Gymnastics: Bullies are tormenting Douglas, says mother
Bullies
are ruining U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas's Olympic adventure by attacking
her appearance, accusing her of being unpatriotic, and by mocking her
with a mean-spirited nickname, "Crabby Gabby", on social media, her
mother told Reuters.
The
20-year-old athlete has been attacked for a perceived lack of patriotism
for not placing her hand over her heart as the U.S. anthem was played
during a medal ceremony and for not joining a standing ovation for two
team mates.
Her mother, Natalie Hawkins, says Douglas is heart-broken.
"She's
had to deal with people criticizing her hair, or people accusing her of
bleaching her skin. They said she had breast enhancements, they said
she wasn't smiling enough, she's unpatriotic. Then it went to not
supporting your team mates. Now you're "Crabby Gabby"," Hawkins said in
an interview.
"You name it and she got trampled. What did she ever do to anyone?"
For
the second Games running, Douglas has found herself caught in a
firestorm despite yet another gold winning performance in Rio.
In
2012 Twitter went into overdrive after Douglas became the first
African-American gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title. But rather
than lauding her excellence, critics rounded on her for the state of
her hair during the final.
Four
years on and Douglas has another Olympic gold, from the women's team
competition, but the sheen from that victory has also been tarnished
after TV cameras showed her standing to attention during the national
anthem.
"I don't think respecting
your country or your flag boils down to whether you put your hand over
your heart or not," Hawkins said.
"It's
in your actions towards your country, how well are you abiding by its
laws, how well are you helping your fellow citizens?
"We
grew up in the military community. My mum spent almost 30 years in the
military, my dad's a two-time Vietnam vet. Because of that it was so
insulting that they would accuse my daughter of being unpatriotic when
we are so tied to the military family.
"When the Star Spangled Banner is played, most military members either salute or stand to attention."
But
Tuesday's furor over what the correct protocol is when the American
flag is raised was neither the beginning nor the end of Douglas'
problems.
She was also criticized
for not giving team mates Simone Biles and Aly Raisman a standing
ovation when they claimed gold and silver in Thursday's all around
final.
With
accusations that Douglas was angry and jealous at being denied a place
in the final, since rules state only the top two performers from each
country can progress to the final, #CrabbyGabby started trending on
social media.
"We've been brought
to many tears because I don't know what she's done to warrant such an
attack. To me it looks like she is being bullied," said Hawkins.
All
this unwanted attention on her daughter has been painful for Hawkins to
watch. Despite being in Rio to cheer on Douglas, she is unable to give
her a comforting hug because of team rules limiting contact to phone
calls and texts until they are done competing.
"What I saw in the stands was someone who was hurting and she was also angry," added Hawkins.
"What
was going through her head was 'I'm being attacked for everything I do
so I might as well not do anything. Because no matter what I do, I am
being attacked'."
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Did Hawkins think Douglas was targeted because of her race?
"Many
people are telling me that all the time. And that's from white people
and black people. I don't want to believe (it's a race attack) as I want
to have more faith," she said.
"But
when I go on Twitter, I can't help but see that all the blacks are
saying: 'was it just the white people that are saying this against us?'
"Maybe
people are very frustrated. Our country has a lot of unrest and turmoil
recently and people are frustrated and maybe they just want to vent and
they just see someone innocent ... and bully them."
For
now though, Hawkins says she has advised her daughter to stay offline
and instead focus on competing in Sunday's asymmetric bars final.
"They
keep attacking her about not smiling but they don't know what she is
dealing with. If they did, this would not be a conversation. They would
(understand). But this is not the time or place to tell that story,"
said Hawkins, who raised four children as a single mother.
"I
want ... people to show me if they have ever seen Gabrielle being
disrespectful ... or say something inappropriate. There is nothing
because for her being a role model is such a supreme honor.
"Gabrielle's
had her heart broken, but she's determined she will go out (on Sunday)
and she knows she still has a job to do for Team USA. It's a huge honor
for me to be her mother as she's the bravest person I know."