Dwight Phillips vs. Lauren Fleshman and Nick Symmonds on Twitter

It stemmed from something racial and Dwight was fired up!

The original comment from Lauren seemed innocent enough, but Dwight screamed racist immediately and called out Nick as a racist too. Go check out the exchange, it's pretty heated. Lauren handled it well, Dwight not so much, though he may be right. What do you guys think? Lauren a racist or not?

I have to say, there are better folks to engage in a talk about diversity in the sport than Lauren. Oiselle's business model is based on serving wealthy white women:

Staff: No apparent POC.

http://www.oiselle.com/about

Professional team: No POC.

http://www.oiselle.com/athletes/elites

Sub-elite team: 2 out of 32 (.06%, with US population of women of color ~38%)

http://www.oiselle.com/athletes/elites

With Pickybar, I'd like to know the demographics of the free Pickybar program. Their sponsored team looks to be all white.

Brooks isn't much better with Nick. A quick scan of their elite team has 0/13 POC on their team.

I hope Sally or Lauren come on here and speak specifically about their commitment to serving diverse populations, their strategy for recruiting a representative and diverse racing team, and why their staff is so far from representing the female population of the US demographically.

While Dwight might have been race baiting a little bit, he also wasn't wrong.

Pffffft. She's the last person on earth that would ever be racist. Our country is such now that people of color immediately knee jerk to the racist bit. Sharpton has done his people a disservice.

Racist and supportive of diversity/inclusivity are two different things. I'm not accusing her of the former, but haven't seen any evidence about the latter.

Fleshman is barely a part of this thing. It's mainly Phillips saying Symmonds looks out for his own interests and that Brooks is not a paragon of diversity.

Are So wrote:

Fleshman is barely a part of this thing. It's mainly Phillips saying Symmonds looks out for his own interests and that Brooks is not a paragon of diversity.

Actually it looks like it started with a reply from Phillips to Fleshman:

‏"@laurenfleshman

Pro track and field athletes, have any of you received any emails from the AAC in 2016? @usatf_AAC"

Then:

@Dwightdagreat

Wow really, I guess black people are incompetent these days Lauren

then:

@laurenfleshman

excuse me Dwight, but that has literally nothing to do with my comment. That's completely inappropriate

then:

@Dwightdagreat

As is your tweet Lauren! No class!

I could be missing something but that looks like how it started to me.

Unless I'm missing some context, that exchange between Phillips and Fleshman doesn't seem to make any sense. What in the world is he talking about???

i agree. am I missing something?http://www.usatf.org/Resources-for---/Elite/AAC.aspx

come on guys wrote:

Unless I'm missing some context, that exchange between Phillips and Fleshman doesn't seem to make any sense. What in the world is he talking about???

Yeah, if that's how it started, Phillips is picking a fight with her with no provocation. He's projecting a bit.

I was at a USATF event some years back in which about ten top athletes were introduced, and nine of them (including David Krummenacker, Nicole Teter, and Tyree Washington) came across as pretty impressive. Phillips seemed pretty dim.

fje9 wrote:

Are So wrote:

Fleshman is barely a part of this thing. It's mainly Phillips saying Symmonds looks out for his own interests and that Brooks is not a paragon of diversity.

Actually it looks like it started with a reply from Phillips to Fleshman:

‏"@laurenfleshman

Pro track and field athletes, have any of you received any emails from the AAC in 2016? @usatf_AAC"

Then:

@Dwightdagreat

Wow really, I guess black people are incompetent these days Lauren

then:

@laurenfleshman

excuse me Dwight, but that has literally nothing to do with my comment. That's completely inappropriate

then:

@Dwightdagreat

As is your tweet Lauren! No class!

I could be missing something but that looks like how it started to me.

That's all I can see as well. How could Dwight possibly find that as the best response to such a tweet by Lauren? This blows my mind. How is he the chair of the AAC with the leadership he is demonstrating with a tweet like that?

He is making black skin look like incredibly thin skin.

They don't call it TWIT-ter for nothing

rainy day Monday wrote:

They don't call it TWIT-ter for nothing

Waaahahahahaha!!!! woo hoo hoo hoo!!!! Wow, I'm dying here!

He was wrong to react with the initial tweets, but his point about diversity was accurate.

brozelle wrote:

Sub-elite team: 2 out of 32 (.06%, with US population of women of color ~38%)

http://www.oiselle.com/athletes/elites

That's not how percentages work. You mean 6%.

Bring Back the 880 wrote:

He was wrong to react with the initial tweets, but his point about diversity was accurate.

Lauren's comments had nothing to do with race though. Why make this a race issue. Many athletes are upset because many athletes once they join the AAC become pawns for Hightower and the USATF leadership.

Dwight is guilty of this offense and is just bringing race into this to deflect from the fact that he has sold out.

Megan Malasarte, on the Brooks Beasts team, if Filipina.

I wouldn't have put it the same way, but yeah, female distance runners are overwhelmingly white in the US. It makes sense that most of their athletes would reflect their customers.