still a hero to me

okay, okay. now that the torino games are almost over, maybe i'll stop obsessing about speedskating gold medalist shani davis.

i've been ranting to anyone who'll listen about how poorly i think davis has been treated by the media, including the ever-sneering bob costas (i'm tempted to hit the tv mute button, dubya style, whenever he comes on the screen), over this trumped-up "controversy."

i see davis' treatment as an example of how easily black men are villanized - even while at the top of their game bringing "glory back to the nation."

it's disappointing to read the accounts of naysayers, in columns and message boards alike, who discount davis' every move at these games, downplaying or forgetting that he has just broken through a major barrier, being the first black person - from anywhere - to win an individual winter olympic gold medal. this has been a painful illustration about the gaps that exist in perceptions about how race still comes into play in subtle and sneaky ways, and how many whites (and others, too) don't get it.

thank goodness for writers like gwen knapp (sf chronicle), harvey araton (ny times), and mike celizic (msnbc). they get it.

ah, these un-tied states of america. can't even be happy for a gold medal winnin brotha. dayum.

(photo from USOC website)