Gumbel: Lack of Blacks Makes Winter Olympics 'Look Like GOP Convention'

[The Northerner]

http ://www. liveleak.com/view?i=826_1266104843

Right or wrong? Thoughts?

[KonaKane]

1. Sounds like an astute observation to me.

.

[Renew Deal]

46. Why?

[depakid]

2. Limbaugh: The lack of white faces makes the NBA finals look like an NAACP convention

Not a whole lot of difference between the two statements.

[HuckleB]

7. Indeed.

[virgogal]

15. I agree----God,can't we all just enjoy a sport and forget about color--please.

[bluestateguy]

3. How long before he's forced to apologize due to a barrage of hate mail and corporate pressure?

24-48 hours?

[The Northerner]

4. I doubt he'll step down

This was recorded in 2006.

Some of my friends brought this to my attention so I considered posting it for a discussion on the past.

[Berry Cool]

30. Because yeah, we don't have enough fresh controversies on DU

so we really need to drag up old ones.

[fishwax]

41. since he said it four years ago, I'm guessing it will be a while

:)

[Number23]

5. That's why I'm rooting for the Ethiopians!

I think they were able to muster one WHOLE athlete this year! :) And he was a cutie pie too, which is not surprising since Ethiopians are probably the most gorgeous people on the planet.

[mrs_p]

47. more about Robel Teklemariam

he is a cutie. raised in cali, i think, but "repatriated" to ethiopia a few years back

http://abcnews.go.com/International/ethiopian-skier-competes-winter-olympics/story?id=9821138

edit - raised in new york, which makes more sense than cali :)

[Number23]

61. Thanks so much for that info!

Now I have a name as well as a "team" to root for! :hi:

[Forkboy]

6. LOL is my thought.

[RZM]

8. The Winter Olympics certainly contain plenty of sports

that have very narrow appeal around the world, such as luge, bobsledding, curling etc. But there's also stuff that does have wider appeal, such as figures skating and hockey -- in some countries a few of these niche sports are pretty big (from what I hear speed skating is a fairly respected sport in S. Korea).

As somebody who loves cultures, languages, and internationalism in general, I really like the Olympics - it's nice to see the world coming together and to have internationalism on display, even if it sometimes takes the form of rather strange competitive activities. I think it's kind of dumb to complain about the 'lack of blacks' . . . plenty of places around the world (including quite a few countries that participate heavily in the winter games) don't have many black citizens. For a lot of the smaller countries, this is one of the few times they are recognized or talked about on the world stage.

To me this comment reinforces a common stereotype about Americans - that we project our society and values on the rest of world. That brings up another point - many Americans are woefully ignorant about the outside world and might learn a thing or two about other cultures while watching the Olympics.

[SidDithers]

9. Apparently, Gumbel is blind to the teams from China, Japan and South Korea...

but they're Asians, so they don't count, eh Bryant?

Sid

[fishwax]

51. he didn't say that all the athletes were white

He said there was a paucity of blacks. Just for clarification. :)

[HeresyLives]

10. What lack of blacks?

Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa are there, as well as a bunch of other countries like India, China, Pakistan and Mexico.

On edit: Oh and Jamaica as well, altho they are without their famous bobsled team this time around.

[nevergiveup]

11. Can't argue with the racial comparison but age wise there is a huge difference.

If you are under 70 you are a youngster at a GOP Convention. If you are over 35 and participating in the Winter Olympics you are an oldster.

[farmout rightarm]

12. Sounds like something an idiot would say.

...

[dems_rightnow]

14. And did.....

[farmout rightarm]

16. GLURK...okay another keybbbbbbbbbboasrsrd bites the dussssssst

:D

[CBR]

13. Shani, Shani, Shani!!!

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/02/19/svDAVIS_narrowweb__300x335,0.jpg

I love watching this guy! He is great!

[indepat]

17. Geez, I was oblivious to the fact that the USA does not let those of color

compete for a place on our winter olympics team. For shame! :P

[Cleita]

18. Remember the Jamaican bobsled team?

What happened to them. At least they offered a little diversity.

[hayu_lol]

20. Haven't watched TV for about 20 years...

but it seems to me that there were some black ice skaters participating starting about 30 years ago. How can any of us forget the Jamaican Bobsled Team...and the rest should have followed as a matter of course.

Good to see more diversity.

[Berry Cool]

31. Jamaican bobsled didn't qualify this time.

I just see no reason to chew over this stupid statement again. Gumball said it four years ago. It's like starting a thread about some stupid thing Limbaugh said four years ago and pretending he just said it yesterday. What's the point? He'll say something new and stupid tomorrow. We might as well post a thread about that.

[SoCalDem]

19. Winter sports have traditionally been "white" sports

think about it...

hockey?............expensive equipment,
ice skating?..... ice-time costs a LOT
and how many families of ANY color can afford to hire coaches, seamstresses, and travel all over for the competitions?
skiiing?...'nuff said

summer sports are much more "everyman"

[Fumesucker]

21. Curling is expensive?

I did not know that.

/Johnny Carson

[paulsby]

34. it's like chris rock said

there are only two black people in minnesota.

prince and kirby puckett

[Swede]

40. Those small town Canadians have bags of money.

They even ski on it.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

53. You really need to do some research about hockey, especially in Canada

It crosses so many social, class and race barriers, I can't even begin to explain it to you.

[WolverineDG]

22. You mean Apollo Ono & JR Celski are white??

Might want to tell them that....

dg

[fishwax]

42. Are Apollo Ono and JR Celski black?

He didn't say all the athletes were white; he said there was a paucity of black athletes.

[WolverineDG]

48. Saying the Olympics look like a GOP convention =

all the athletes are white. :eyes:

dg

[fishwax]

50. no, the quote was "a paucity of blacks that makes the winter games look like a GOP convention"

"So try not to be incredulous when someone tries 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."

There's nothing there to suggest that he thinks all the athletes at the games are white.

[asdjrocky]

23. I've always seen the Winter Olympics as sports for rich white people.

No one in my neighborhood did any of that stuff.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

52. And yet you'll find many, many winter athletes who had to.....

.....struggle and scrape to find sponsors so they can afford to become an Olympic athlete, and many of whom began their Olympic careers using hand-me-down equipment.

Many of the guys playing for Team Canada in ice hockey had dads who drove trucks, or farmed, and used every cent to get their kids decent equipment before they were stars.

What we "see" and what is are often very different.

[Obamanaut]

24. WIll he notice the larger number of black participants at the summer

games?

[KittyWampus]

27. how many blacksare on the swim teams? Rowing teams?

[Obamanaut]

36. Probably not as many as the 100, 200, 400 meter, or the various

relays, or the various hurdles. And we're talking here only the USA team members.

But back to the question, will he notice these and make a comment, or ask as you did, where are the swimmers?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Swede]

44. Yeah,but the water is frozen in the Winter Olympics.

:shrug:

[Garbo 2004]

26. Gumbel's remark made in 2006. Resurrected recently by wingers. nt

[w8liftinglady]

28. My dad grew up in Waupaca,Wisconsin (rant)

his father died when he was 10.Most of the folks there were poor,but they could skate and cross country ski,usually with hand-me-down gear.
Yes,I am caucasian,and I find these comments extremely offensive.As someone who has worked for 35 years for human rights and racial equality,why does race even come into the picture?So now I am equated with the racist elitist GOP because my family grew up where winter sports are prevalent?Fuck off,Gumbel and anyone else who wants to judge someone by their skin color rather than their character.

[benld74]

29. Gumbel is a tool

[AnnieBW]

32. Black people are too smart to be outside in the freezing cold!

[paulsby]

35. no white or asian has ever broken 10 seconds in the 100 meter dash

this is clearly a racist conspiracy! :)

west african origin blacks (from numerous countries) have done it dozens of times!

[JVS]

33. Why do I keep hearing Paul Mooney and Wayne Brady laughing in my head?

[Jennicut]

37. Well, my husband did say today to me, "Look at all those white Europeans skiing"

He wanted to know, why he, as a descendant of white Europeans, sucked at skiing. :shrug: I bet if we grew up in Norway we would totally be kicking ass in the Olympics right about now.

[cbdo2007]

38. I don't understand any racial hubbub about any activity unless certain races are excluded

specifically due to their race.

So there aren't many black people in the Winter Olympics...what's the implication? That they only let white people in or that black people don't like to do those sports and aren't good at them?

[fishwax]

39. this is several years old now

just for the record.

[TexasObserver]

43. And thus was born NBA All Stars versus Winter Olympics All Stars.

A new reality TV show.

They all live in a dorm together.

Hi jinx ensue.

In this week's episode, Allen Iverson skips practice and persuades Apolo Ohno to get a tattoo which says "HOLLA!"

[Renew Deal]

45. I get his point, but I disagree.

I don't think the small number of "blacks" has anything to do with anything other than talent. There are also cultural and socio-economic reasons why there aren't more "blacks" on the American team since most of these sports are favored by people that can afford to participate (skiing, hockey, ice skating, luge, etc. are expensive and mostly not suited for urban environments). But if you look at the rest of the world, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Russia, are all cold weather countries. Greece who is the "founder" of the games has no athletes. Africa barely has any athletes. Same with the Caribbean and south Asia.

So no, I disagree with Gumbel.

[devilgrrl]

49. delete

...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

54. He was wrong then, and wrong now

This is old news. Bryant has some axes to grind, and it has nothing to do with race as much as I'm sure he'd like people to believe that's what he's getting at.

[AnnieBW]

55. There was a black German guy figure skating tonight

in the pairs figure skating. Robin Szolkowy is half Tanzanian. He's the Barack Obama of figure skating.

[fujiyama]

56. Don't you all know that snow and ice are racist?

[TexasObserver]

57. "White people like Wayne Brady because ...."

Who will finish it?

[Earth_First]

58. "...he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X"

:backs slowly out of thread:

[TexasObserver]

59. ^^^As said by comedian Paul Mooney on Dave Chappelle.

It's always funny. And the Wayne Brady appearance on Dave's show to address that was even better.



Paul had a great little role in Bamboozled as the old school comedian father of the very tight assed Daymon Wayans character. That's still my favorite Spike Lee film. It captures the profound sadness and insanity of hundreds of years of racial hatred.

[Earth_First]

60. +1 n/t