Sha’Carri Richardson, Brianna McNeal, Florence Joyner, and the Oppression of Black Female Athletes

By Sasha Ashton

On July 1st, my roommate and I smoked a bowl together and watched Sha'Carri Richardson's final Olympic trial run. It was the first time I cried in front of her. I was recently in the hospital for a chronic illness flare-up. After my hospital stay, I found out that my doctors discussed my use of cannabis with my father without my consent despite my being an adult. I’m lucky enough that everything was okay, but it was an incredible violation that continued to impact me and my recovery. But when I sat in front of my TV and watched Sha'Carri decimate her competition in the 100 spring, I felt better.

It reminded me that no matter what happens, Black women's capacity for success will always exceed our oppressor's capacity to make us fail. It's rare, especially in adulthood, that I feel so much pride and excitement and hope that I forget, for a moment, just how many people are working actively to end Black lives, to inspire Black fear, and to crush Black dreams.

The day after watching Sha'Carri’s incredible win, I woke up to the news of her suspension. It's been a heavy news week, with the release of Bill Cosby, the recovery of nearly 200 indigenous children's remains at a school in Canada, the ocean catching on fire, and the tragic collapse of a residential building in Miami, where over 150 are still missing in the rubble. Yet, despite the media fury, Sha'Carri's name has been in everyone's mouth.

Since news broke of her suspension, outrage followed. People are furious that America's fastest woman may lose the chance to compete at the Olympics over something so objectively irrelevant to her performance. There has also been a chorus of white mouths opening to remind us all that "rules are rules." But why do the rules state that cannabis is a performance-enhancing drug? Cannabis is known to cause lethargy, slow reaction time, respiratory and circulatory challenges and difficulty focusing. These are all effects that would make a runner less competitive - not more. Why are so many people jumping on the opportunity to attack a 21-year-old who just lost her biological mother? Critics of Sha'Carri seem to have conveniently forgotten about Michael Phelps' 2009 cannabis use suspension. They seem to have also forgotten about Shelby Houlihan, the American 1500 meter event record holder, who was also hit with a suspension that bars her from competing in Tokyo for steroid use, which she says occurred after she ate a pork burrito.Ryan Lochte vandalized a bathroom in Rio during the 2016 olympics and lied about it and has largely been allowed to fade comfortably into relative obscurity. Yes, white athletes face consequences for drug violations, and some of the other stuff they get up to—but do as many people jump on the opportunity to tear them down? Had they been grieving, like Sha’Carri, would people have dismissed it as easily? Shelby Houlihan wasn’t expected to take accountability, and people are certainly not coming out in droves to discredit her claim. Michael Phelps’ suspension didn’t affect his ability to participate in future Olympics.

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Sasha Ashton is a writer and radical organizer based in Philadelphia, PA. She is a freshman studying political science on the pre-law track at Temple University. For more from Sasha, you can find her on Instagram @ashasashton and Twitter @slashatrashton.