Playing the Race Card
1st May 2012
New York Man Breaks Fencing Barriers
The link from Fox’s main page makes the card play even more explicit: “Fencer Slashes Color Barrier”.
What color barrier? There’s no ‘color barrier’ in fencing. Anybody who trains and competes can win. As Ben’s comments make clear, his talents have gotten him scholarships and adulation, not prejudice. The reason he’s unusual is not because black people are discriminated against, but because most black people don’t give a shit about fencing, certainly not enough to work this hard at it.
I have an idea: Why don’t we have an article about somebody because he’s good at something, not because he’s ‘the first black X’?