I haven’t been watching the Olympics much this year.

I don’t know why. It just hasn’t interested me as much as it usually does.
But I have been playing close attention to the records being shattered and the history being made. First blip on my radar was Gabby Douglas doing her thing. Black girl magic coming in hot this year. Next was Simone Biles, someone who I had only heard of recently, showing those Olympic records absolutely no respect. And just last night Simone Manuel hit us with the hat trick by winning her 100m freestyle race; not only is she the first black woman to medal in swimming, she also got gold, AND broke an Olympic record.

While many appreciated the poetic justice of Manuel’s win, others were quick to erase her identity. We’ve seen this quite a lot this year after losing Prince and Muhammad Ali; even when Beyoncé released her music video for ‘Formation’, a pro-black woman anthem. In the same vein of “All Lives Matter” and “White History Month” the aim is to suppress differences rather than embrace and accept them. Given the history of black people and swimming pools in the United States, it’s not a bad thing to be impressed with how far we’ve come. Although, then the “color-blind” people would have to acknowledge that race is real and people are affected by it. So instead they disregard it entirely and call the people celebrating this historical achievement race-baiters.

This might come as a shock to some of you, but it is possible to be both black AND great. Being great doesn’t take away from blackness and being black doesn’t take away from greatness. However, because of the history of black people being beneath other races it is possible for blackness to increase greatness, such as it did with Simone Manuel. If she was white, she still would have crushed it; no one is disputing that. The thing is: she’s black. And her blackness is relevant. It’s important. That’s why we’re talking about it.