16 year-old Gabby Douglas helped lead the US woman's gymnastic team to gold on Tuesday night, then became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in the individual all-around competition on Thursday; just the fourth American woman to win the latter.Despite a performance that millions around the globe found inspiring, Gabby found herself the subject of criticism on Twitter. Not because of her dismount, but because of her hair.
Who would use Twitter to critique something as inconsequential as Gabby's hair? The Huffington Post Website offers a few samples of the kinds of negative comments Gabby received from, get this; black people. [Read for yourself]. Only in America folks. There's something vindictive, childish and snarky about the whole mess.
My Grandmother had little tolerance for African-Americans who cultivated negativity within their own communities by tearing down successful people of color with snide comments. She likened them to "crabs in a bucket", pull one out of the bucket as the adage goes and two or three will be clinging on trying to drag them back down.
Wouldn't you think a 16 year-old US gymnast could count on all Americans getting behind her efforts to compete on the world stage in one of the most difficult Olympic events?
The vast majority of us (of all races) who watched the woman's gymnastics competition on Tuesday night did just that. Watching the composure and athleticism of those five young women gave me pause to appreciate a glimpse of the essence of true American Spirit; something I hadn't really sensed in awhile.
No empty political soundbite ideology, no gloomy reports about the sluggish pace of the economy. Just a diverse group of five young American women who came out onto the floor determined to win gold.
Gabby Douglas was the perfect image of grace and athleticism; and despite the Twitter nonsense, she looked beautiful. As an African-American it made me proud to see her win and I was reminded of the qualities that make this the greatest nation on Earth.
With all the challenges we face as a nation and as a global community, someone who ignores the two Olympic gold medals Gabby won to Tweet trite, superficial comments about something as trivial as her hair seriously needs to turn off the TV, shut down the computer, get off the couch and get a life.
Sad but true: If a group of white people had started Tweeting about Gabby's hair, the same self-hating black people who actually DID Tweet about Gabby's hair would've been up in arms, outraged and calling them racists. But when we insult our own THAT's okay?
Remember how radio talk show host Don Imus was vilified when he called members of the Rutgers University basketball team "nappy-headed ho's" on the air in 2007?
The Web is full of Trolls who use social media to insult and degrade people, but the fact that some African-Americans used their Twitter accounts to mock a 16 year-old athlete's hair says less about Gabby than it does about black self-esteem and self image.
UPDATE: Friday, August 3, 2012
Just listened to an informed discussion on the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC about the global conversation being generated by Gabby Douglas and learned there's a larger presence of black female gymnasts than I thought. A caller noted that the 2012 British, Dutch and French woman's Olympic gymnastics teams all currently have black athletes on their rosters; other countries do too.
Another woman called in to remind listeners that Wendy Hilliard made the Olympic team in 1980 and Betty Okino was a member of the 1992 team that won a bronze medal.
Who can forget Dominique Dawes? The first African-American gymnast to win a gold medal in an individual event during the 1996 Olympics as a member of the "Magnificent Seven".
Listen to a podcast of the segment if you're interested, it's not that long.
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