46 Olympic Golds......46 Marketing Endorsements??

Congratulations to the USA Olympic athletes for their outstanding performance in Rio, Brazil. Prior to the athletes return to the United States, it was obvious that Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and a few others already secured marketing endorsement deals from well-known companies or network deals. But, it is quite ridiculous that even the infamous Ryan Lochte, after his crime in Brazil and he blatantly and cowardly lied to the world about the matter, is given a spot to dance his way into the hearts of Americans on Dancing With The Stars. But, in that industry, it is typical to reward people for bad behavior. Nevertheless, how many of the other 46 gold medalists will be so privilege to obtain such lucrative network deals or talk show appearances or coveted marketing endorsements? Or, as with other United States Olympians, will the fame of the current batch be short lived as they fall into oblivion among the countless who are quickly forgotten for another four years or entirely if they retire? For certain United States athletes, winning a goal medal or any other Olympic medal is an outstanding accomplishment for their long arduous preparation but such accomplishments fade quickly from the public-eye for them.

 

 

First Amendment Rights for Some Not for All?

Certain persons and groups behave as if the First Amendment rights are restricted to their causes only, so these entities have no qualms announcing to the world that they have a right to air or demonstrate their personal views. However, those same hypocritical persons and groups do not seem to believe that the same freedoms that apply to them are equally applicable to others - primarily minority persons and groups since there seems to be no tolerance when minorities express their views that are also protected by the First Amendment. One case in point is the situation where WNBA basketball players incurred fines for wearing "Black Lives Matter Shirts" to show support for the cause of the senseless killings of Black men. The fines represented a method of silencing the players in a country that boasts to the world that all residents in the U.S. are guaranteed the First Amendment rights. God forbid the ridiculous criticism of Gabby Douglas for not putting her hand over her heart on the playing of the Star Spangle Banner at the Rio Olympics. Maybe she too was simply demonstrating her First Amendment rights not to do so with the continued injustices of minorities. Colin Kaepernick has also taken, some may say, a brave stance in not standing for the Star Spangle Banner due to his beliefs in the injustices that continue to be evident towards Blacks and minorities in this country. However, his action has seen a backlash from those who may feel that certain freedoms are restricted to them only since they stupidly burn NFL shirts bearing Kaepernick's name and NFL number. These people also complain about his disrespect for the military in not standing for the Star Spangle Banner which by the way, seems to have its other verses purposely omitted since the third verse was written in celebration of the death of slaves during the war. In fact, even the Pledge of Allegiance is not immune to controversy as the major writer, bigot Francis Bellamy, wrote articles that included the following:

""The hard, inescapable fact is that men are not born equal. Neither are they born free...," 

""peon ... a shiftless and unreliable kind. The native Mexican works only that he may ... live for a month on the rewards of a week's work." 

"Perhaps more important than any of the causes I mentioned then as tending to race purification has been the effect of untrammeled sexual selection upon the quality of two or three successive generations. .............. To-day this sense of responsibility, practically unrecognized in all previous ages, has become one of the great ethical ideas of the race, reinforcing, with an intense conviction and duty, the natural impulse to seek in marriage the best and noblest of the other sex." 

Anyhow, the WNBA players, Gabby Douglas, and Colin Kaepernick have causes, and such convictions must be respected similar to those people who continuously cry foul when they believe that their First Amendment rights are being violated. If well-known persons such as the WNBA players, Gabby Douglas, and Colin Kaepernick do not stand up and make their oppositions to racial inequalities evident, then such concerns will continue to be overlooked.