Diverse Opinions, Pt. II

Like millions of Americans, I find myself unapologetically glued to the TV, my quadrennial indulgence in athletic and patriotic overkill satisfied once again. The 2020 Olympics have finally outlasted our global quarantine long enough to allow the world’s best runners, jumpers, swimmers, divers, cyclists, ball players, rowers, wrestlers, boxers, equestrians, archers, shooters, and gymnasts to test their mettle in competition with each other. While some of these contests harken back to the stadia of ancient Greece two and a-half millennia ago, most reflect the myriad ways moderns like to demonstrate their strength, stamina, speed and courage. And we who follow the proceedings half-a-world away bear enthusiastic witness to what talent and hard work can produce.

I must confess that some sports will rank as “must-see” TV for me much more than others during the 17-day Tokyo extravaganza. Swimming, track, and gymnastics are sure to make me stop what I’m doing to pay attention. Perhaps it is my awe at seeing men and women, some quite young, display abilities and coordination that boggles the mind. Or maybe it is the surge of patriotism I feel in rooting for those wearing the red, white and blue when they earn a medal or pull off an unexpected upset.

Today’s Olympians share this in common with those who have proceeded them on the world’s stage: their efforts bring honor or disappointment not only to themselves but to those they represent, be they from their home towns, their colleges and athletic clubs, or their countries. As a result the Olympics have always aroused sectional and nationalistic passions among its competitors and spectators. The opening parade of flag-carrying athletes, the conferring of medals with anthems played, and the running tally of Uncle Sam’s medal count all reinforce a conclusion that is hard to deny:  the Olympics are as much about political drama as it is athletic performance. That fact isn’t lost on this baby boomer for whom the well-rehearsed Cold War battles of yesteryear are played out once again—in pools and arenas—China and Russia (a.k.a. the R.O.C.) remaining our most formidable opponents..

Taking this all in from the comforts of my living room I have come to two conclusions about ourselves and the state of the world in which we now find ourselves:

First, the Olympics affirm, before a global audience, several of the most important qualities that make America what it is:  a civilization in which opportunity, free enterprise, and diversity produce achievement that few can match. Our more than 600 athletes from 46 states have all come through a lengthy and arduous culling process to secure a place on this year’s Team USA. And in that test of skill and endurance, which for most of our athletes is a commitment measured in years if not their entire lives….

·      Each member has benefited from the opportunity to pursue their dreams, whether they came from affluent or disadvantaged backgrounds, regardless of their sex or gender identification, and irrespective of their racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds.  In fact, this same opportunity to compete has factored mightily in the preparation of a large number of athletes who trained in American colleges and universities and are now competing for the countries of their birth or citizenship.

·      Every athlete has developed his or her talents in a culture that promotes, supports and values competition.  The road to Tokyo was both long and arduous, each survivor tested in local, regional, and national tournaments in which they all experienced both the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”.  Nothing was guaranteed nor handed them—but through fierce competition the best have emerged through the Darwinian survival of the fittest process that has so marked American ambition and ingenuity from the beginning.

·      The makeup of Team USA reflects the diversity that gives our nation its vitality and strength.  This has been true since 1904 when, in the 3rd Olympiad of the modern era, African-American George Colman Poage competed and won two bronze medals, and again in 1912 when Wo-Tho-Huk, a native American more famously known as Jim Thorpe, captured the gold in both the decathlon and modern pentathlon, earning him the title, “World’s Greatest Athlete.”

While these two may be lifted up as pioneers from eras in which racial and ethnic diversity were exceptions rather than the rule in America’s athletic and economic culture, the opportunity they seized has now become the norm for boys and girls, men and women whose dreams, talents and work ethic qualify them to compete on any stage.

Carrying this last observation a bit further, I believe the accomplishments of our Olympic athletes bear clear witness to the fact that the diversity of peoples in our nation is one of our singular strengths. By my reckoning our 613 athletes of 329 women and 284 men represents Americans who by race or ethnicity are 486 white (79% of the team), 94 black (16%), 17 Hispanic (2.8%) and 14 Asian (2.3%) competitors. These numbers do not reflect the many of our team members who more accurately belong in more than one of these demographic categories. Yet what stands out for me in contemplating these numbers brings me to my second Olympic conclusion:

·      No other countries in the world have such a racially diverse team as ours. Could it be that our struggles in living and working together in a multi-racial society--that so fill our daily news cycles and political rhetoric—have taken a back seat when we work together as teammates pressing to accomplish a common goal? In watching Team USA compete against opponents from racially monochromal or even xenophobic countries, the strength that our diversity brings to America seems like a breath of fresh air in the assembled community of more than 11,000 athletes from over 200 nations..

·      The diversity so apparent on Team USA is a product of free and open competition, not the result of legislated protocols and quotas. Should the operational mandate of the US Olympic Committee had insisted on thoroughgoing diversity along demographic lines, then our team would have needed to be restructured by…

…adding 10 more male athletes (reflecting their 48% constituency in our population), and dropping 10 females (who make up 52% of the population which is more than the 54% currently on the team), and

…excluding 88 white and 17 black athletes to put us in line with the diversity of our national population, and

…adding 97 Hispanic and 11 Asian team members to bring everything into demographic equivalency.

If this sounds ridiculous or even racially insensitive to you, it is nonetheless the logical outcome of making equitability rather than merit the standard by which athletes on Team USA would have been selected. I suspect few of us would support such a draconian plan, since we would then be using diversity not as an idealized end in achieving social equality, but as an arbitrary means to grant or deny Americans the opportunity to compete.  

When people are guaranteed the freedom and the chance to participate in whatever they choose to do in life, then their interests, abilities and efforts will determine the diversity of our teams, schools and businesses. When such choices are controlled and manipulated by political mandates from which quotas are overtly or covertly imposed, diversity is both artificial and incentive killing. In this respect American sports may have much to teach the business, educational, military and political establishments of our nation. For when diversity is a product of competitive opportunity--as the Olympics so stunningly portrays—progress and achievement flourish.  But when diversity is programmed according to changing demographic date or political agendas, civilization stagnates.   

For all of its flaws and excesses—and these are legion both on a national and international level—the Olympic games remain a unique opportunity for athletes to put up or shut up in competition against the very best in the world And at the end of the day, it is that opportunity—extended to all people irrespective of their gender, race or ethnicity that brings out the very best of our attitudes and our aptitudes as a society.