Gwen Berry throws hammer, gets medal, feels disrespected when national anthem plays during podium ceremony.
Is she a brat that shouldn’t go to the Olympics or should her disrespect be respected?
If she has a good shot at earning a medal for my country, well, then, that’s what matters; and as for what she thinks, well, I — can’t say I give more of a crap than if she didn’t happen to be an athlete.
I don’t know why people who claim to love America think that freedom means being free to act the way they want them to. You don’t own the flag, you don’t own the anthem- if someone wants to stand at full attention or stand casually or kneel or face away from the flag, it’s their right to do so- full stop.
Is there any behavior you’d not condone on the podium?
I don’t know why they feel the need to play the national anthem for everything under the sun. It is the US championships, it is a pretty good probability that the winner is from the US. Give them medals and be done with it. I’m guessing that the fans in attendance were getting pretty tired of hearing the anthem over 40 times during the week.
I might draw the line at mooning or flipping off the crowd.
I was under the impression it was once a day. But you’re right overkill.
Ntl, I’d hate to see blatant disrespect from a medal winner on the podium at the Olympics. It’s not the same as kneeling on the sidelines while it’s played before a game.
What’s a medal mean to a country when the athlete you sent to win it feels disrespected on the podium while your country’s anthem plays. Aren’t we United?
First of all, the anthem is being played once a day, at 5:20 pm. Second, the hammer throw medal winners were apparently told that it would be played before they walked out, but it was five minutes late so it was played while they were on the podium. Third, this athlete’s notion that someone did that on purpose to embarrass or otherwise discombobulate her specifically seems to me to have a vanishingly small likelihood of being true. Fourth, what does anyone think should be done about her behavior? Me, nothing.
I see a very small number of posts in this thread trying to single someone out for ostracization, which seems to be the opposite of united.
Well, I’d vote for stopping that nonsense.
Seriously: that’s 4:20 somewhere.
I for one am deeply outraged about something.
Haven’t decided what yet.
By the way, here’s a pretty good recitation of the facts at a site that is not subscription-walled – Teen Vogue of all places.
Criticizing her for her actions is ok. I generally support protests against “traditional patriotic displays” but, if it bugs you, go ahead and sing out. You have the same freedoms as she does.
We’ve actually progressed a little bit. Not too many people are suggesting banishment from athletic contests for such behavior these days.
“My purpose and my mission is bigger than sports,” Berry said. "I’m here to represent those … who died due to systemic racism. That’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. That’s why I’m here today.
She works hard at her sport to reach the podium where she can indulge in a personal protest in order to represent those who died of systemic racism? How does that benefit the dead? Pull the podium away from the athletes if it’s that reprehensible to stand like a statue for 2.5 minutes. No matter if it’s for Pride, BLM, climate change, or whatever one feels it’s important to send a message.
If she wants to do that for 2.5 minutes, she can do so; and if you want to look elsewhere for 2.5 minutes, you can do so. And if I want to nod approvingly and cheer her on, or point and laugh at her while sneering or whatever, hey, I can do as I please for 2.5 minutes likewise. And so on.
Yes. I’d say that shows some commitment, hard work, and skill.
If she were my daughter, I’d be very proud.
True all that yet how is she representing those who died from systemic racism?
You’d have to ask her. How does wearing “42” on their backs help MLB players honor Jackie Robinson?
You may remember the 1968 Olympics.
The sight of two black athletes in open rebellion on the international stage sent a message to both America and the world. At home, this brazen disdain for the tropes of American patriotism – flag and anthem – shifted dissidence from the periphery of American life to primetime television in a single gesture, while revealing what DuBois once termed the “essential two-ness” of the black American condition. “An American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”
Globally, it was understood as an act of solidarity with all those fighting for greater equality, justice and human rights. Margaret Lambert, a Jewish high jumper who was forced, for show, to try out for the 1936 German Olympic team, even though she knew she would never be allowed to compete, said how delighted it made her feel. “When I saw those two guys with their fists up on the victory stand, it made my heart jump. It was beautiful.”
As Carlos explains in his book, their gesture was supposed, among other things, to say: “Hey, world, the United States is not like you might think it is for blacks and other people of colour. Just because we have USA on our chest does not mean everything is peachy keen and we are living large.”