Black Athletes viewed as Animals

Picture from Huffington Post via AP

Today I sat down with a few friends for lunch, it was very relaxing. We started discussing US Olympic Gymnast, Gabby Douglas. I stated that I would love for her to win the GOLD medal. For two reasons, but one reason weighed more than the other reason. 1) For the United States of America 2)  For the African-American race. For me, reason #2 weighed more because it would be great to see a young, positive, and bubbly Black teenager in the media. Gabby Douglas would be opened up to so many opportunities: commercials, television shows/films, advertisements, etc. Regardless if Gabby takes the gold, though I'm praying she will, African-American youth can now see that they can obtain any dreams and aspirations they have no matter their age as long as they put in time and dedication.

Now back to the story, my friend proceeds to discuss her upcoming plans for the weekend and she mentioned that she would be watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7: 30 pm (tape delay). Very exciting plans....until my other friend mentioned Gabby Douglas was nicknamed, "Flying Squirrel." I sat there for awhile in deep thought thinking, "isn't that a shame?" A squirrel? Really, out of all the animals a squirrel? Not a beautiful swan or another animal that is considered graceful. 

I got back to my work cubicle and wasn't very pleased. I began researching and analyzing black athletes with animal nicknames.  US Olympic Gymnast, Gabby Douglas and US Olympic Wrestler, Ellis Coleman, who are both competing in the 2012 London Olympics, are battling for nickname of "Flying Squirrel," according to Yahoo! Sports. Should there even be a battle? Definitely not. Then I came across a blog where  people referred Two-time Olympic Medalist, Serena Williams, as a gorilla. It only get's worse. In April 2008, current 2012 NBA Champion and US Olympic Basketball Player, Lebron James was in a gorilla-like pose that reminds people of King Kong. Subconsciously, being portrayed as a gorilla makes people think of Lebron James and black men as dangerous. 

So there we have it....Four African-Americans. Four Olympic athletes. All four characterized as animals. Who comes up with these nicknames? Labels? Ideas? I'm not too sure who named Ellis Coleman, but I know National Team Coordinator for USA, Martha Karolyi (slide 5 on link) named Gabby Douglas. Twitter Account users labeled Serena Williams as a gorilla and Annie Leibovitz was the photographer for the April 2008 Vogue cover. 

Let me pose a few questions, are these nicknames racially insensitive? Do they mean harm by these names?  In my opinion, these characterizations are outrageous. Granted, biologically and scientifically humans are mammals, but do not degrade African-Americans into "wild" animals.