This really isn’t a fair headline. It implies that Manuel gave some sort of rant about racial issues in our country, and she didn’t. She merely contrasted her achievement with some of the racial ugliness going on back home (which she did in only one sentence out of all that she said), and what she said in her interview was overwhelmingly positive and inspirational.

Manuel did a remarkable thing. Not just because she’s black (although that’s noteworthy, because she’s the first African American to win an individual gold in swimming). But she wasn’t even favored to win. Lots of attention was paid to the Campbell sisters prior to the race, and almost none to Manuel, because she wasn’t favored to win. However, she swam her heart out, and tied for the gold with Penny Oleksiak (who also got almost no attention prior to the race, as she wasn’t favored to win, either).

Despite the tears and her obvious shock at her achievement, Manuel was remarkably gracious in the wake of her win. THAT deserves to be highlighted, along with her achievement of getting a gold medal. Not some spin about her brief remark on race relations.