There're contrasting differences of opinion on the stated policy known asDiversity, Equity and Inclusion(DEI). Pro-DEI advocates profess to recognize and respect the values of diversity among people, by ensuring fair opportunities for everyone in an environment where all feel welcomed and respected. In actual application, critics note severe contradictions to DEI.
Enter the recently completed spectacle in Paris. The outgoing International Olympic Committee (IOC) PresidentThomas Bach is a strong DEI proponent. Like some other Olympic affiliated executives, Bach has (put nicely) noticeably contradicted himself on numerous occasions.
In a roundabout way, the IOC acknowledged wrongdoing by suddenly removing from its video archive a part of the Olympic opening ceremony which mocked Christianity and Islam. There was enough of a global outrage on that score to successfully lead to that removal. The same hasn't been true of some other instances.
A primary case in point being thewomen's Olympic boxing tournament, with Bach going full DEI. In the US and I suspect elsewhere, conservatives and a good number of liberals are aghast at the IOC for allowing Algeria's Imane Khelif and Chinese Tapaii's Lin Yu-ting to compete after the two had been disqualified by theInternational Boxing Association(IBA) forfailing sex verification tests.
It's claimed that inclusivity is the basis for allowing these two individuals to compete in a physically punishing sport like women's boxing. What about the women meeting all of the testing criteria who would've otherwise qualified for that Olympic event?
Khelif and Yu-Ting bring to mind the issue World Athletics (WA) has had with middle distance runnerCaster Semenya. The South African Semenya can only participate in WA events by taking testosterone reducing medication. Semenya has refused to undergo this treatment to compete in running events that don't involve the kind of physical punishment as boxing.
There's another matter which seems to have played a role in Bach's decision-making concerning women's boxing. He has had an open squabble with the IBA and its Russian national president Umar Kremlev. IBA events don't discriminate against Russia's athletes, flag and anthem, unlike the IOC affiliated sports.
The IOC withdrew recognition of the IBA in June 2023. Despite efforts by the IOC to diminish the IBA's stature, the latter has continued to be able to hold high profile competitions with top rated boxers.
Podcaster Matt Walsh feels that DEI was exhibited in the coverage of the women's artistic gymnastics floor event. Specifically, the attention highlighting the first all-Black 1 (Rebeca Andrade, Brazil), 2 (Simone Biles, US), 3 (Jordan Chiles, US), finish in an Olympic gymnastics' competition. The third-place finish has since been changed negating that Olympic first.
I think it's great to see a sport encompass a wider range of the earth's population. Although improved, Blacks and some other people of color in America and elsewhere haven't often had the same opportunities as some others.
This particular event saw the third-place finish result change three times. Romanian Ana Barbosu has been awarded the bronze medal. The Romanian and American gymnastic delegations have differing views on this outcome. Another related matter has been very much downplayed in the Collective West coverage.
At the last Summer Olympics, a Russian finished third in that event with Russia winning the women's artistic gymnastics team competition, finishing second to the US in total medals won in that sport. Russians en masse were denied the opportunity to compete in Paris for a blatantly hypocritical and bigoted reason, which Western mass media and other media influenced by it steers away from.
It's premature to believe that Bach's stepping down as IOC president is an automatic sign of improvement. WA PresidentSebastian Coe has expressed interest in running for Bach's soon to be vacated position.With uncritical Western mass media/Western mass media influenced enthusiasm, Coe has unashamedly acknowledged his ethical inconsistencies, culminated by his bigotry against Russians and closely related Belarusians.
He acknowledges going to Moscow in 1980 at the time of the Soviet military intervention, boycotting apartheid era South Africa, and visiting some of the carnage in NATO's proxy war against Russia by only visiting the side of one of the combatants. I recall Coe justifying his 1980 Moscow presence by noting that the 1978 FIFA World Cup was held in Argentina, when that country had a military dictatorship with thousands of politically killed people.
Like the German Bach, the Brit Coe now spins an extreme geopolitical line against Russians and Belarusians, in accordance with the predominating faulty biases of NATO/EU elites. Coe is a more extreme version, given his support for a blanket ban of Russians and Belarusians in track and field, which includes their being unable to compete as neutrals.
Shortly after February 24, 2022 (the start of Russia's Special Military Operation - SMO), Bach set the tone by having initially stated that Russians and Belarusians shouldn't be invited to international competitions. He later revised his stance by allowing them to compete as neutrals, while nevertheless permitting individuals sports federations to do what WA did without ever threatening to penalize these sports.
The deceitfully stated IOC hypocrisy for banning Russia over the SMO is sheer demagoguery. Bach, Coe, et al have never provided direct replies to the following:
In my neck of the woods, there'd be considerable outrage if the IOC banned the Israeli flag and anthem, along with disallowing Israelis to compete as neutrals if they've Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ties and/or support the Israeli government action in Gaza.
Russian forces in the former Ukrainian SSR haven't been more brutal than what the IDF have done in Gaza. Since 1950, the US tops the chart when it comes to attacking other nations and killing civilians in the process. Saying that the US adversaries in these conflicts weren't so pristine makes the case for supporting full Russian and Belarusian participation at international sporting events.
The Kiev regime is a corrupt, lying, undemocratic and neo-Nazi influenced entity with blood on its hands before and after February 24, 2022. Those arming it are culpable.
Germany, France and the Kiev regime admitted to not intending to honor the United Nations Security Council approved Minsk Accords that was to give Donbass autonomy within Ukraine. In the years leading up to Russia's SMO, a war like situation existed in Ukraine, with key NATO countries arming and training Kiev regime forces. Just prior to the SMO, OSCE observers noted a sharp increase in Kiev regime shelling of Donbass rebel territory.
Shortly after Russia's SMO, the Kiev regime agreed to settlement talks with Russia in Belarus and Turkey. Multiple sources (Turkish, Russian, Kiev regime Ukrainian, Israeli and German) said the two sides were on the verge of reaching an agreement similar to the Minsk Accords. Via Boris Johnson, the US and UK encouraged the Kiev regime to continue fighting.
Contrary to pro-NATO propaganda, the conflict wasn't initiated by Crimea's virtually bloodless reunification with Russia in 2014. Prior to that occurrence, an internationally brokered (Polish, French and German with Russian oversight) agreement between the then Ukrainian president and political opposition was violated by the latter grouping.
The newly created undemocratic regime in Kiev appointed a disproportionate number of nationalist anti-Russian leaning individuals who openly favor restricting the Russian language and ending the Russian military presence in Crimea. At the time, Russia had a lease agreement with Ukraine to maintain a naval existence in Crimea.
Under Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, post-Soviet Russia sought NATO membership. Russia was the first country to console the US upon the 9/11 tragedy.
The US military industrial complex benefits from having a bogeyman to draw more money. Russia is a convenient target because it doesn't have significant lobbying clout in the US to the degree of those harboring anti-Russian views.
NATO has been dominated by anti-Russian elements. In 2008, NATO pledged to get Georgia and Ukraine in NATO with Russia left out.
EU/NATO member Hungary has been castigated in Western mainstream circles for favoring settlement talks with Russia. In that same sincere spirit, Hungarian Foreign MinisterPéter Szijjártó came out in favor of full Russian and Belarusian participation in the Olympics.