Race, Race, Everywhere Race

Walter Shaub has a strong sense of priorities.

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I've no problem with a gymnast who owes us nothing walking away from a sporting event that doesn't affect us.
I have a problem with a President, who owes us everything, walking away from voting rights without even trying because the fight seemed hard and he cares about potholes.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 29, 2021

I had intended to say nothing about Simone Biles other than roughly what Shaub did. She is not a villain and she is not a hero. She is merely a great young athlete who did what she believed she had to do. The end.

But unlike Shaub, who understands Biles should not consume our thoughts, some people cannot let go. Naveed Jamali, though possessing an admirable professional biography, fails to understand that Simone Biles' world is sports, not real life, and that her actions affect only her teammates, her family, and herself.

I’m going to say the quiet part out loud: All of this is based on the fear that brown and black people will take white entitlement away. From 1/6 to Simone Biles, it’s all about race.

— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) July 29, 2021

It must be comforting neither to think hard not to evaluate news events in the context of their circumstances. Reducing all of them to race would save us the effort of considering anything objectively and allow us to stereotype and stigmatize individuals critical of Biles.

Sincere feelings and beliefs need not be suppressed in a misguided effort to avoid further alienating individuals we're convinced are insufficiently tolerant of blacks or other minorities. Canceling ourselves is not a worthy option.

It's simply that Jamali is flat-out wrong. It's not "all about race." Some people form their opinions of other people or issues based upon race, an affliction affecting right, left, and center. Thankfully, they constitute a minority.

Individuals should be permitted their views about Biles without a strong inference that they are racist. An individual who is racially biased or hostile should be called out with the action or statement cited. However, people should be permitted their views about Simone Biles without an assumption that it is determined by race. Condemning as biased, prejudiced, or racist everyone on one side of an issue is, well, plainly ignorant.

 

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