Gym Denies Gabrielle Douglas

Title: Gym denies Gabrielle Douglas's racism claims

Date of Article: August 28, 2012 at 6 am.

Where found: On yahoo news.

Who:

Gabrielle Douglas known by her fans as Gabby is a gymnast. She began gymnastics because her older sister Arielle (a former gymnast) showed her how to do a perfectly straight cartwheel when Gabrielle was only 3, and at the age of 4 she could do it on one hand and since then her interest for gymnastics arose. She officially started training for gymnastics at Gymstrada in October of 2002 at the age of 6. She won a gold medal this year in March with the U.S. team Pacific Rim Champions. In June of this year she competed with the VISA Champions and finished in second place in all-around.

What:

Gabrielle Douglas says she was target of racist bullying at the gym where she first trained.

Where:

The Virginia Excalibur gym is the gym in which she was targeted. She revealed the claims to Oprah Winfrey on her show, “Oprah’s Next Chapter”.

When:

She told Oprah about the situation on Sunday August 26, 2012. But she doesn’t give any date on which the accusation she is making was made.

Why:

She feels they do it because she is an African-American and feels what increases the why of her accusation is because of the way they speak to and of her.

How:

Gabby claims one of the girls at the gym called her a “slave” and also that Gabby should “scrap the bar because she is their slave.” According to the trainer Randy Stageburg “The accusations she made are sickening”, he also added “She was never a victim. In fact, she was one of the favorites I am not saying that she never felt bullied, because when you are in a sport with a bunch of girls, it is bound to happen. However, anything that she may have felt was never about race, and I can assure you everyone at some point has felt bullied. I never once heard her complain about girls being mean -- funny how it is just now coming up.”

Reflection:

In the beginning I was shock at what she said they did to her, but after reading the whole article I have doubts about if what she is saying is really true after reading what Randy Stageburg had to say about the accusations. It also makes me think if he isn’t lying to protect the gym from the media. Also if she is lying to get even more attention from media because fame has gone to her head or something, but it also makes me think that if it is true that she is lying to get more attention from media that she has thought out all the consequences she will have if in fact she is lying. But this article is one of the many that makes you think of so many possibilities and it should be our daily challenge to really think about everything we hear from the media’s latest stories and even the things we hear daily in our own community and don’t just believe everything

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