To this day, [South Africa under apartheid] was the only regime that the world came together to isolate in peacetime. There were oil, trade, bank loan and sports boycotts. Oil can be smuggled and trade restrictions circumvented. Some banks made loans that kept the regime afloat. But there is no black market for games, and the sports boycott became South Africa's Achilles' heel.Ironic given the Games' professed nonpolitical nature (ha!), but be reminded that this is the one time every other year that we loosen the reins a bit on the blog in terms of geopolitical discussions. (Geopolitical, not political. No dressage banter unless it's actually about dressage; those reins remain tight.) It was impossible to talk about Beijing 2008 without discussing the brutal host regime, and we will not shy away from our continuing objection to British claims of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas and Gibraltar, and our support of freedom for the Manx people as well as Noel Gallagher.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
THE PRACTICE OF SPORT IS A HUMAN RIGHT: Tremendous essay in Grantland today from Anna Clark on the history, success, and aftermath of the international sports boycott against South Africa, and questioning why the IOC does not continue to leverage its power against other regimes which continue to discriminate against large portions of their populations. Clark cites a Richard Lapchick essay from 2009, which notes:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)