In recent times we have watched aghast, the tearing down of norms. On race, tradition, how we treat others, and a host of other issues it seem decency and tradition are things of the past.
In times past,on issue after issue the law of the land upheld and regularised egregious and aborehent wrongs .
Slavery was the law of the land. Jim Crow was the law of the land. The ban on interracial marriages was the law of the land. Segregation was the law of the land. The chain gangs was the law. Killing a black person without consequence was the law of the land and to some degree, still is, if the killing is done by a agent of the government.
That is the reason why the continued arguments in support of blatant inequity and social injustice are bull-puckey.
That any person operating in a personal capacity, or on behalf of any group would use the rules, or the laws to penalize anyone who stands up against social injustice say much more about that individual than the arguments they make about the damn rules.
How you ask, ar they supposed to act , when they are merely carying out the dictates of the laws/rules?
To you I say, resignation seems a far better option than to have one’s name forever etched in the annals of history as the person who was on the wrong side of history.
It is immaterial whether they actually beieved what they were enforcing, or merely carrying out a mandate.
It is against that background that I find the actions of Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, reprehensible.
Hirshland issued formal reprimands to the U.S. athletes, who used their platforms to stand in solidarity with those speaking out on social injustice issues, such as gun control, racism, sexism and the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
According to Huffpost.com, Hammer thrower Gwen Berry and fencer Race Imboden have each been given a 12-month probation for protesting against various forms of injustice in the U.S. at the 2019 Pan American Games earlier this month in Lima, Peru.
Imboden kneeled and Berry raised a fist the following day, in silent and peaceful protests as the U.S. national anthem played over the Pan Am medals stand at the games.
In letters sent to Berry and Imboden on Tuesday, Hirshland wrote that while the athletes’ determination to be active citizens is “admirable,” their protests violated Team USA rules that prohibit political protests, according to copies of the letters sent to HuffPost. “The goal of a Games that are free from political speech is to focus our collective energy on the athletes’ performances, and the international unity and harmony each Games seek to advance,” the letters read. Hirshland warned that Berry and Imboden could “face more serious sanctions for any additional breach of our code of conduct than might otherwise be levied for an athlete in good standing.”
STORY HERE
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/race-imboden-gwen-berry-probations-protests_n_5d5d7705e4b0d043dd74350f
Hirshland’s comments are not much more than horse manure. The Olympic committee rules were put in place by men, it takes courageous and moral others to change them.