1) Posters who were not there with you in WI but empathize, 2) posters who were there and empathize, 3) posters who were there and say you are exaggerating. Runner70 and others have created a 4th group: posters who were not there but say you are lying or exaggerating.
The hatred of non-whites was strong. It is still strong.
It was common for non-white men who tried to date a while woman to end up with a serious beating. I was in several fights with white guys who resented me for being not-white.
All of my non-white team mates experienced the same racism that I faced, or worse. The guys from Trinidad were treated absolutely horribly. Neal Taylor, my Trinidadian sprinter team mate, hated it so much that he transferred.
Deb Vercauteren and Jon Zupanc were at my wedding. Deb was there to support the bride, but fuming at me. Jon was there because he went wherever Deb went.
Some people view every setback or misfortune in life through the eyes of race...They become obsessed with it....it's a sickness and they refuse to acknowledge they are twisted....
I'm not "some guy." I'm posting under my name. I was a five-time All-American at UW Oshkosh. I was the first UWO NCAA All-American. I was the most valuable runner, indoors and outdoors. I was a multiple WSUC Champ. I am the 1985 NCAA Div III 800 meter champion, and, at the time, the NCAA Div III record holder. I am the 1990 USATF 8K National Champion, and my time of 22:43 was the fastest 8k recorded in the year of 1990. I was a Nike athlete from 1988 to 1996. I won, or placed in, some of pretty cool road races in 1989 and 1990, including, in 1989, 2nd at the St Patty's Day 8k, between Barnaba Korir and Patril Sang, 1st at the Bellin 10, 1st at the Cedar Rapids Fifth Season 8k, ahead of Mark Plattjes, 1st at the Belmar 8k ahead of Jerry O'Reilly and Jeff Smith, and in 1990, 3rd at the Cherry Blossom Chaser, 3rd at the Hanovers Manufacturer 10k, and 3rd at the Tessanderloo Belgium Nike Classic 12k. Later, after my pro running was done, I won the Madison Marathon and Crazy Legs 8k.
This has nothing to do with liberal or conservative. It is 100% about calling out the kind of ugly racial discrimination that was supposed to have ended long before I got to college. All Jon Zupanc had to do was let me run. That's all I asked. Let Me Run.
Max, why post on letsrun, when all that will do is ignite the trolls and racists that frequent threads like this? I understand the idea of using a notable running site to share this, but it is still letsrun, which is often a cesspool, as we have already seen on this thread.
Are you confused about what you posted? Do you not remember posting that slavery 'wasn't that bad' or saying it was ok to yell racial slurs at black people kneeling for the flag?
Max, why post on letsrun, when all that will do is ignite the trolls and racists that frequent threads like this? I understand the idea of using a notable running site to share this, but it is still letsrun, which is often a cesspool, as we have already seen on this thread.
It's always useful to have counterpoint examples for the people who insist racism doesn't exist.
Max, why post on letsrun, when all that will do is ignite the trolls and racists that frequent threads like this? I understand the idea of using a notable running site to share this, but it is still letsrun, which is often a cesspool, as we have already seen on this thread.
Why do you automatically believe this guy? This shows the bigotry of the left.
Max, why post on letsrun, when all that will do is ignite the trolls and racists that frequent threads like this? I understand the idea of using a notable running site to share this, but it is still letsrun, which is often a cesspool, as we have already seen on this thread.
Why do you automatically believe this guy? This shows the bigotry of the left.
Can you expand on what you said about slavery 'not being that bad'? Or why it's ok to yell racial slurs at black people kneeling for the flag?
I would be curious to hear your non-bigoted take on the issue.
How many times have you been called the n-word? To your face?
How many times has a coach told you to get off the track because Black runners aren't allowed?
The argument between Dr. Flood, the head coach in 1983, and Coach Akin, the assistant coach was real. Coach Akin won the argument, with Dr. Flood so mad that he did not talk to me at the meet. If he congratulated me when I finished in 3rd, as a freshman All American, I don't remember.
There were quite a few white team mates who said I was fast because I was part Black. They actually said this to me. Jon Klett was the worst of them. He was a senior when I was a freshman. According to him, his senior year was supposed to the the year he was the champion, and, instead, I kept beating him. He blamed me for his own failure to qualify for Nationals.
I knew Jon Zupanc from way back when he was selling shoes at The Athlete's Foot in Oshkosh. I know him in a very different way than the white guys on our team.
Edited because, despite being a n*%1&r, I can't type it without being censored.
I've been called "white boy" and "vanilla" many times as have my friends. I have NEVER called anyone the N-word, not once. Do you believe I had the right to? Regardless, I don't even think that way.
However wrong any person has been treated is wrong, just wrong. Were the Black people at work who called me "white boy" wrong? Doesn't that make them racist? How do you think that made me feel? I dealt with it for years, but I just accepted it while I was there for several years.
I let it go, I didn't dwell on it. Life is far too short for that.
The OP makes some serious allegations, but the story about getting kicked off the Walnut Street Track brought back a memory. I was at the UW in the early 80's, during the time that Martin Smith took over after Coach McClimon's untimely death. I was slow by Div. I standards, or even by DIII standards to tell the truth, but still did some winter and early spring workouts at The Shell, the UW's indoor track facility. I'd usually finish near the time the Badger runners would show up for afternoon practice; sometimes I'd overlap when Peter Tegen coached workouts with eventual Olympian Cindy Bremser, but I always made a point to stay completely out of the way. No issues during the McClimon era, but let's just say that Coach Smith did not like his runners sharing the track facility with anyone, regardless of race. I, as white as the Wisconsin snow, was promptly and bluntly asked to leave before team practice even started. For that matter, they put up a huge net around the infield so the baseball team could practice during track team workouts, too, and I don't think Coach Smith was thrilled about that, either.
Well, when I got invited to the UWO Track Alumni FB page, and I started to say that my memory of UW Track isn't all unicorn farts and rainbows, they blocked me. ... they blocked me, but not before a few of my non-white team mates posted in agreement. You can't ask a white guy if another white guy is not-racist, but you can ask a Black guy what his experience was. Compared to some of my Black team mates, I had it pretty good.
Ask Jon why Neal Taylor transferred. That's a subject Jon really, really does not want to visit.
Max, why post on letsrun, when all that will do is ignite the trolls and racists that frequent threads like this? I understand the idea of using a notable running site to share this, but it is still letsrun, which is often a cesspool, as we have already seen on this thread.
Why do you automatically believe this guy? This shows the bigotry of the left.
Are we supposed to believe you? You are a proven awful person.