General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: White Male Privilege Is Why We Laugh At Lochte And Vilify Douglas [View all]Igel
(35,197 posts)One's a parvenue with no following based on past achievements and the other has string of past wins that a lot of people know about and even had a "reality show" made about him.
The first thing that a lot of people knew about Douglas was what they saw and heard about the US national anthem. First impressions and all that.
One was an action that was perceived against "us" and the other, if accepted, an action against "them." Had Douglas not "saluted" during the Brazil national anthem I really think few people in the US would care. The reaction towards Douglas or Lochte says a lot about primary, secondary, an tertiary group loyalties and disaffection.
Stereotypes matter, as well. For many, Lochte's a privileged white boy and gets judged immediately against that stereotype; he's the "them" that's against some people's "us". For many, Douglas is just a black girl, one of "us" who had an trivial but understandable lapse, for others she's "them" disrespecting "us"--follow-up for some from '68 Mexico, follow-up for some from BLM protests or personal experience. (Remember, many stereotypes have some basis in fact. Some of the "facts" may be 100 years old, or based on 1% of the population, but with confirmation bias in play that doesn't matter.) And for those who steal offense, "girl" is justified by the indirect speech also reflected in "white boy". Get one, get the other.
Because of us-versus-them thinking and entrenched stereotypes, Lochte's and Douglas' actions play radically different among different US subpopulations, and the difference in perception outside the US in general is probably going to be striking.