Going to Beijing?

Beware... There's a lot lurking in the shadows for colored folk, beyond all the smog and cigarette smoke.  At work I'm writing a story about minorities,  specifically the darker skinned ones, who are headed to China for the Olympics, as either athletes or spectators. As you may know the Chinese have been coming under fire for everything under the sun: 

1. Pro-Tibetan organizations like Students for a Free Tibet have protested against them around the world. 

2. Amnesty International has openly protested China's involvement in the crisis in Darfur. 

3. Nearly 3 million residents of Beijing have been evicted to make way for the Olympic crowd and nearly $200 billion has been spent on reconstructing the city in preparation for this epic event, some say the money has been spent irresponsibly. 

4. The Uighurs, Mongolians, Han Chinese free-thinkers, and anyone of African descent is referred to as "undesirables" and treated as such. Plans are said to have been made at certain popular restaurants and bars to keep these people out during the Olympics. 

5. I could go on and on but I'm really trying to get to the point. 

Our president should probably be protesting the government but of course he's not. I'll report my findings as soon as I finish the article. I'll be talking to a few people who are actually attending the Beijing Olympics as well as a few professors who are well-versed in Chinese politics.

Ahh Beijing- where dogs are cuisine and children are allowed to smoke cigarettes, where racism abounds and political leaders are more concerned with hosting the Olympics than making sure their own residents have some degree of shelter- truly a world city. 

Never forget: Adolf Hitler mistakenly thought that by hosting the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, his government could prove the inherent superiority of the Aryan race- allowing only these men to compete on the German team. Germany did end up winning a lot of titles despite the fact that Jesse Owens, a black American, ran laps around the Germans in the track and field events, winning four medals.

The interesting thing is, as aggressively anti-semitic as Hitler and his administration was, the Nazis took down all the signs that barred jews from major tourist attractions in Berlin during the Olympics. And I think that's exactly what's going to happen this time around. China is going to clean up it's act a little bit for appearances' sake and go back to business as usual once the last tourists shuttle out of the capital city at the end of August.

In 1936, like today, many countries including the US were outraged that the Olympics would be held in Nazi Germany.  Sadly enough we went along with it for basically the same reasons we're going along with it today- because the Olympic Games are just that- games- not an opportunity to make a political statement, but should they be? 

::sigh::