Why Gold Medalist Manuel Will Not Be Called “Simone the Black Swimmer”

Great story…as a master’s swimmer I am the only black but I am very healthy . …so proud of her and historically know African are great swimmers

I mean I get what she is saying and I get where you are coming from but that reality for a lot of black kids swimming at pools is a lot different. She may not want to be know as “black” swimmer but you are naive if you think that’s not the way the world will view her. For many kids on club teams they are the black swimmer and will continue to be that way. That’s a culutural issue.

In your article you touch lightly on the history that Simone and her mom looked up yet you don’t delve in to what that history actually is which is really important She just didn’t take note of the few African Americans in the sport, she had to take a look at Americas ugly past of flat our rejection of blacks in the pool. Instances where a hotel owner poured bleach in the pool as black were swimming. As recently as 2009 a camp of minority kids had thei contract canceled because member of the pool felt like the “complextion” of the pool would change. If you think that incident is a rarity you really should look at how today pools are segregated via proxy of neighborhood, clubs, and schools.

Golf had Tiger woods and people thought that would usher in a new age of diversity but it didn’t. In fact numbers dropped because the culture of golf didn’t want it. Why? I don’t have an easy answer but you have to be willing to look at the history that often make people uncomfortable. It is only then, that you can begin to understand. We do the same thing when we talk about doping right. We look at the history. Obviously that’s a lot easier when we are standing on the “good” side but you have to look to understand and only then can you move forward.

So in all Ms. Grevers, as a black swim coach, I don’t even see this moment as bringing my numbers up in diversity on my team because at the end of the day these kids and their parents will always be viewed as black. No amount of wishful thinking will erase that. That’s not to take away anything from Simone has accomplished and how big this moment is but for real change to happen ASCA has to want to bring in more diversity, the LSCs have to want to bring in more diversity, USA Swimming at the administrative top(not just with swimming lessons) has to want to bring in more diversity. All of that has to happen and not with some campaign with a catchy phrase, just the genuine effort to want to expand the base. Then things can be as “they should be”

Great article. I grew up in the 70’s. I’m from a small a coastal town in New Jersey. The racial lines of segregation were clear drawn in the sand when it came to who had access to the beaches and pools. All the neighboring beaches were in white communities, blacks lived mostly inland where property values and rent were cheaper. If you wanted to go into the white neighborhoods and you needed a “beach pass”. This was the law for all beaches except in Atlantic City, which was the huge resort town. If you didn’t have a beach pass you had to prove you were in fact a resident with your drivers license or with some form of ID. if you couldn’t prove you were a resident out you go. Beach passes were sold to none residents at the local city hall during business hours. On the weekends Lifeguards and beach police would patrol the beaches looking for anyone that without a proper pass pinned to their shorts. If you were white they seldom checked at all. If you were black they zeroed in on you fast. If you had a pass, they wanted to make sure it was current and where did you get it. This little law kept many blacks like myself from even bothering going to the beach. It was beach Apartheid made to keep us out. It made it going to the shore too much of a hassle. This little law for the most part kept the beaches nice and lily white.

There weren’t many pools in my neighborhood. I learned how to swim by making myself go to the local YMCA in Atlantic City. A 45min bus ride from my house. Growing up my parents never took me or my sister to the beach. It wasn’t even an considered activity for us. Many Blacks felt more comfortable at the lake, away from the constant stares of white people. White people in my town had this attitude that the beaches were theirs and we were on their turf. There were a few lakes around but they were far away and deep in the woods. Some of my friends made the trek. I never bothered because the mosquitoes were always brutal and the snapping turtles liked toes. Years later when I moved to the west coast it was the first time I could literally walk along the beach with without someone asking me for a pass. Sometimes you have to just get away from your small town.

Is there some reasons that she is not just an American swimmer? We didn’t analyze the ethnic heritage of Michael Phelps even though it wasn’t so long ago that whether you were German or English or Scottish or French or Irish was a good enough reason to kill one another.

It is really long past time to stop judging people by the color of their skin and to start judging them by the content of their character. Unless, of course, your goal is to turn America into the Balkans.

Simone Manuel the first female black gold Olympic swimmer is an inspiration for all the minority color skin in this white dominant sport but then it surely does not need a color gold medalist to prove that color skin can swim too. The question I ponder more about is if it is acceptable to say that certain race does in general have the natural genetic advantage more adaptable for swimming, and if the answer is yes, that would certainly make Simone Manuel’s success even more phenomenon and her black skin definitely worths a mention.

I think the fact that there are far less outstanding black swimmers is shaped by both nature and nurture yet it seems discussion over nature is such a political taboo yet blame on nurture (such as segregation and economic affluence) is so rightful.

Each living individual is shaped by both nature and nurture; that said, it should be borne in mind that even nurture itself is a product of nature, i.e. Nature is bigger than nurture, or to put it in more of a philosophical scope, man and civilization must depend on nature but nature never needs man and civilization.

Nature is the God who creates man. Nature sets the potential limit and nurture decides to what extent the potential could be realized. For a top level player in any field, nature is likely to matter much more than nurture. A child born with average intelligence is most unlikely to ever become a rocket scientist.

If survival of the fittest is true, thousands of years’ exposure to different environments should result in different potential limits. The genome shaped by the hot tropical climate over thousands of years and that shaped by the cold arctic weather must have resulted in different sets of strength fit for the respective enviroment. To say the black is shaped by nature to be a poorer swimmer than the white due to less buoyancy is merely stating a plain fact; it is nothing to do with eugenics, unless one considers a 100m swimming champion to be of better value than a 100m running champion. Black athletes’ dominance in the running tracks reflects the black’s genetic advantage: that is also a plain fact.

Discrimination against darker skin is an ugly fact which should be condemned but such political awareness should not cloud the judgement over plain facts about racial differences. Black and white are just different colors, each with their own strengths with respect to the background.

Racial difference is a matter of facts, ranging from the superficial skin color to the less obvious physical and mental abilities. If we can accept racial differences in skin colors, why is it so difficult to accept racial differences in other aspects? There is no superior race. Nature is fair in shaping us by following nature’s law. In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant—it is said to be conserved over time. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, gain in one aspect always comes at the price of loss in another. Accepting racial differences is the first step to cultivate a sense of respect and inclusion for differences shaped by nature. Respecting differences helps nurture tolerance and diversity. Diversity safeguards the vibrancy and flexibility in coping with the ever-changing environment.

Taoism is the founding philosophy in shaping the Chinese culture. One key concept in Taoism is the trade off between the two opposite forces,e.g. ‘yin阴’ and ‘yang阳’. When the two forces balance each other, there comes harmony. It’s such realization that the Chinese ancient philosopher Confucius advocated “Zhang yong中庸” (the pursuit of being mediocre) and “you rong nai da有容乃大”(greatness comes from tolerance and inclusion). His teachings has shaped not only the Chinese culture but also the larger Eastern Asia including Japan and Korea over the last 2000 years. Based on my limited exposure, I do have the impression that eastern society is more harmonious than the west.