christelleme:

Gabby Douglas, 2012 Olympic women’s gymnastics all-around champion. She is the first black gymnast in Olympic history to medal in the individual all-around, and the first woman of color to win the gold.

sometimes i wonder why it feels like by specifying someone’s race, even while praising them for their accomplishment, it’s sort of demeaning in a way. the “good” of society says we’re all just people, especially when they refer to homosexuality, so why is it all of the sudden we’re labeled by race? seriously not trying to bash on Gabby Douglas because I watched her, she fucking deserved gold and she’s my favorite but the double standard bugs me sometimes. 

It’s mostly only white people who find it demeaning to have their race acknowledged, and that’s because they’re used to just being considered “normal.” Meanwhile, racism means people of color have significantly different experiences from white people, and there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging it when they make history by achieving things only white people had gotten to achieve before. This just underscores her amazing talent, it doesn’t demean it.