If you don't know the name Shani Davis, it's probably an indicator that you're not a zealous follower of Olympic speed-skating. Davis is, frankly, an amazing athlete. He was not only the first African-American to win an individual gold medal at the winter games, but also the first man ever to win back-to-back gold in the Olympic 1000 meter. This year, he'll be competing in his 5th Olympic Games and, evidently, he wanted to carry the flag as our team entered the arena.Today's 'thing that is racist but really isn't' - Olympic coin tosses!
Racism. Even in our coins!
If you don't know the name Shani Davis, it's probably an indicator that you're not a zealous follower of Olympic speed-skating. Davis is, frankly, an amazing athlete. He was not only the first African-American to win an individual gold medal at the winter games, but also the first man ever to win back-to-back gold in the Olympic 1000 meter. This year, he'll be competing in his 5th Olympic Games and, evidently, he wanted to carry the flag as our team entered the arena.As you probably know - coin tosses are super-racist
He's not going to. That honor is decided by a vote. This year there were 8 nominated candidates, and the vote ended in a tie between Davis and Luge veteran Erin Hamlin. Hamlin is the only American of all the many, many, genders ever to have medalled in her sport. To break the tie, the decision came down to a coin flip. Davis is black, Hamlin is white, and - as you probably know - coin tosses are super-racist. Hamlin will be carrying the flag and, despite saying it's "no problem," Davis doesn't sound too pleased.I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/dsmTtNkhJs
— Shani Davis (@ShaniDavis) February 8, 2018
Tweet from account US speedskater @ShaniDavis rips coin toss that gave flagbearer honor to luger Erin Hamlin, refers to #BlackHistoryMonth ? @bytimreynolds https://t.co/TdwY8Ii7qR
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 8, 2018
US speed skater Shani Davis says the coin toss that decided luger Erin Hamlin will be flag bearer at the Winter Olympics was "dishonorably" done https://t.co/z5KKd0nCyT pic.twitter.com/emg57qarPI
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 8, 2018
U.S. speedskater Shani Davis tweets that the process to choose Team USA's Olympic flagbearer was executed "dishonorably" https://t.co/K0I4bCeEu6 pic.twitter.com/EZGk1I1uO2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 8, 2018
So, remember. Tie-breaking coin tosses are now racist and their results have something to do with honor and Black History Month. What exactly that is? ...I'm not entirely sure. But I figured you'd want to be made aware of today's 'thing that is racist but really isn't.'U.S. speedskater Shani Davis tweets that he's upset with selection of flag bearer for Olympics. https://t.co/157uQ8VDaw pic.twitter.com/YM3l4jSLZb
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) February 8, 2018
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