| Welcome to Zatalounge Zatalounge is a chat forum provided for those who wish to present their personal views, opinions, or insights on all sorts of topics. Everyone has an opinion and they don't always agree. This website seeks to promote differences of opinion and discussions among users so that everyone gets to have their say. Become a registered member or be our guest. It's your choice! |
| John Amaechi is the fucking man!; At last some clearheaded thinking about the Sochi situation | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 12 2013, 08:22 AM (63 Views) | |
| Guest | Aug 12 2013, 08:22 AM Post #1 |
|
Unregistered
|
AUG 10 Sport's Abdication of Responsibility and Principle: An open letter to competitors and officials heading to Sochi Sport: Don’t Abandon Principle; Don’t Abdicate Responsibility I am not as smart, charming, well-known or well-liked as Stephen Fry and deservedly so for the most part, but in the light of his poignant open letter to David Cameron and Jaques Rogge I wanted to add my own open letter to the various National Olympic Committees and especially the athletes heading to Sochi in February, whatever country they represent: I have been listening to some of you on the radio, on TV and reading your thoughts in the press and I am dismayed. I’m not surprised that you want to compete in these games that might well constitute your one and only opportunity. Nor am I disappointed at your regurgitation of staid talking points, force fed through mandatory governing body media training. However, I am distressed that some of you seem to have missed the point of your larger responsibility and embarrassed that some of your sports federations and governing bodies have been complicit in facilitating you abdicating your larger responsibilities to the world beyond sport. Reasonable people can argue whether your ‘job’ is to win medals, to ski, skate, shoot and whatever else you do better than anyone else in the world. But as a former athlete myself, I know that what we do in practice and competition is only one small part of of our job. Many of you are icons in your respective sports, inspirational to a generation of young people who hang on your every tweet, ape your every action and follow your every suggestion. As such, it is your responsibility - as much as the quest for gold - to show the world that you understand that sport, especially Olympic sport, IS intrinsically political. It is your responsibility as you prepare to go to Sochi to publicly acknowledge that your games happen on the backs of the abuse of migrant workers, the threatening of environmental activists and journalists, the ‘disappearance’ of €25 billion and indeed, in the context of a country that is facilitating and then ignoring the torture of young gay boys and girls. I’m not here to distract you from your previously singular purpose of representing yourself and your country in Sochi. Rather, I want you to fulfil that obligation to it’s fullest. I want you to embrace the supposed ‘Fundamental Principles of Olympism’ and in the IOC’s own words “...place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.” In the light of that second principle of Olympism alone and indeed the other six outlined at the head of the Olympic Charter, it is necessary for you to understand that if the Olympics observed it’s own principles and by-laws, Sochi would not be eligible to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. You have may have heard Russian, British and other Olympic and public officials balk at Stephen Fry’s analogy of Russia’s anti-propaganda laws with Nazi Germany’s. Normally, the internet revels in Godwin’s law where any argument ends up with one side calling the other a Nazi, but in this case, take a look for yourself at the 1935 Nuremberg laws and the eerie similarity with these laws designed to create an official smokescreen for the crude, stereotyping and scientifically disproven marginalization of certain minorities. Please do not be fooled by superficially charming men who defend the atrocities of regimes that have elevated them positions of power. History is littered with such men and their obfuscation should not be compounded by our silent collaboration. Make no mistake that when powerful people chose not to challenge injustice, we become tainted for life by that decision. Perhaps that idea in the face of supposed distraction from gold, possible sanction by your Olympic committee or rebuke from fans for speaking out seems a small risk, but just as history is littered with the powerful men I described earlier, it is equally strewn with other figures who could have made a stand and taken action to highlight and embolden the oppressed but instead chose not to... and to my mind, no amount of gold hung around a neck can outshine the shame of such a stain. I understand the logical, principled stand behind a call for a boycott, but I see it as impractical, politically untenable and if attempted, at best, piecemeal. I have also spoken to several key Russian activists who want the games to go ahead so that the athletes can compete, win and most importantly when they take those podiums - stand for something more than their personal and national glory. Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos before you, you do not change the world by winning alone, but by using that podium as a soap box and in the 21st century the ways you can do that are wonderfully creative and varied, but don’t fool yourself into thinking, as one athlete I spoke to today, that winning in silence will show your support, that act is an abdication of the most important role any athlete can aspire to have - that of multidimensional exemplar to the world of sport and beyond. In this day and age where we lament the lack of role models for our children, I can’t understand why every National Olympic Committee and indeed the IOC itself wouldn’t want the stated Principles of Olympism to be vocally, visibly espoused by you, by every competitor, coach and official in Sochi? Maybe you wish sports wasn’t political, maybe you think misguidedly that it isn’t, but whatever your thoughts, understand that the young people being tortured in Russia today will not know by telepathy that you abhor their treatment, the families of slain journalists will not not understand by looking into your tearful eyes on the podium that you support them and the world will not recognise that you stand for more than yourself unless you say or do something to make that clear at a time when the world is watching you. Many years ago, I learned that it is impossible to be a part time person of principle. I am hoping that this may be your time to realise that too, in time to make a real difference. Good luck. John John Amaechi |
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · General Discussion · Next Topic » |






7:57 PM Jul 10