What Happened to Sha’Carri Richardson Wouldn’t Happen to a White Athlete
The way she is being treated goes to show the inherent racism in sports
My Grandma Jane always used to say: “Don’t forget, as a Black person, if you do something wrong, the world will not treat you the same way they treat a White person. The world will treat you a lot more harshly.”
These words came to my mind this morning as I learned that Sha’Carri Richardson wasn’t selected by USA Track & Field to run the 4x100 meter relay at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
During Olympics tryouts last month, Richardson had consumed cannabis recreationally while in Oregon (a state in which the substance is legal, by the way), upon learning about the death of her biological mother from a reporter. Devastated and in a moment of turmoil, fragility, and vulnerability, she consumed a cannabis-infused edible.
As was to be expected, her doping test showed that she had THC, one of the principal ingredients of marijuana in her system. Because THC is forbidden by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WMDA) due to its still disputed performance-enhancing properties, Richardson was banned from participating in competitive running tournaments for a month. This was already a first blow for the athlete because it meant she could…
