Black Gymnastics Demand Inclusivity

How an elite white sport must reckon with its new reality.

People of color in sports get the wrong end of the stick every time. Racism is akin to a nonending nightmare perpetrated by many who are unhappy with their own plights and passed indiscretions of racism that are returning to haunt.

Recently, Black gymnasts overtly shared how the sting of racism has been stinging them far too long and it’s about time that the world knows the truth about what really happens to gymnasts.

Hitting close to home here in California, several UCLA gymnasts have reported how UCLA looked the other way in the face of their complaints about being the target of a racial slur.

For the longest time, many gymnasts flipped, danced, and flew in the air wooing the crowds of many with their choice of music inspired often by celebrities’ songs and performances of their likings while negating the culture’s elevator or white music.

Recently, Alexis Jeffery, a gymnast who is not Black, chose music whose song lyrics included the N-word. When she was approached about it, she denied any wrongdoings and refused to apologize. Later she transferred out of UCLA to Louisiana State, but the remaining gymnasts were unhappy with how the situation was handled by the school, the coaches, and the athletic administration. The gymnasts were told to be tolerant of Jeffrey claiming Jeffrey’s mental health was an issue. All the while, claiming that Jeffrey was scared or intimidated by them.

What about the mental state of the Blacks that were subjected to such mental cruelty? What is good for one should be good for all. Zero tolerance is the key. Looking the other way or being in denial is not the answer to any problem but perpetuates it.

Reportedly, UCLA is not the only school that is dealing with racism toward gymnasts. 2020, Black gymnasts from Alabama, Florida, and Nebraska were noted as dealing with collegiate teams facing racism.

Gymnastics is an elite white-dominated sport, and that comes with a staff of white coaches and managers similar to basketball and football where the managing staff is predominately white while the athletes are mostly Black or people of color.

Racism in gymnastic sport has created an environment that has been difficult for Black girls to thrive in. It has been under the gymnastic covers but now the cover is being pulled off exposing the sports’ reality.

The world has openly seen how Simone Biles was criticized not for her talent but for wearing her hair in a particular style, unlike white hair, in the midst of much white outcry. Black girls’ bodies are judged more harshly, their hair scrutinized, their music choices critiques, and their experiences discounted. Unlike white gymnasts, Black gymnasts have to check their culture at the door and indirectly are subjected to accepting white culture as the norm.

Black gymnasts are a force to be reckoned with and are now demanding not only for their voices to be heard, but that racism needs to be dealt with and their determined intention to include their music and culture in their performances. The time for change is now.

Collectively, Black gymnastics are making it clear that they are good at their craft and have no intention of going anywhere while demanding respect, inclusivity, and recognition. Elevator and white music, the gymnastic norm, is no longer the norm for Black gymnasts.

Kudos to UCLA for their past of embracing Black gymnastics, dealing with racism, and accepting their choice of music but didn’t go far enough recently in denouncing the action of Jeffrey in her choice of must with the N-word.

In the face of UCLA’s indiscretion in judgment, the UCLA gymnastics program blasted them with their Black Lives Matter meet with images of gymnasts wearing shirts engraved with the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This was to face off with UCLA’s handling of the school’s internal racism pertaining to Jeffrey.

In conclusion, straddling the fence is not the answer, you either do or you don’t. To bring about true justice and change, UCLA and other schools must stand left for wrong or right for justice there is no in-between. Justice for all or injustice will continue to raise its head anywhere, anyhow, and anytime.

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