The mother of a black girl did not receive a medal at an Irish gymnastics event. She thinks the apology she got is not helpful.
A video was found recently that shows a young black gymnast being treated unfairly because of their race. In the video, an official who was giving out medals at an event in Dublin last year ignored the unfair treatment.
The mom said that seeing the incident happen was really awful.
Gymnastics Ireland said sorry on Monday for making people upset.
The group in charge said they were really sorry and they know they have to do more to make sure this doesn’t happen again. They also said they are against racism in any form.
But the girl’s mother said the sports organization only said sorry to the public after 18 months because they felt pressured to do so by the whole world.
“It’s almost useless,” she said about the apology. No one understood or cared about how I felt, and it doesn’t feel genuine.
It’s been a year and a half and it seems like they were forced to say sorry to me.
I cried for a long time, and then lots of people cried with me before I could have this.
The incident happened at a GymStart event in the city of Dublin in March 2022. During the event, all children were given participation medals, except for a young black girl who didn’t receive one while on the podium.
The judge at the event said sorry to the family for her “mistake” and promised she would never be racist.
However, the family of the girl believes that their daughter experienced racism. They requested that the family’s name not be revealed because they are afraid it might lead to people being mean to them because of their race.
Her mother was shocked and couldn’t believe what she saw happening.
“She said she couldn’t believe that this could happen in today’s time. ”
It was painful to see that my daughter, who was the only black child in the competition, stood out very clearly. What happened to her was completely unjustified and there was no excuse for it. She was really sad about what happened.
“It seemed like they held her responsible just because she was black. ” It’s very difficult for a 10-year-old to experience.
She said that the next day, she sent an email to the people in charge, hoping to receive an apology for her daughter.
The girl’s mom said she just wanted them to understand and reply kindly. I wanted people to show they support my daughter. What we really wanted was for her to apologize to us. To let her know they are there for her and to make her feel supported.
One year after the bad thing happened, the family got a short apology letter from the judge who was there. The letter was given to anyone who was affected by what happened.
But the BBC discovered that the judge had sent another email saying sorry shortly after the event. They sent it to Gymnastics Ireland, who were supposed to give it to the family.
She said sorry to the family for making them upset. She was very nervous and it was a real accident. She also mentioned their lovely child. “She said that when she realized she had made a mistake, she hurried back to get a participation medal for your beautiful child and say sorry. ”
The family said they never received the email. They saw it last month when they talked to the judge in a meeting to try and solve their disagreement. They thought that someone from Gymnastics Ireland would come to the meeting, but they didn’t send anyone.
The family says that it became obvious to them through the mediation that the reason for rejecting the medal was due to racial discrimination. We asked the judge for a comment, but they didn’t answer.
However, the main problem for the family is how the sport’s governing organizations have responded.
“The girl’s father said that they tried to hide the incident and pretend like it never happened. ” “They likely believed that over time, they would stop remembering it. ” It hurt a lot. You need to ask someone to say sorry.
The girl’s mother said Gymnastics Ireland’s apology, which came last week after the video became popular, was “very unhelpful. ”
“She said she hasn’t shown her because it’s been more than a year. ”
She said to the BBC that she wanted Ireland’s Department of Sport to change their policy. She added that she didn’t want any other black child, or children of any other race, to experience the same thing.
Gymnastics Ireland admitted to the BBC that they have taken a very long time to apologize to the family, and they feel sorry for disappointing the child and her parents.
The company admitted that they didn’t show enough understanding and care in their response. They also mentioned that this was the first time someone complained about racism since the company started, and they have taken several lessons from this experience.
The delays happened because of different reasons like mistakes by people, threats of getting sued, involvement of other people, and our recognition that this was a complaint made by parents against the person in charge.
After the incident, the family’s situation was helped by a group called Sport Against Racism Ireland. They also contacted an American civil rights activist named Professor Harry Edwards.
Then, he reached out to Simone Biles, a famous gymnast who is a world champion. Simone Biles sent a video to the family to show her support.
I wanted to tell you that I noticed how people treated you at your GymStart event recently. I was very surprised. I want you to know that you should get a medal like the other girls,” Ms.
When the girl received the video, she felt very happy. She told the BBC that she was jumping and excited because the gymnast in the video is the best ever, and she was glad to hear that the gymnast supports her.
And it made her want to continue playing the sport.
“Yes, I’m still going,” she said. I will continue to work really hard.