[ [link removed] ]Sha'Carri Richardsion at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Text
reads: Let She'Carri and Brianna compete!
John,
Sha’Carri Richardson and Brianna Rollins-McNeal should both be going to
the Tokyo Olympics. But the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has
used its archaic and destructive “War on Drugs” practices to arbitrarily
suspend both of these Black women, putting their careers and livelihoods
in jeopardy.
After hyping people across the country, unlike any runner since Florence
“Flo Jo” Griffith Joyner, Richardson was unjustly removed from the Olympic
team.^1 The USADA invalidated her trial results and suspended her after a
drug test picked up marijuana in her system - which she ingested in a
state where it is legal - to cope with her biological mother’s sudden
death. Days later, the USADA banned 2016 gold medalist Brianna
Rollins-McNeal for 5 years for missing a single drug test while she was
recovering from an abortion even though USADA rules allow for up to 3
missed tests before punishing an athlete. Compounding the enforcement of
these discriminatory rules, USA Track & Field (USATF) just announced that
they chose to punish Richardson further by not selecting her for its 4x100
Olympic relay team.^2 Time and again, official sports institutions find
ways to overly punish Black athletes while White athletes are given chance
after chance.
The punitive exclusion of Richardson and Rollins-McNeal is just the latest
in a series of outbursts of anti-Black policies and decisions being made
to exclude Black women from the Olympics. In the last few weeks alone swim
caps that protect Black hairstyles were banned from the Olympics, two
Black women - Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi - were unjustly
disqualified because their natural testosterone tested too high for the
Olympics to see them as women, and USATF blocked a Black trans woman, CeCe
Telfer, from competing at the Trials. These Olympic bodies are sending a
clear message that Black women don’t belong in the Olympics.^3,4,5
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), USATF, and
USADA have all played a role in unjustly punishing Sha’Carri Richardson
and Brianna Rollins-McNeal. They all must revoke their suspensions, and
end these outdated & destructive rules. [ [link removed] ]Add your name to the petition
and add a comment of support for Sha’Carri Richardson and Brianna
Rollins-McNeal.
[ [link removed] ]Take Action to support Sha'Carri and Brianna!
These decisions by the USOPC, USATF, and USADA reflect the historic double
standard about who is punished for drug testing and marijuana use in the
United States. Regressive policies like these have been designed over the
last 50-years to block Black people - especially Black women - from
education, employment, child welfare, and housing across the country, and
ensure that Black women continue to be disproportionately incarcerated.^6
We’ve seen how non-consensual drug testing of Black women leads to newborn
children being ripped from their parents’ arms, and how faulty drug tests
have been used to torture incarcerated people with solitary confinement.
When it comes to drug testing in sports, not only is there a lack of
evidence that marijuana is a performance-enhancing drug for runners, the
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has admitted that this arbitrary rule
stems from political pressure to criminalize marijuana use.^7
These exclusionary and discriminatory policies and decisions offer a view
into what our communities are forced to deal with on a daily basis. What’s
happening with Richardson, Rolllins-McNeal, and all of these Black women
is about the justice, dignity, and the respect we all deserve. It’s long
past time every sporting institution ended these discriminatory drug
policies — policies that even the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL have
abandoned. [ [link removed] ]Join us in demanding that USOPC, USATF, and USADA revoke
Richardson and Rollins-McNeal’s punishments, reinstate Richarson’s Trial
win, and stop punishing athletes for marijuana use.
[ [link removed] ]Take Action to support Sha'Carri and Brianna!
Until justice is real,
Jade and the rest of the Color Of Change team
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References
1. Taylor Dutch, “Sha’Carri Richardson Wins the Women’s 100 Meters at the
Olympic Track and Field Trials,” Runner’s World, June 20, 2021,
[link removed]
2. Juliet Macur, “An Abortion, a Missed Drug Test and Altered Records Add
Up to Trouble,” New York Times, July 1, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. Priya Elan, “Swimming caps for natural black hair ruled out of Olympic
Games,” The Guardian, July 2, 2021,
[link removed]
4. Adam Barnes, “Five women banned from Tokyo Olympics events,” The Hill,
July 6, 2021,
[link removed]
5. Jill Martin, “Transgender runner CeCe Telfer is ruled ineligible to
compete in the US Olympic trials,” CNN, June 25, 2021,
[link removed]
6. “Women and the Drug War,” Drug Policy Alliance,
[link removed]
7. Adam Kilgore and Rick Maese, “The doping rules that cost Sha’Carri
Richardson have a debated, political history,” The Washington Post,
July 3, 2021,
[link removed]
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please
help keep our movement strong.
[ [link removed] ]Make a Donation
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