As if the rigors of intense gymnastics training weren't stressful enough, Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas says she also dealt with bullying by her teammates so troubling that it almost drove her to quit the sport.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday on Oprah's Next Chapter, Gabby told the host that, before she moved to Iowa to work with coach Liang Chow, she felt isolated at her Virginia Beach gym and was even called a "slave" by fellow gymnasts. From Us Weekly:
Now 16 and in possession of two gold medals, Douglas (with mom Natalie Hawkins) told Oprah Winfrey on Sunday's Oprah's Next Chapter about the less-than-ideal atmosphere at a local gym. "One of my teammates was like, 'Can you scrape the bar?' And they were like, 'Why doesn't Gabby do it, she's our slave?'"
"I definitely felt isolated, I felt why am I deserving this? Is it because I'm black? Those thoughts would go through my mind," said the champ, who became the first-ever African-American to win the coveted All-Around trophy. The teasing got so bad that, at age 14, Douglas threatened to quit the sport altogether if they couldn't move away and find a new coach.
"I felt like I was bullied and isolated from the group, and they treated me not how they would treat the other teammates," Douglas admitted.
Indeed, Douglas eventually did move to Des Moines, Iowa, in order to train at Liang Chow's gym, where fellow Olympic champ Shawn Johnson trained.
Watch a clip of the interview here:
It's a story that makes her rise to success even more impressive.
Source at The Root.
In my limited experience, I also found the South to be more integrated. BUT I'LL STOP TALKING NOW AND LET SOMEONE WHO KNOWS VIRGINIA ANSWER.
As a Virginian (in the "real America" part of VA) and a PoC, yes, I prefer this to the subtle racism. Blatant racism saves me the mental energy of figuring out whether or not someone was being racist to me and I can move on quickly with little to no investment in situations or people. It's also easier to get people to believe you with blatant racism. Sometimes it doesn't matter, but sometimes it means jobs or safety or health is at stake and you may actually need to convince people that something was racist.
I honestly don't know which is worse. I think in a society in which we have the right to speak out against blatant bigotry, yes then it might be easier to deal with blatant bigotry than "under-the-radar" bigotry, but if individuals don't have that right? I don't know. I do think it's much harder to change views with respect to "under-the-radar" bigotry, that type I believe is more ingrained into the psyche (like the way many parents treat their sons vs. their daughters, even when fraternal twins). But if one cannot even try to do something about blatant bigotry, how can anything change?
Edited at 2012-08-28 10:50 pm (UTC)