Posted 5:26 PM by Bonnie

Winter Olympics: Like them or hate them it doesn't matter. For me, I enjoy them a lot! Maybe because I was a participant at one time. No, not in the olympics, but in winter sports. I love winter sports. I loved skiing - downhill and later cross country. I loved ice skating even though I never got past a single spin and could never master a jump. But what Bryant Gumble said and is going to get a pass on is uncalled for. Sure, they aren't always the greatest athletes, because for the most part they aren't professionals. These are mainly kids out there doing their best and having the time of their lives. It's the WINTER Olympics.

The funny thing is I had commented to my husband, just a few days ago, how blacks don't like to participate in winter sports. As one of my black friends put it, "Bonnie, we black folks aren't crazy like you white people. When it gets that cold outside, we stay inside!"

Here's what racist Bryant Gumble said - of course he forgets the SUMMER OLYMPICS are mainly black and if a white person reversed his statements and said, the summer olympics were boring because it was mainly black athletes and it looked like a NAACP convention you can bet it would be all over the news! But he gets away with this -
HBO's Gumbel: Lack of Blacks Makes Olympics 'Look Like a GOP Convention'
Posted by Dave Pierre on February 16, 2006 - 00:58.
There were some eye-opening remarks from Bryant Gumbel on the most recent episode of HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. According to a transcript posted by a television columnist named Seth Frelich, Gumbel said the following in his closing monologue last week (emphasis mine):

"Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don’t like them and won’t watch them ... Because they’re so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try too. Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete waits in what’s called a kiss-and-cry area, while some panel of subjective judges decides who won ... So if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done, when we can move on to March Madness — for God’s sake, let the games begin."

The comments have received scant coverage, with the San Francisco Chronicle (in a betting column) and The Columbus Dispatch (in a "People in the News" column) among the few outlets that have even mentioned the episode.

You'd think these remarks would have received more attention than they have. (Well, maybe not.) It's just hard to imagine a Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity getting a pass on something like this. Don'tcha think?

My point in this posting and a few others of similar ilk I've posted? Why do we condescend to blacks? Why do we have one set of standards for whites and lower standards for blacks? It is insulting to them to say it's okay for them to do and say stupid things because they're black and what? don't know any better? Let's show them the same respect we show the white population and hold them accountable for their actions and words.