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Now that the media is done pummeling our brains with the patriotic , and saturating our psyches with stars and stripes , we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming ,

deprogramming . I managed to miss every single Olympic event , on purpose . I had no interest in the pageantry or the blind allegiance involved , and its kind of tough for me to ignore the fact that America hates Black people in order to embrace the false notion of a unified nation where I should care about the U . S . dominating the Olympics . I ’ m still not certain why any African would care ., but that ’ s just me .

I did care about the success of our brothers and sisters in Brazil competing . From a distance , I cheered them on , and via social media , I saluted their athletic accomplishments . From what I could gather , Africans from America put in major work at the 2016 games ; they did the damn thing ! I found myself imagining what it would be like if Africans participated as Africans from Africa . I imagined what it would look like if all the Africans in America decided to play for home , our actual home . What would these games look like then ? Would America still be the pride and glory of these games ? I listened from afar as America ’ s media tried its best to contrive stories to

discredit and defame it ’ s representatives of a darker hue ; it wasn ’ t enough that they were winning gold medals . They were still Black . I listened as a good ol ’ American White male swimmer reportedly carried on in Brazil like a spoiled , entitled child , only to have his actions pardoned and justified by the American media . White is still right . I sat at a bar full of Africans who chanted gleefully , “ U . S . A , U . S . A ., U . S . A .!!!” as the American athletes entered the coliseum at the beginning of the games . Did we all of a sudden gain equal footing with our oppressors here ? Were the litany of lynchings here , past and present , of Africans , just a recurring nightmare of my own ? Was racism eradicated along with

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