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 They all must revoke their suspensions, and end these outdated & destructive rules. Add your name to the petition and add a comment of support for Sha’Carri Richardson and Brianna Rollins-McNeal.
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. 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.
Take Action to support Sha'Carri and Brianna!
Until justice is real,
Jade and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References
- Taylor Dutch, “Sha’Carri Richardson Wins the Women’s 100 Meters at the Olympic Track and Field Trials,” Runner’s World, June 20, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313184?t=9&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
- Juliet Macur, “An Abortion, a Missed Drug Test and Altered Records Add Up to Trouble,” New York Times, July 1, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313185?t=11&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7.
- Priya Elan, “Swimming caps for natural black hair ruled out of Olympic Games,” The Guardian, July 2, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313186?t=13&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
- Adam Barnes, “Five women banned from Tokyo Olympics events,” The Hill, July 6, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313187?t=15&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
- Jill Martin, “Transgender runner CeCe Telfer is ruled ineligible to compete in the US Olympic trials,” CNN, June 25, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313188?t=17&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
- “Women and the Drug War,” Drug Policy Alliance, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313189?t=19&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
- Adam Kilgore and Rick Maese, “The doping rules that cost Sha’Carri Richardson have a debated, political history,” The Washington Post, July 3, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/313190?t=21&akid=51496%2E4731121%2EFJzMj7
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.
