Well articulated judgement. No one will be able to scream racist to this opinion about what Leo did after the race.
I really didn't like the author's point of view. He tried to put band-aids on it by saying stuff like "yeah but I'm really proud of being a mexican." Who cares? He obviously sees the Olympics through a different lens than I do. When this guy said that the Olympics is about representing your country, individual be damned, I cringed a little bit.
Sure, it's about representing the good ol' U.S Of A, but for EVERY athlete the Olympics are the pinnacle of their career. They're not doing this for their country, their doing this to validate everything they've done, all the sacrifice and hard work, put in during the past four years. In my eyes the country comes 2nd. It's about celebrating the athletes within that country.
I think he's mistaking it with the overarching theme of the Olympics which is unity among the constituents of our tiny planet. To me it's about the individual, the country can follow.
What he said ^^^
Poorly written article that completely misses the point.
An opinion from THIS U.S. American of Mexican-descent is that it didn't bother me. He's never (as far as I know) competed for Mexico and has been in the U.S. as a kid. Ideally he would have flown a smaller Mexican flag but I believe he was handed the flag.
Didn't Meb hold up an Eritrean flag? Didn't Marion Jones hold up Belize? At the time, I don't think anyone made a fuss about it. I'm sure there are others.
It's not the same as if Bernard Lagat or Khalid Kannounchi help up Kenyan or Moroccan flags; they competed for those countries while Manzano didn't.
That being said, I do think it would be in poor taste if Sanya Richards held up a Jamaican flag and I'm aware of the double standard. Maybe it didnt bother me because Mexico is not a track powerhouse whereas Kenya and Morocco are.
I disagree with the writer. I think the action was fine. That's all I have to say about that.
BUT, if anyone thinks that we have the most racist message board, we need to send them to this article's comment section. Oh my goodness there are some rude people out there.
The Unitied State may be the only country in the world where people can hold up both the flag of their national origin and the flag of the country they compete for. Can you imagine if Mekhissi-Benabbad held up an Algerian flag with a French flag after getting silver in the steeple? People in France would spit on him in the streets. Yet, Algeria is to France in many ways what Mexico is the the US. I actually think it is a good thing that people in the US are generally very accepting of people's pride in their national origin. It is a very American thing to be proud of both your heritage and your citizenship.
I won't call it racist. I'll call it stupid....but not racist.
The original, true Olympic ideal, as represented earlier in the games, was to shed your nationality and compete as an individual -- ignorning race, religion, nationality, etc.
That doesn't really hold anymore as the Olympics have become extremely nationalistic over the years.
The Olympics has been become just another manifestation of surrogate warfare. It was blatant during the Cold War and it still is. Winners of other awards for major life accomplishments - Nobel prizes, Oscars, etc etc - do not drape themselves in flags or stand to hear national anthems.
I really wish all athletes would just compete under an Olympic flag but it will never happen.
There were plenty of Israeli flags waving in the stands when Aly Raisman won gold in the floor exercises, by the way. No one seemed to have any problem with it.
Manzano did the work and ran the race and won the medal. As far as I am concerned, he can do anything he wants. If he wants to acknowledge part of his heritage, it's his prerogative.
Hmm, as a white dude, I don't see a problem with it. The Olympics are about nonviolence and breaking down barriers. Even though the olympics were founded on ideas of nationalism, today, drawing lines is the last thing that should be thought about.
aldd wrote:
Very well put.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/10/opinion/navarrette-olympics-flags/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
If that's "very well put," you might be an idiot.
Some of my favorite quotes from the article:
After his victory, he tweeted, "Silver medal, still felt like I won! Representing two countries USA and Mexico!"
That's funny. I only saw one set of letters on his jersey: USA.
Brilliant writing. Does he not comprehend that people feel like the represent more than one thing when they compete internationally? He may also feel like he's representing his family, or his town, or his alma mater, or his church, or his training group, or his coach... or the country where he was born. You don't need to be a genius to understand that the letters on the jersey are only part of where a person comes from.
It's about being part of a team -- the U.S. Olympic team. It's about national pride, not ego. Manzano wasn't there to compete for himself but to represent his country. All he had to do was decide which country that was. He chose not to choose.
Moron. He did choose. Did you not read your previous brilliant line about having USA on his jersey?
Second of all, while he is there representing his country (which he did brilliantly), he is ALSO there competing for himself. If he was just representing his country, fat morons like the author of this article would be olympians.
Is it too nuanced for this guy to understand that wearing USA, and living in the USA, doesn't mean that a person has to completely forget all of his life history.
What am I missing? Where were the Italian-American athletes waving the Italian flag, or the Irish-Americans waving the Irish flag? I didn't see that.
So? The fact that they didn't do it somehow proves that it's the right thing to do?
I remember that, in 1992, Mexican-American boxer Oscar De La Hoya held up both the U.S. and Mexican flags after winning a gold medal in Barcelona. But that was largely symbolic since De La Hoya was born in the United States. He wasn't an immigrant caught between two countries.
Nice! Take basically the same situation but offer a lame justification for why it was ok. Well played!
It wasn't unlike the choice your parents made when they chose the United States over Mexico a quarter century ago. They voted with their feet. It would be nice if you haven't left your heart behind.
Maybe, just maybe, most of his heart is in the USA, but a piece of it is still in Mexico. Maybe, just maybe, Leo is intelligent enough to understand that different places have pros and cons, and he loves certain aspects of both places? I know, I know, it's complicated.
This country took you in during your hour of need. Now in your moment of glory, which country deserves your respect -- the one that offered nothing to your parents and forced them to leave or the one that took you all in and gave you the opportunity to live out your dreams?
Comical.
You are correct. You are comical.
I'm just surprised that people aren't in such an uproar about Richards Ross' Chanel earrings! Talk about almost rule breaking. (sarcasm)
Read the f*cking commemts beneath the article. What a great display of how f*cking stupid the average person is
An Engineer wrote:
Some of my favorite quotes from the article:
[quote]After his victory, he tweeted, "Silver medal, still felt like I won! Representing two countries USA and Mexico!"
That's funny. I only saw one set of letters on his jersey: USA.
Brilliant writing. Does he not comprehend that people feel like the represent more than one thing when they compete internationally? He may also feel like he's representing his family, or his town, or his alma mater, or his church, or his training group, or his coach... or the country where he was born. You don't need to be a genius to understand that the letters on the jersey are only part of where a person comes from.
Look, just because you mock something as "brilliant" and call someone stupid doesn't mean you've made a point.
Newsflash: one's " family, or his town, or his alma mater, or his church, or his training group, or.... coach" (with maybe exceptions on coach) will almost always be in and part of the SAME COUNTRY AS ONE IS REPRESENTING. So very weak point on your part.
Next time Leo should run for Mexico.
Some of the comments are pretty bad.
"he should be deported"
Anyone who knows or follows Leo knows the dude is the nicest, humblest, and most respectful person out there. I think we've got to look at his intent in carrying the flags here. Leo is a credit to both the United States and Mexico. I wish we could trade some of the douchebags we've got here for some more Leo's.
One thing that has become increasingly annoying to me is the use of the flag as a “prop” after a race or during other situations where the flag isn’t needed. It won’t stop but I sure wish it would.
As for Leo. I expected fallout for his decision but it really didn’t matter to me. I would expect he is far deeper in touch with who he is than almost every poster on this board. It was a surprise and nice to see him get the medal.
bangalangadanga wrote:
Anyone who knows or follows Leo knows the dude is the nicest, humblest, and most respectful person out there. I think we've got to look at his intent in carrying the flags here. Leo is a credit to both the United States and Mexico. I wish we could trade some of the douchebags we've got here for some more Leo's.
+1 Exactly.
Anyone who knows anything about Leo knows that he intended no offense to anyone - he just wanted to honor where he was born and his heritage along with the US. Just take the gesture the way it was intended - it's no different than thanking your parents or coach or whoever got the athlete to that point.