6 Responses to “China, China Uber Alles”

1. José Says:
   April 11th, 2008 at 10:28 am

   When the hosting country uses the Olympics for political gain, it is difficult to fault protestors for doing likewise. The rulers of the PRC probably thought they could mitigate their critics. Now I’m not so sure. This might blow up big time. This was a great opportunity for China to prove that its old reputation is no longer valid, and they’re blowing it. It’s similar to the recovery of Hong Kong a few years ago. If China had delivered on all the promises about freedom and human rights, Taiwan might be more amenable to reunification.

   If the Olympics are supposed to be apolitical, doesn’t it seem odd that the teams are organized by country?

2. Caleb Powers Says:
   April 11th, 2008 at 10:52 am

   The Olympics have always been used to point up the faults of the competitors — including the United States. People forget that in the 1940s and ’50s, many people in Europe thought that the US should be banned from the Olympic games because of its tolerance of segregation in the South, in much the same way that we wanted to ban South Africa in the ’80s. While everyone remembers Jesse Owens’ wins in 1936, we forget that he was a token black on an otherwise all white Olympic team.

   Indirectly, the Olympics may have given impetus to the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case. The Eisenhower administration argued, in support of the NAACP, that segregation made it difficult for the US to conduct effective diplomacy. In those days, whenever an ambassador would ask the Soviets “When are you going to implement a democracy,” they’d answer, “When you allow blacks to vote in the South,” and laugh. To the Eisenhower administration, far more concerned with the cold war than with the plight of real people in the South, integration was an international issue, and criticism of the US’s 1952 Olympic team contributed to the mix.

3. José Says:
   April 11th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

   I didn’t remember until recently that the Olympic Torch relay was inaugurated at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The symbolism is obvious, linking the mythic gods of old with the Reich of the new. Hitler and pals knew the value of visual imagery. Check out the stirring pageantry of the Nuremburg rallies sometime. For more on the subject, read the memoir of architect and genius designer Albert Speer, “Inside the Third Reich”.

4. perplexed Says:
   April 11th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

   The only way to open the door for democracy is to get you foot in. This is an opportunity for that.

5. Larry Levin Says:
   April 11th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

   Caleb, Jesse Owens wasn’t the only African-American competing in the 1936 Olympics. Cornelius Johnson won the gold in the high-jump and Dave Albritton the silver. They were snubbed by Hitler at the awards ceremonies, although people sometimes attribute that incident to Owens. Another African-American to win a medal was Jack Wilson, who won the silver in bantamweight boxing.

   According to the wikipedia entry on Cornelius Johnson, there were 19 African-Americans on the 1936 Olympic team.

6. Mike Huffman Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

   I don’t agree with punihing the athletes for what their country does. Imagine if that was the attitude in 1936? Jesse Owens would never of been able to shine as he did, that’s part of not only world history, but American history as well, those kind of stories, make me feel blessed to be an American, as for 2008? Let ‘em play!

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