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Olympics
show African brotherhood,
or do they?
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August
25,2008
- Unprecedented success by British athletes at the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing - best medals total for a hundred years -
has had sports-lovers glued to the telly into the wee hours of the
morning. Along with the cheers could be heard much nationalist rumbling,
pro and con.
Take away Michael Phelps' eight swimming golds and the American tally
would not look so impressive, said some. As for China, who could possibly
challenge a country with such a huge population?
Then others argued that if you put all the European nations together,
their total would certainly be up there with the top two - though
supporting neighbour nations is not what Europeans are about. Unlike
Africans.
Africa had to wait until day seven to win its first gold medal, but
the entire continent celebrated when Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia raced
home in the women's 10,000 metres. And there was more joy next day
when Zimbabwe swimming champion Kirsty Coventry set a new world record.
A fascinating exploration of attitudes to national success emerged
in Adnan Nawaz's internet blog, hosted by the BBC, where he argued
that there was a greater sense of continental kinship in Africa than
anywhere else in the world.
Nigerian sports editor Adekunli Salami agreed, saying he celebrated
Dibaba's gold as if he was Ethiopian himself. It was all about African
brotherhood, he said.
From the Czech Republic, Ghanaian Augustine Yeboah declared, "There
is no question about continental solidarity in Africa. Wherever Africans
meet, they say brother or sister. The continent is Mother Africa,
we belong to one family."
From Scotland, an African exile wrote, "I am in Glasgow, but
I don't pass any black person in the street without at least a nod
of the head which is almost always reciprocated. Gregariousness is
in our blood."
Robin, a Chinese, "I agree. When I was studying in the UK, my
African classmates were always together. I'm not saying they were
not friendly to non-Africans, just the opposite but they were really
united."
There were contrary views. Wrote Tym, a Pole living in Britain, "Unity
is not just about calling someone brother instead of mister.
"The fact that there is so much talk about unity in Africa shows
there is a problem. I don't even need a passport to travel more than
half of Europe. Try this on any other continent."
Another blogger said, "An African wins a gold and every country
in Africa celebrates. Great! So why cannot they live together? African
countries with multi tribes, chaos, sometimes genocide. Dare I mention
Rwanda?"
One African questioned the basis of black brotherhood.
"Many sub-Saharan Africans (blacks) do not enthusiastically support
teams from North Africa (Arabs). This tells me that we support teams
based on the colour of their skins. Is this continental solidarity
or narrow-minded tribalism? Why don't we consider people from other
countries and races to be our brothers?"
Wakuria disagreed, "Brotherhood has little to do with race. I
was gleeful watching Ousama Mellouli win gold for Tunisia and of course,
as a Kenyan, watching our darling Jason Dunford (quite white) was
pure magic."
Inevitably, there was bristling in the land of the tartan, with a
Scot protesting at the sight of his compatriots swathed in the Union
flag while God Save the Queen was played at the winners' podium. "I'll
happily cheer on the rest of the countries of the British Isles when
Scotland finally gets its independence," he declared.
A Londoner responded, "Chris Hoy (a Scot) did not seem to have
an aversion to the Union flag when he wrapped himself in one after
winning gold or when his tears welled up to the sound of God Save
The Queen."
Some writers said if they did not have someone from their own country
to support, they would back a Commonwealth team. One said it was dyed-in-the-wool
and aged-in-the-cask rivalry - no New Zealander would ever support
Australia any more than a Barcelona fan would hail Real Madrid or
a Yankee fan back the Mets.
The Chinese contributor suggested it was all down to politics, saying
his countrymen supported first their own athletes and then countries
they were friendly with, like Tanzania, Mozambique, Pakistan and Russia.
They opposed countries considered to be rivals, including the United
States, France and Britain.
Australians took Britain's Beijing's successes particularly badly
- especially in swimming, which they usually dominate. After Rebecca
Adlington's 400 metre freestyle gold started an avalanche of UK wins,
John Coates, head of the Australian Olympic Committee, was asked for
his thoughts.
"Not bad for a country that has no swimming pools and very little
soap," he cracked.
The chief executive of British swimming, David Sparkes, refused to
rise to the bait. "I have no idea about the average Australian's
personal hygiene," he deadpanned.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, a bewildered Peter Hanlon noted
that "something utterly jaw-dropping has happened at these Games
- the Brits have overtaken Australia in the medals table".
But he had an excuse - Australian coaches were working for the old
enemy. The 1978 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Shane Sutton was
now guiding Britain's sprinters. Worse, Sutton was suggesting there
was camaraderie between the two sides, with Australians actually cheering
British winners.
"And they weren't sent home in disgrace!" wailed a horrified
Hanlon.
Last word goes to Dave, a Briton who has lived in Zambia and Australia.
He recalled, "While watching the World Cup, Zambians were confused
when another English guy and myself celebrated Senegal beating France.
They thought we would be sad because a European country had lost.
"We explained that firstly British people do not like very successful
teams and therefore usually support the underdog, and secondly, we
have so much history against European nations we find it hard to support
them."
Maybe that's what it all comes down to - history.
Mention racial harassment in Europe and you think of black or brown
people or immigrants being abused by local whites. In Dublin, an Englishman
was vilified by his Irish workmates and received £15,630 (Sh1.9
million) compensation.
The Briton, a pipe-fitter working on a building site, told an Irish
equality tribunal that his fellow workers called him names, tried
to make him sing Irish rebel songs and taunted him by reading accounts
of sporting failures by English teams from the newspapers.
Some workers never spoke to him and when staff had to enter dangerous
places on the site, they would say "Send the Brit in first".
The pipe-fitter argued that he was made redundant because he was British.
The tribunal disagreed with this but awarded the payout for racial
harassment.
Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas
bill, a spokesman for the North West Gas company said, "We agree
it was rather high for the time of year. It is possible Mr Purdey
has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed
his house."(Sunday Nation) |
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