Predictably, a lot of you aren't really engaging with what Melly actually wrote and are just complaining about SJWs instead, which is fine but kinda boring. Still, I don't find his argument very convincing.
As we all know, America is the only country that cares about the mile, and American distance running in general is dominated by white people, even as the best distance runners in the world are African. So the issue comes down to why there aren't more African-American distance runners, and Melly would probably argue that it's about systemic racism and a lack of opportunities for black kids. There's probably some truth to that, but I think that it's more of a cultural thing, distance running just isn't cool or high status. Of course that's also the case for white kids, but in general white parents are probably more likely to steer their kids towards such endeavors. Then there's also the whole East African vs West African genetics thing, but that's another can of worms.
Anyway, I wish we paid more attention to African distance runners because they're incredible, but track is sadly a niche sport, and a sub 3:30 1500 or sub 13 5k just isn't relatable or marketable to the average American. It's fair to say that racism is always a factor on some level, but Americans are generally okay with celebrating black people in sports that we care about. Melly is a smart guy and I like a lot of his takes, but this one seems to have been written mostly for clicks, which I guess worked pretty well.
