Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a lecture entitled “The Other America” in March 1968, outlining our nation’s schizophrenic dualism. “There are two Americas,” he declared.

American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos showed the same thing six months later, each raising a gloved fist in defense of black power as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played at the Mexico City Olympics. The Summer Games have been a time for us to express our views since 1904, when hurdler George Coleman Poage was first African American win an Olympic medal. And nothing has modified.

Sports contain metaphors for all times and lessons about commitment, sacrifice, winning and overcoming defeat. They are taught in a universal language that each athlete in the world can understand. However, visitors from outer space would have a distorted view of the United States if their observations were based solely on Team USA.

If aliens got Fox News first, they’d think DEI had gone crazy in Paris. But we all know the truth.

In contrast to Whiter Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics are warmer and more welcoming to black athletes, especially in track and field. Ever since Jesse Owens figuratively gave Adolf Hitler the finger by winning 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Games, Team USA has been eager to make room for our greatest runners and jumpers.

But we bring flavor and special sauce to many more events nowadays. Gymnastics, Of coursebut additionally swimming, fencejudo, rugby and water polo. The photos of the U.S. team at the Summer Games are bursting with diversity, capturing the colourful, multicultural nature of the country much better than the Winter Games, which took place in the cold and snow.

It’s like noticing the glaring difference in photos from the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. In the former, we’re in every single place, but in the latter, we’re few and much between.

The Summer Olympics don’t discriminate. The entire continent and its diasporas are practically non-existent in other Games. Only six athletes from five countries represented Mother Africa at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Black America didn’t produce a Winter Games medalist until figure skater Debi Thomas (bronze) in 1988; at the 2006 Games, speed skater Shani Davis became the first African-American woman to win a person gold medal.

I even have little question that black and other black athletes could excel in skiing, ice skating and other cold-weather sports. But access barriersincluding the costs, don’t help matters. I believe the cold weather is one other deterrent. A beach vacation as a substitute of a ski trip is the obvious solution for me.

Winter is coming. These words are ominous in Game of Thrones, conveying an astronomical fact and a grave warning. While our difficult months may not include White Walkers, shorter days and cooler temperatures are guaranteed. We will miss the days of summer, which this 12 months include a powerful historical view.

Sports

Donald Trump may ask when Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade became black, but she is 100% ours, as are Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles. When these gymnasts won medals in the women’s freestyle, they formed the first all-black podium in Olympic history. Biles (silver) and Chiles (bronze) went all out, congratulating their Brazilian sister, bowing in respect and admiration for her struggles against poverty and three ACL injuries.

Bile he told people “They showed good sportsmanship and had fun because it was their last competition.” But the presence of three black women on the podium didn’t go unnoticed by the biggest gymnast of all time. “It was representation,” Biles said. “For all the little girls and boys who look like us to believe in themselves that they can do it.”

We see little girls and boys who appear like us throughout the world, coming together at the Summer Olympics to compete with one another and with athletes who look nothing like us.

Nationalities are different and melanin is different, but racing just isn’t interested in racing. Like hoops, swimming, fighting or another competition. American sprinter Noah Lyles said“Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I love the USA, but that’s not the world,” seems like many of us. We root for the red, white and blue, but we even have a soft spot for Team Black, the athletes on our side of the international color line. The athletes on Team Jamaica are reliable, but some members of Team France appear like the people in my supermarket. You would never know a brother or sister was representing Team England unless they opened their mouths.

That is the beauty of the Summer Olympics, the Olympic kaleidoscope.

This is one of the few instances where the two Americas appear as one.