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Simone Biles and the New Black Power of ‘No’
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/29/simone-biles-and-the-new-black-activist-athlete-the-one-who-says-no-501675 ^

Posted on 07/31/2021 6:58:46 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET

When superstar gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from team competition this past week at the Tokyo Olympics, citing emotional exhaustion that was hampering her ability to perform, the world gasped. It seemed not to know what to make of a top athlete — and, in Biles’ case, a cultural phenomenon and a singular force in gymnastics — choosing to step away from a game while it was still in play, especially the Olympics, the most venerated of sporting events.


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To: DIRTYSECRET

the “author” of the opinion piece had a white dad and black mom. she’s a very conflicted person as a result.


41 posted on 07/31/2021 7:40:39 AM PDT by ealgeone
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Hey…the solution is to emigrate, compete, and perform under the flag of your ancestral homeland…problem solved and happiness all around…for all the USA haters not just Biles…


42 posted on 07/31/2021 7:41:19 AM PDT by TnTnTn
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To: DIRTYSECRET

I can care less about Simone’s bile.


43 posted on 07/31/2021 7:41:31 AM PDT by inchworm (al )
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To: DIRTYSECRET
We all remember Debbie Thomas failing. Still ended up with the bronze-failure. Now she lives in a trailer.

So tell me, how many medals at the Olympics did Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos ever win?
There are plenty of gold medal winners who never became rich. Most rich people never won anything in sport.

O.J. did it.

Yeah OJ murdered his wife and her lover.
What a creep.

Americans enjoy watching people fall but can get really disappointed when the person is black

Americans DON'T enjoy seeing Americans lose in competition with other countries, except those Americansare anti American hate mongers like the US women's soccer team or the men's basketball team etc.

44 posted on 07/31/2021 7:42:38 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: heartwood

True. The olympics separates the best from the rest. Physically and mentally. If she had a failure of mental focus , strength and will she just cleared a spot for a superior athlete to take the spot.


45 posted on 07/31/2021 7:43:12 AM PDT by spudville
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To: DIRTYSECRET
Biles is part of a new, more subtle chapter of Black activism that is elevating personal reflection and self-care over the emotional stoicism and resilience that has long been a feature of Black struggle, and of Black success.

Uh, these features cross racial lines.

Her thoughtful but resounding “no” is the result of a new kind of soul-searching that, more and more, looks inward, rather than out at the world, for direction.

If she was an athlete who DID NOT have a team depending on her, I could agree with this. But she did.

To make this a racial thing is par for the course today. And it's stupid. If white bread May Lou Retton had done this, she'd have gotten the same criticism.

This fevered rush by everyone, even her teammates, to congratulate her for bailing is so bizarre to me.

Is it a fear to criticize a black person? Is it reflective of the snowflakeism and emotions at the expense of everything else ism? What is it?

46 posted on 07/31/2021 7:45:43 AM PDT by Lizavetta
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To: cockroach_magoo
My guess (only a guess) is that the revised scoring system messed with her head. She was singled out as being too good, and the judges has to depress her scores to benefit other, less spectacular athletes.

That is absolute rubbish. If she's been singled out for low points, how come she won 4 golds in Rio in 2016?

47 posted on 07/31/2021 7:45:47 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Who are y’all talking about? The Gold medal winner is Auburn’s upcoming freshman gymnast SUNI LEE! WAR EAGLE!


48 posted on 07/31/2021 7:46:50 AM PDT by Jemian (War Eagle!)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Imagine if a white male had quit on his team like that. Those making this choker out to be a hero would sing a different tune.


49 posted on 07/31/2021 7:47:17 AM PDT by boycott
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Will the new power of “NO” extend to affirmative action, minority preference in contracting, increased test scores, reduced expulsion and free money?

Think about the power of “YES” to working hard, speaking proper English, not committing crime, not having kids outside of marriage, not taking drugs, and not blaming Whitey for everything?


50 posted on 07/31/2021 7:47:41 AM PDT by I want the USA back (To find out who really rules you, find out who you're not allowed to criticize. Voltaire. )
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To: Cecily

I couldn’t care less
I have never been able to stand people who act up.
Life is too short to waste time on people like that.


51 posted on 07/31/2021 7:48:46 AM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: DIRTYSECRET

I don’t get it. Did she say anything about this being a political statement, or a racial statement?

I had not heard her, or anyone, say that this was a demonstration about black power or discrimination or any of that.

Just saying, I never heard her make any Colin Kapernick or Megan Rapinoe type speeches about her pulling out.


52 posted on 07/31/2021 7:48:57 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: RetiredArmy
Who gives a damn?

The real power of no; No one cares if you say no.

53 posted on 07/31/2021 7:50:53 AM PDT by Ahithophel (Communication is an art form susceptible to sudden technical failure)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

So she doesn’t want to compete anymore, that’s her choice and understandable. This wasn’t her first event, she knows the stress and mental factor. She has accepted the GOAT title, she entered the Olympics, she has tons of endorsements and commercials and quits in the middle of competition because she wasn’t performing well. Was her strategy to quit due to mental pressure and become a social hero, or did she quit because she wasn’t performing well and lose her status?


54 posted on 07/31/2021 7:51:01 AM PDT by Toespi
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To: srmanuel

While I’m sure the PR team couched it in pretty terms, no one knows just how serious her condition is except her and her doctors. I get why people are upset by this move; on the surface, it seems like a slap in the face to her team.

I see it a little different, as someone who did gymnastics and a mom with a child that battles depression.

Gymnasts can make their aerial moves look easy, but they are extremely dangerous if not properly executed. A life altering injury can and does happen.

She is a champion. Her many medals prove it and represent years of hard work, pain, and sacrifice. She is not a fragile snowflake. You don’t get to the Olympics be being weak.

That being said, if she knew she couldn’t perform, it was better for her to walk away.

My middle child has an endocrine disorder. Chronic depression is one of the side effects. It is debilitating, like any other serious medical condition. I witnessed my straight A honor student, with offers from Ivy league schools, crash and burn in her Junior year of high school, turn suicidal, engage in self-harm...it was agonizing.

All these folks in the media putting their spin on her situation is not helping her. Just wish her the best and pray that life after sports is not a trainwreck.


55 posted on 07/31/2021 7:51:42 AM PDT by TheWriterTX (Trust not in earthly princes....)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

I wish blacks would say no to the Democrat position that blacks just can’t make it on their own.


56 posted on 07/31/2021 7:51:50 AM PDT by libertylover (Our biggest problem by far is that most of the news media is hate & agenda driven, not truth driven.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

In the American trials, it was obvious that she wasn’t wanting to be there. If she would have stepped up then and there and quit thereby letting another girl go to the Olympics representing the USA, that would have been honorable.


57 posted on 07/31/2021 7:54:04 AM PDT by rigelkentaurus
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To: DIRTYSECRET

She already has made millions in endorsements. If she competed and lost those would fade away.

She will now do the “woke” circuit on TV to talk about how horrible it is to have the mental pressure of a black athlete with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I’ve lost respect for her.


58 posted on 07/31/2021 7:58:10 AM PDT by jdsteel ("A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it." Sorry Ben, looks like we blew it.)
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To: TheWriterTX

Just a couple of examples of athletes who sucked it up and push ahead to not let their teammates down...

Kerry Strug completed her vault on a severely sprained ankle, her team won the gold medal as a result of her efforts, she was clearly injured but pushed ahead...

Jack Youngblood a Defensive End for the Los Angeles Rams broke his leg in the NFC championship game, a game the Rams won....

Two weeks later Youngblood played the entire Super Bowl with a broken leg, the Rams lost but Youngblood gutted it out....certainly professional football is a sport with life altering injuries....

Simone Biles didn’t just quit, she quit right before the competition ....probably costing her team a gold medal...


59 posted on 07/31/2021 7:58:27 AM PDT by srmanuel (`)
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To: Mr. Jeeves

“because the Hmong girl won the gold and reminded America why Asians are considered a model minority.”

My SIL, a recently retired public HS teacher still praises the Asian kids. Work hard, never any trouble, never get in trouble with the law, dress conservatively. None of their parents stick up for them when their kid rarely acts up out of control.

Thid is how whites used to be before the sub races ruined us through terrible culture.


60 posted on 07/31/2021 8:01:15 AM PDT by setter
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