Last night I highlighted how NBC falsely was being accused of racism for running a promo for a new television series featuring a monkey after Bob Costas commented on Gabby Douglas’ Gold Medal win.There’s another aspect of the controversy. Why did Costas and NBC feel the need to focus on Douglas’ race at all?Friend of the blog Joel Engel posts at his blog, Inverted Priorities:
Here’s the fourth graf of a NY Times article, written by Juliet Macur, about the Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas:
Douglas, a 4-foot-11, 94-pound package of rocket-fueled energy, on Thursday became the first black gymnast to win the individual all-around Olympic gold medal. She also became the first American to win both the all-around and team events at the same Olympics, and only the fourth American woman to win the all-around title.
What an insane–and racist–calculation. In the hands of a less race-obsessed publication and writer, the paragraph would appear this way:
Douglas, a 4-foot-11, 94-pound package of rocket-fueled energy, on Thursday became the first American to win both the all-around and team events at the same Olympics, and only the fourth American woman to win the all-around title. (She also became the first black gymnast to win the individual all-around gold medal.)
Did no editor at the Times stop to consider the inversion of importance? Keep it in mind the next time the august New York Times calls someone a racist.
A similar theme was the focus of this Twitchy post:
The #NBCFail hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper.As Americans of all races, colors, and creeds buzzed with excitement about gold medal-winning U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas’s amazing poise, artistry, and athleticism in the all-around competition on Thursday night, veteran NBC sports anchor Bob Costas rambled on about the 16-year-old athlete’s … race. She’s the fourth American woman and the first African-American gymnast to capture the title.
I have not watched NBC that much, but I’m wondering, did Costas also hold Douglas out as a role model for devoutly Christian young girls, or would hit too close to home for the base?
Yet after her victory, one of the first responses that truly resonated for me was from a colleague who noted, “I would like her more if she were not so, so, so into Jesus.” Which raises the question – what is Jesus going to do now for Gabby Douglas’ career?
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