American Shani Davis, the world record holder in men’s 1,000-meter speedskating has won the gold medal in the event at the Winter games. He is also the first Black to ever win an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics. I recall back during the 1988 Winter Olympics, when everyone thought figure skater Debbie Thomas would do it. But she choked and came home with the bronze. (I don’t care if she had to skate last, she choked and that’s the bottom line.)

Shay over at Booker Rising offers this jubilant report.

Notice Mr. Davis says nothing about Blacks being “too poor” to participate in speed skating (like Juan Williams), but rather most make the choice to play something else. Now will Bryant Gumbel say that Mr. Davis is not one of the world’s greatest athletes, because he participated in games that don’t feature a lot of Blacks? Maybe Mr. Gumbel thinks that Mr. Davis is “acting White”? For Black racist like Mr. Gumbel, this is a moment to rejoice simply because Mr. Davis is Black. Suddenly the sport is “legitimate” once a Black person wins it. It is a shame that people like Mr. Gumbel can’t be happy if an American wins regardless of race. Given all Americans can try out for the games. All Americans were happy when Joe Lewis beat Max Schmeling, because Joe was an American. Everybody cheered Carl Lewis and Flo-Jo’s dominance because they are/were Americans.

I do have to mention, that I disagree with Shay’s view of Chad Hedrick. I don’t think Chad gave Mr. Davis the cold shoulder because of his skin tone. Mr. Davis made a choice not to join his team in another event and so of course some people are upset about that. It is not Mr. Davis’ skin color that turns people like Mr. Hendrick against him, but rather the content of Mr. Davis’ character. Sure some other folks are upset Mr. Davis is Black, but some racist messages on his web site does not mean “Whites” or “White Americans” should all be lumped with a few idiots because of skin tone. Just as a law abiding Black does not like being considered a criminal just because of the actions of some others with the same skin tone.

With that said, I’m happy for Mr. Davis. The USA does not necessarily do well in the Winter Olympics, so we should applaud every American that comes out on top.

Now I wonder, if a White American wins the 100 meters in the next Summer Olympics, will there be headlines that say “first White to win in XX years”?

Related post: Bryant Gumbel Implies Black Race Superiority