I saw this Willie tweet in the ‘Why -insert current event phrase- is great’ thread and I felt it was relevant and important enough to get its own thread because of how important this achievement is for all persons of color in our sport.
There are those out there who do not want to acknowledge this as an achievement. This is likely due to a number of reasons not limited to the following:
To the board members who read this tweet and post and feel the pressure to react negatively toward it: This is not an attack on you, your values, your politics, or anything else that is attributed to you. Please allow my brothers and sisters that have a different skin color than me (and you) have a moment of pride about their recent accomplishments. Please stay positive in this thread.
This tweet and post are about raising awareness of a struggle that many of us cannot comprehend. This tweet and post are about congratulating persons of color for accomplishing this amazing feat while having a level of disadvantage growing up in the sport and in life. This tweet and post are about raising others up so that they may have the confidence and courage to continue this trend in wrestling and in life. This tweet and post are about recognizing the brotherly camaraderie within the PSU room that fosters an accomplishment like this (an example we can all live by).
I want to congratulate those that Willie’s tweet refers to but also all of the other minorities who train and compete alongside them. I want to identify some of the things you’ve accomplished through your efforts (some more obvious than others):
There are so many other things outside of a gold medal that have been achieved through your efforts to reach your personal goals. I thank you and congratulate you for all of them.
There are those out there who do not want to acknowledge this as an achievement. This is likely due to a number of reasons not limited to the following:
- Misunderstanding what the achievement is
- Wanting to keep politics off the board (while likely commenting on the politics that they agree with on the above referenced thread and others)
- Being racist and wanting to diminish the accomplishment (hopefully nobody on this board falls into this category)
To the board members who read this tweet and post and feel the pressure to react negatively toward it: This is not an attack on you, your values, your politics, or anything else that is attributed to you. Please allow my brothers and sisters that have a different skin color than me (and you) have a moment of pride about their recent accomplishments. Please stay positive in this thread.
This tweet and post are about raising awareness of a struggle that many of us cannot comprehend. This tweet and post are about congratulating persons of color for accomplishing this amazing feat while having a level of disadvantage growing up in the sport and in life. This tweet and post are about raising others up so that they may have the confidence and courage to continue this trend in wrestling and in life. This tweet and post are about recognizing the brotherly camaraderie within the PSU room that fosters an accomplishment like this (an example we can all live by).
I want to congratulate those that Willie’s tweet refers to but also all of the other minorities who train and compete alongside them. I want to identify some of the things you’ve accomplished through your efforts (some more obvious than others):
- You won a gold medal in the NCAA D1 National Championships. A goal you set for yourself long ago.
- You raised awareness for those who may look like you and watched you succeed. You have inspired confidence and courage in them so that they can accomplish goals of their own.
- You raised awareness for those who may not look like you and are ignorant of the additional hardships that you face in wrestling and in life.
- You have shown those who may have hatred toward you and people who look like you that you will not be brought down because of their hatred. You have shown them that you will continue to accomplish what you set out to do and there is nothing that they can do about it.
- You have shown that the PSU wrestling family welcomes minorities as brothers (and hopefully someday soon, sisters).
- You have shown that the wrestling community must welcome minorities and not place obstacles in the way.
- You have collectively shown that brotherhood and support can help you achieve your goals.
- You have given pride to those who have gone before you.
- You have given pride to your families (biological families, adoptive families, wrestling families, honorary families) who have gone through this struggle with you.
There are so many other things outside of a gold medal that have been achieved through your efforts to reach your personal goals. I thank you and congratulate you for all of them.