WHY WE LAUGH AT LOCHTE AND CONDEMN GABBY

WHY WE LAUGH AT LOCHTE AND CONDEMN GABBY "The vast gap between these two public perceptions has everything to do with the identities of the people involved. Lochte is a straight, white man, who has long been beloved for his pretty face, doofy personality and charmingly slow demeanor during interviews. Douglas is a young, black woman who has battled racialized critiques of her appearance and attitude for years, despite winning three Olympic gold medal. This isn’t to say that Lochte and his teammates should be publicly vilified. But when the benefit of the doubt is given freely to white men when they mess up ― even in cases like this one where they actually may have broken the law ― and yet withheld from others, it perpetuates entrenched systems of racism and sexism." [Emma Gray, HuffPost]