In Sydney, Australia in six months, the Summer Olympics - the regular event with the widest audience in the world - will begin.
Though it can be easily argued that politics and money shouldn't intrude on the true and pure nature of sport and competition, the Olympics are an extremely political affair, regardless of the quality of the athletic performances. Countries have boycotted and been banned over ideology. The Games encourage both national unity and identity along with jingoism, division, and hatred. The question of whether there is room for politics in the Olympics isn't worth asking: of course there is. The Games and their highest of high stakes couldn't exist without borders and grudges.
Australian Cathy Freeman is a gold medal candidate in the 400 meters. She's also an Aborigine, a member of a group that was abused by English settlers in Australia, a people that still remain second-class citizens in their country. She is a representative of her country, just like all other Olympic athletes. But, maybe more importantly, Freeman is a representative of an oppressed people.
Minority ethnic groups get screwed everywhere, even America. And there's no reason that a black American athlete shouldn't stand up, too, and ask some tough questions of his adoring audience this fall, cognizant of the fact that he would be unknown, were it not for his extraordinary athletic ability.
But Cathy Freeman, a star in a host country that is only now tossing token gestures of acceptance towards Aborigines, has the golden political opportunity of the first Games of the new millennium. She has ability and the biggest stage in the world. And she's about to throw it away.
"The time will come when I can be more instrumental in politics and Aboriginal affairs," Freeman told the New York Times on Tuesday. "But now, I think I'm playing a big part just doing what I'm doing."
What Freeman's doing is keeping her mouth shut and trying to win the gold. She says by doing so she'll affirm Aboriginal ability and the fact that they're equal to their oppressors. This while ignoring the calls of her people to start raising hell, to speak up and spotlight what Aborigines say is a very racist society.
If you know your history, you know about Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the black American sprinters who gave the black power salute on the medal stand in Mexico City in 1968. The times in America called for someone to stand up, and they were willing. It wasn't easy, but it was the right thing to do in the eyes of the majority of their people.
Cathy Freeman needs to rethink her choice. Does she want to pass up this opportunity? To do so would let down her people. What's more important, success or sacrifice? We all must choose our own answer to that question. To sacrifice one's endorsement potential in the name of ideology, to be selfless in the name of one's people, takes courage. Whether Freeman is willing to search for it in herself is a choice only she can make.
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