br /><br />I live in Vancouver and I've seen SOME partiality in the media coverage of the Olympics on Canadian news stations (CTV). For one, when one of the first men's speedskating medal races was on (forget which distance) there was minimal coverage of the Korean male who won silver. Among the top three were: a white American*, the Korean, and a Russian. I watched the event live and when the final race was over and the results were decided, the camera footage which lasted for about 3 minutes only showed the Korean skater once. This was big news for me because during the races, the commentators mentioned that the Korean skater was racing in part for his country, and in part for Asian skaters to show that they/we are just as capable as anyone else. Being Chinese myself I found it interesting that the camera and commentating focused predominately on the Russian and the American* and minimally on the Korean.<br /><br />* Don't remember if this skater was American, but I remember he was white.boy_louiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04223693236692950406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-82913124615131816652010-02-26T10:28:29.681-08:002010-02-26T10:28:29.681-08:00interesting article from a Desi American who's...interesting article from a Desi American who's rooting for darker skinned (or non-white) athletes: <br /><br />http://www.slate.com/id/2244503/<br /><br />I feel the same way...Sabina E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14679639206346030919noreply@blogger.com