Simone Manuel made history on Thursday night at the Olympics in Rio.
She became the first African American woman ever to win an individual swimming medal at the Olympics.
Manuel tied for first with CanadianPenny Oleksiak in the 100 meter freestyle. Her reaction to finding out she won was so sweet, it was near unbearable.
.@simone_manuel is the 1st African American female swimmer to win an individual #Gold.https://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/ymvkixzMf0
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2016
She was understandably weepy in a post-race interview and on the medal stand. During the interview, she said,
The gold medal wasn’t just for me. It was for people that came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport.
For people who believe that they can’t do it, I hope I’m an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You might be pretty good at it.
It was pretty inspirational — especially given America’s racial history around swimming and pools.
My little swimmer says, “I Got Next!” @simone_manuel #SimoneManuel #Swimming #History #TeamUsA pic.twitter.com/xjeRABQ1fZ
— Nett (@Laylas_Mommy_13) August 12, 2016
Never forget.
They drained an entire swimming pool because Dorothy Dandridge stuck her toe in it.
That is why Simone Manuel is important
— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) August 12, 2016
But then, the San Jose Mercury News had to go and make it all bad with a horrific headline.
Worst tweet/headline of 2016 belongs to @mercnews. pic.twitter.com/Th0NhndOat
— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 12, 2016
This headline. It is terrible. Her name is Simone Manuel. FYI, Mercury News. https://t.co/VM8vwShJ4e
— Sarah Fidelibus (@verbalcupcake) August 12, 2016
Yup, the paper referred to Manuel as “African-American.” Not by her name, not by “swimmer,” not even by making it clear she was a female athlete who won a medal.
Nope, just “African-American.”
This is similar to one of Donald Trump’s controversial statements. If you remember, back in June, Trump said,
Oh, look at my African-American over here. Look at him.
Good work, guys!
People were outraged over this headline and with good reason. The headline diminished Manuel, her achievement and her identity.
WTF MERCURY NEWS???
Has since been deleted, but seriously? pic.twitter.com/5tleT6mwRc
— EricaTriesToTweet (@SteussieErica) August 12, 2016
Instead of “gold medal winning, history-making athlete and African American woman,” Manuel became just some “African-American” who happened to be there when Michael Phelps won yet another medal.
The San Jose Mercury News did eventually apologize in a tweet.
We apologize for an insensitive headline earlier on a story about Simone Manuel and Michael Phelps’ medal wins. https://t.co/ykWvcddaKf
— Mercury News (@mercnews) August 12, 2016
At least, unlike Trump, the newspaper owned up to its mistake and openly called it “insensitive.” The headline has since been updated to include Manuel’s name — and put it before Phelps.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/api/olympics/embed/row
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