CNN Peddles Division As Usual In Article Titled 'Bigotry About The Olympics Defies Historical Re
Image Credit: Fortune
After highlighting a recent story about gay athlete Adam Rippon turning down an invitation to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in their featured video, the author of the article, Roxanne Jones, goes on to talk about how "the Games can be a soothing balm for a nation battered by political divisiveness, racial and gender tension" but then, ironically, proceeds to complain about these exact same things... in relation to the Olympic games.
Roxanne Jones (Credit: CNN)
Curiously enough, this particular article's title in our RSS feed did not reflect the actual title as seen on CNN. It simply said, "The delusion of a white, straight Olympics."
Jones continues to push her divisive narrative:
You believe even though you know there are people out there who want to kill your dreams with their hate speech and continuous attempts to strip away the full equality of anyone who does not not look, love or pray like them. These people have no shame; even attacking athletes who've worked their entire lives to get to the Olympics is not beneath them.
"It appears the US Olympic Committee would like to change [the Olympic motto] to 'Darker, Gayer, Different.' If your goal is to win medals, that won't work." wrote John Moody, Fox News executive editor and vice president in an opinion column on Fox's website. His story has since been deleted and the network apologized after backlash across social media. But that hardly changes the sentiment.
Moody's comments were racist and homophobic but they also betray his ignorance of America's Olympic history. Moody wants medals? Look no further than all those 'darker, gayer, different' athletes he disrespected. They are a huge part of the reason the United States is the top Olympic medal winner in the world, by far.
But are they really? Per TeamUSA.org, the roster of American athletes are indeed diverse, but minorities and gay people still seem to make up a fraction of it.
Don't get us wrong; we are not downplaying or taking away the accomplishments of ANY athlete that is competing - we are just pointing out the "pathos" tactic many authors use to persuade their audiences based on emotional appeal, rather than facts (and not just one example, as seen linked above - which came from her article).
Continuing:
Moody and anyone who thinks as he does should take a look at our current US Olympic team, which has two openly gay competitors, skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon. They are reportedly the first openly gay American men to compete in the Winter Olympic Games. Both have a good chance to [win a] medal (and Rippon, with a strong performance and notable support for his teammates — including Mirai Nagasu, first American woman to land a triple axel in Olympic competition -- has already helped Team USA win a bronze medal in the team competition). Kenworthy and Rippon have voiced their objections to Vice President Mike Pence, who has made clear he seeks limited equality for gay and transgender Americans, serving as the head of the US Olympic delegation.
She claims that Mike Pence has "made it clear he seeks limited equality for gay and transgender Americans," but provides no source(s) whatsoever.
This continued narrative of identity politics and mindset of "divide & conquer" is not bringing our nation together, but rather pushing it further apart.
Liberal media outlets oftentimes boast about how they are champions for equality, but CONSTANTLY ramble on about the darkest (metaphorically) and most negative aspects of the melting pot experiment we call America, with many of their claims being simply made up to rabble-rouse.
It's unfortunate authors like Jones seem to be obsessed with these sorts of topics, but, alas, these are the times we live in...
