black & golden

dear shani davis:

congratulations on your historic win in torino as the first black person to earn an individual gold medal in the winter olympics. you won, despite the haters, detractors, and whiners who wanted you to sacrifice your best shot at olympic glory for media darling chad hedrick's pursuit of *his* glory. you won, despite the bad wishes and one-sidedness of ray mcnulty ("Davis disgracefully is the T.O. of Team USA", February 18) and other members of the media corps. you won, despite being accused of turning your back on "the team" and being a bad sport.

did any of these "team" members consider that maybe there was tremendeous pressure on you to perform well as one of a handful of athletes of color in torino? i'd argue that the historic significance of your first place finish should outweigh hedrick's five-gold medal dreams, given that it took 78 years to integrate the top of the winter olympic podium and that the majority of nations in the world DON'T field teams to the winter olympics (as opposed to the summer games). I think you're owed a congratulations and an apology.

thanks, shani, for making history during black history month.

submitted to sf chronicle