Posted on 08/10/2016 7:15:43 AM PDT by simpson96
Gabby Douglas may have just helped her team win gold at the Olympics but that hasn't stopped some fans criticizing her for not putting her hand on her heart during the U.S. national anthem.
The American gymnast was the only member of her squad who was photographed with her hands by her sides as The Star-Spangled Banner played in Rio on Tuesday.
The Olympic veteran took gold alongside Madison Kocian, Laurie Hernandez, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman in the Women's Team All-Around gymnastics ompetition.
Twitter user Angela complained: 'There is no excuse as to why you could not salute the flag of the country that gave you the opportunity to compete.'
'Gabby Douglas just standing there and not placing her hand over her heart while our anthem played was UN-Olympic,' Dawn Wisdom wrote.
'As a military kid Gabby Douglas knows the proper way to respect the anthem,' another social media user said.
And Brittany Hargrave added: 'On the one hand, so proud of the Final Five gold win. On the other, so disappointed Gabby Douglas didn't salute the flag.'
Douglas explained why she didn't raise her hand to her heart during the national anthem after spotting the complaints on social media.
'First I want to say thank you everyone for all your support! It's a huge honor for me to be able to represent Team USA,' she said.
'In response to a few tweets I saw tonight, I always stand at attention out of respect for our country whenever the national anthem is played.
'I never meant any disrespect and apologize if I offended anyone. I'm so overwhelmed at what our team accomplished today and overjoyed that we were able to bring home another gold for our country.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
We can all be victims
One cannot take anything patriotic for granted in obama’s America.
She's not a kid but a 20 year old adult. Plus, she's from a military family so knows to place her hand over her heart. She has no excuse. That said, she doesn't/didn't get along with her Staff Sgt. father during the last Olympics.
Maybe that was before she discovered that she was being oppressed. Er ... exploited. Uh ... crushed under the iron bootheel of patriarchal white privilege? You know, whatever the BLM slogan du jour is.
Looks like she has a bad attitude. She looks like a loser.
If in her mind it is a descendant of slaves, she had better be glad her ancestors paid the price because she would never have had this opportunity as an African in Africa.
Gabby is a class act. I am familiar with folks that know her. She gets a break. Just won a gold.
Knock it off. Ever give anyone a break. Geesh. She ain’t smokin pot at a concert.
“. . .apologize if I offended anyone.”
Apology if anyone was offended. . .NOT apology for disrespecting the flag.
The world is tumbling towards oblivion and this is considered “news”?
When standing at attention, military style, my fists are closed, but not clenched. During the national anthem, my hand is over my heart, and I've taught my kids to do the same.
Personally, I think this situation is overblown, and misinterpreted in the same vein as Trump's Second Amendment remarks yesterday.
I remember Tommie Smith and John Carlos, and their Black Power display in 1968. I was 14 at the time. The young woman is nowhere near doing the same thing.
FYI: Couple years ago protocol was changed to allow retirees and vets to salute rather than do the hand over heart.
http://www.military.com/flag-day/rules-for-saluting-us-flag.html
“Law Now Allows Retirees and Vets to Salute Flag
Traditionally, members of the nation’s veterans service organizations have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag only while wearing their organization’s official head-gear.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 contained an amendment to allow un-uniformed servicemembers, military retirees, and veterans to render a hand salute during the hoisting, lowering, or passing of the U.S. flag.
A later amendment further authorized hand-salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel. This was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on Oct. 14, 2008.”
I think that’s the biggest reason that Ms. Douglas is upset; she has been largely forgotten/ignored while Simone Biles has received most of the media attention—and rightly so. Biles has a truly compelling life story (born to drug-addicted parents, bounced between them and foster care before being adopted by her grandparents and raised in Christian home), and she will go down as one of the great gymnasts of all time. One of her vault routines is known as the “Biles” because she is the only gymnast who can execute it.
A lot of that “look” on Gabby Douglas’s face is old-fashioned jealousy, and it’s directed at Simone Biles.
I’m surprised she differnt give the communist power fist salute.
She was secretly switched at birth with Michele Obama’s daughter and through genetics is carrying the cause, what ever that is.
red
Oh please! Do you have any idea what those girls were doing for the few hours before the ceremony? They were not going to a prom you know. They are athletes.
Here's she is in 2012. Very sneaky. She doesn't here either.
And again in 2012
Hope n’ Change shining through...
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