Posted on 08/03/2012 1:09:35 AM PDT by jdirt
Is it just me? I was watching the Olympics tonight in a restaurant. There was no sound. Gabby Douglas was receiving the Gold medal for her all-around performance in gymnastics. She did wonderful from what I saw.
BUT when she received the Gold, she did not put her hand over her heart when they played the National Anthem.
She was holding flowers in the middle of her body with her right hand and had her left hand behind her back.. I blew it off, kinda. But hubby saw it too and we both went into shock. I have never seen an Olympian not do this and I don't think I have ever seen someone not put their hand over their heart during the National Anthem.
Is it just me? Did anyone else see this and wonder the same thing? Has anybody mentioned it on the news? Should I give her a pass because of her age, nerves and the excitement of it all?
you do understand I was being sarcastic do the petty nature of the post ?
In an interview where they tried to make a big deal of her being the first “African American” to win the gold in gymnastics, she forgot that, too. She was just so excited to win.
She’s 14, it’s her first Olympics, and she won. She didn’t cheat like the Chinese, and she didn’t disgrace the country with bad behavior like Phelps’ bong hits. We’ll expect more decorum from a mature athlete next Olympics.
Yes, you are being silly.
Quit looking for the bad in things. She is a 16 year old kid who has been training constantly for years.
She probably didn't get the memo about the exact placement of her body parts at a pinnacle time in her life.
This stuff makes us look silly. Not personally attacking you with any of the above by the way...
to the US media "Afican-American" is a color not a race. It reminds me of two stories about tortured political correctness:
One was an ESPN reporter asked a black player who scored a game winning goal what it felt like to be the "first African-American to score a game winning goal" in the NCAA tournament. He looked at her and said "I'm Canadian." She then said, "Okay, but how does it feel to be the first African-American to do so."
Second was when Jay Leno's wife was describing her trip to Africa to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and she described the black kids as "African-American...who live in Africa".
Hilarious...
Now that is funny!
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I'm sure that Gabrielle breathes so much easier now that you have decided to be so generous and forgiving...I heard she was losing sleep with the worry that rather than acknowledging and, dare I say, respecting her years of painful work to get there, you and hubby had focused the full weight of your pettiness on where she placed her hand at a moment when the pain and labor of those years bore fruit.
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Gee, does your define her as a "determined Black American young lady" mean that we should differentiate her from the average "determined American young ladies"?
Why does her color matter enough to you that you used it to define her?
Her medal represents her effort and her effort alone.
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Really? Then how about you show us any post you or the poster you are defending ever put up here that, in a story that is not about race, you described a White American as just that, White.
Hey, when losing = Siberia, I'd cry too! < /sarc >
Though I believe Gabby was holding the flowers over her heart (which is acceptable like when you hold your hat over your heart.) There has been a prior incident where American Olympians didn't do such:
I think the young lady is awesome and was in no way trying to be controversial. I applaud her commitment and her achievement!
I defined her as a Black American with the drive to succeed through individual effort. And.....she could be, just as easily any American woman. My point is there are many Black Americans the believe in the American dream.
The problem is, So many Blacks have been led to believe and lead their lives existing on “Obama” stashes & handouts. Sad commentary on millions of Black people who are wasting their lives shooting drugs, having unwanted babies, living with poor education, and their own inner racism. fostered upon them, not by the average American, but by Obama and Black leaders like him.
Yep, keep ‘em down on the plantation, in forever economic dependence and slavery. That is no way to go through a productive, fulfilling life. This talented young lady has overcome the odds that most of her brothers and sisters have chosen to live in!!! Again, sad commentary on Blacks, more important, on Black leadership from Obama on down!!!
It’s only over the past 10-15 years that putting your hand over your heart during the anthem has become “proper.” Like others have mentioned, growing up we were taught hand over heart for the Pledge, but to stand respectfully at attention for the anthem.
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See that is exactly my point....
To you her "brothers and sisters" are Black Americans rather than just all Americans.
Why, in your mind, does she have to represent "Blacks"? Does the Dark Knight shooter represent Whites? Does HRC represent Whites?
She's just a kid who has accomplished more by sixteen that most of us will by sixty. What gives you the right to put the burden of Black America on her shoulders?
Get real. You know damn well that you never felt the need to identify any White individual as White before - you reserve that for Black. Digging around to post something now just makes you look silly.
It looked to me like Douglas stepped out of bounds (is that the correct term?). I saw it live and one replay and it looked pretty clear to me.
And Gabby did better in the All Around. The only gift score I saw was Komova’s vault score.
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