Simone Manuel is an Olympic swimmer from Sugar Land, Texas who took a gold medal in the 100 Women's Freestyle this summer at the Rio Olympics. However, this article talks about how her win wasn't just a personal success.
Manuel became the first black woman in the Olympics to receive an individual gold medal and the first African American to win an individual medal in women's swimming. The reason that this is such an important win for the African American community is because racism has always been part of America's history with swimming pools. In the 1900's, when public swimming pools really gained popularity, these pools were purposely built away from areas with poor and working class people, despite their race. In the 1920's and 30's, race started to be thrown into the equation. Cities would use manipulative methods to keep blacks and whites away from one another. It got to the point where whites would refuse to come to pools that were accessible to blacks. Much of this segregation occurred because some whites were afraid they would have to come in contact with blacks. Many were worried black men would make advances on white women, and in a time when interracial marriage was looked down upon, many officials thought the idea of blacks and whites in the same swimming pool was dastardly.
Lots of this racism in history definitely happened before Simone was even born, but it still means a lot to her and the African American community. Personally, I think this is a major win for not only her, but for African American swimmers in general. It's just like when Gabby Douglas won the all-around gold medal in 2012, and people said she was an inspiration for black gymnasts across the nation. As we've seen from many of the shootings and stories of cop brutality, there are still crazy people in this world who are still extremely racist. After the night of Manuel's win, Kevin Blackstone, an ESPN commentator, took to twitter to say, "If you know how Jim Crow metastasized in America's pools, you know how significant Simone Manuel's gold medal is." I think this tweet sums up everything. Also, I feel that history typically takes a long time to advance, especially after such a big period, such as the period of segregation of colored people in America. It completely blows my mind how her win is just about 100 years after the time when blacks were not allowed to swim in the same pools as whites, and now she's out competing against people from so many countries and so many ethnicities.
This event reminds me of the passing of the 15th Amendment in 1870, This amendment granted African American men the right to vote. That time was a huge advancement in history for blacks in America. Both of these monumental events are quite similar because they both were major steps for showing that all people, regardless of race, could do anything. One was an inspiration for blacks in swimming, while the other was an inspiration for blacks all over America.
This just shows how much progress we've made though out not just our nation but, the whole world in general. Where everyone from different ethnicity's and color can come together as one to play games.
ReplyDeleteIt's really nice to see all of the love and support of Simone Manuel, as well as Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles. It's crazy (and sad) to think that not too long ago, these girls wouldn't be able to compete. That's what I love about the Olympics. People from all over the world can get together and just focus on the games, not the color of their skin or where they're from.
ReplyDelete