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AOC calls Olympic ban on marijuana ‘racist, colonial policy’ following Black athlete’s suspension

July 3, 2021 | | Print Article

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U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, one of the Democrat Party’s most notorious race-baiters, couldn’t resist playing the race card herself after aspiring Olympic athlete Sha’Carri Richardson, a black woman, was suspended over her drug use.

Richardson, a sprinter, initially qualified for the 2021 Olympics last month but was suspended this week after a drug test came back positive for marijuana.

She was specifically suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) as per rules established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an agency that was set up by the 127-year-old International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Her suspension triggered accusations of “racism” and “systemic racism” from some of her fans, and surprise, surprise, Ocasio-Cortez decided to join the chorus.

“The criminalization and banning of cannabis is an instrument of racist and colonial policy. The IOC should reconsider its suspension of Ms. Richardson and any athletes penalized for cannabis use. This ruling along w/ IOC denial of swim caps for natural hair is deeply troubling,” the far-left Democrat congresswoman tweeted.

Look:

In an additional tweet posted late Friday, she added that she and a colleague have filed a letter with the USADA asking that Richardson’s suspension be reversed because the suspension is “rooted” in so-called “systemic racism.”

Look:

The problem is that she’s thinking like a “woke” American. The congresswoman may not know this, but the majority of the planet isn’t “woke.” Even Switzerland, the so-called “progressive” nation where the IOC is based, isn’t really “woke.”

Just last month, a majority of the Swiss public voted against a “woke” Green New Deal-like bill that would have spiked taxes on activities that increase pollution, including flying and driving.

Switzerland is one of many countries that haven’t fallen prey to “wokeness.” And it just so happens that many of these countries are represented on the IOC Executive Board, including Belgium, Jordan, Singapore, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, etc.

The point is that the “woke” madness of the American left isn’t a worldwide phenomenon. While it’s certainly been seen in other western democracies, the overwhelming majority of the world isn’t down with it.

Thus, a majority of the world isn’t likely to be influenced by racialized rhetoric about so-called “colonial policy.” If anything, the overwhelming majority of the world is likely to respond to Ocasio-Cortez like this:

This response is likely especially because the facts — something the “woke” tend to ignore — show that plenty of other aspiring Olympic athletes, including white ones, have been suspended in times past for the exact same reason.

Cory Juneau, a white Olympic skater from California, was suspended by the USADA in 2019 for three months for smoking pot, as reported at the time by Sports Illustrated. Note that Richardson was only suspended for one month.

“THC suspensions aren’t uncommon in Olympic-level sport,” according to the swimming news organization SwimSwam.

“In swimming, we’ve seen several high-profile suspensions, including Italian sprinter Andrea Vergani and U.S. National Teamer Tate Jackson. Most of those bans have criticized by fans – but they’ve also never made a big enough impact to start a broader conversation,” the organization notes.

Both Vergani and Jackson are white.

And back in 2009, the organization adds, “Michael Phelps served a three-month suspension when he was photographed inhaling marijuana from a bong.”

Phelps is also white.

None of this is to suggest that there aren’t valid criticisms of the IOC’s rules, particularly in this day and age when so-called “transgender women” are allowed to compete with biological women.

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Vivek Saxena
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