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Black, Belizean girl ? the trials of Marion Jones

EditorialBlack, Belizean girl ? the trials of Marion Jones


They say it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all, and, by that token, Marion will prefer to have starred in Sydney and fallen in Athens, than never to have starred at all. Along with Marion, Belize, one of the more insignificant countries in the world, starred in Sydney: along with her, we fell in Greece.


If you are a talent of rare quality, like the soccer player Freddie Adu, America will open its arms to embrace and adopt you. But America will then become very possessive of you. America, the most powerful nation in the world, will be like most parents who adopt children ? America will want you to forget your real, biological parents; America will be jealous of you in a confining way. One of the reasons for America?s jealousy is money. America will make you rich, but America will not allow you to take any of those riches home. All your money must stay in America, so America can remain rich, and grow richer.


Marion Jones? mother migrated to America more than three decades ago in search of the American dream. She gave birth to a daughter by an American father, who later turned his back on her and the child. The child Marion grew up to be an athletic prodigy in Los Angeles, and the American track and field community began to rave about her, to pamper her.


Marion also played basketball, so when she finished high school, she took up a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, which is Michael Jordan?s alma mater. Marion won an NCAA national title as a starting guard on the UNC women?s basketball team, and after college began concentrating on her track career again.


Marion became the dominant lady sprinter in the world before the 2000 Olympics, and won several gold medals. Americans loved their adopted daughter, and Marion made a lot of money doing commercials for American corporate giants, such as Nike, which had been famously linked with the aforementioned Michael Jordan. Marion had become a superstar in the United States. She was living the American dream. As the daughter of a born Belizean, Marion Jones was also living the Belizean dream ? she had conquered the colossus of the North.


Marion?s mother, her uncle Godwin Hulse, and other Belizean family members had made sure she visited Belize regularly from the time she was a child, so Marion established and maintained ties with little Belize. And so it was that when Marion achieved her moment of greatest glory at the Sydney Olympics, she unfurled the Belizean flag in addition to the United States? ?stars and stripes.? We do not know how the Rich Old White Guys (ROWG) who run America, viewed this Belizean flag episode, but we suspect how they viewed it. Marion then visited Belize. Her reception here was an adoring one. Marion was Belize?s princess, our goddess, and she promised to help Belize with an expensive synthetic track. We know how the ROWG would view this. They would frown on this, because after America crowns you, you are not supposed to remember where you came from, and you must not seek to transfer any assets to your home.


We are not saying that Marion?s fall from grace in the United States was because of her loyalty to Belize, but the ties with Belize would not have looked good on her r?sum?.


Officials in United States? track and field and Olympic organizations linked Marion to a business house which manufactured performance-enhancing substances which had been previously undetectable. They could not prove anything. Marion has never failed a drug test. But her first husband had failed a drug test. Her baby?s father, Tim Montgomery, with whom she presently lives, was under suspicion, and there was the matter of a check to BALCO, the business house in question, and so on and so forth.


America?s Rich Old White Guys decided that Marion had become damaged goods, that it was time for her to come off the stage and return to oblivion. Remember that Marion was and is a black, Belizean girl, so there was no special reason for the ROWG to protect her. Marion refused to be convicted by association and innuendo. She fought back, and made the United States Olympic team under a cloud of official resentment and suspicion. Her track failures in Athens last week ended months and months of stress and strain.


Marion has fallen from grace in the United States, and now she will find out who her real friends are. Her money making potential has been dramatically reduced, and now where she would have become a billionaire like Michael Jordan, she will only be wealthy, and modestly so by American standards.


So far, our Marion has done a splendid job of swallowing the bitter that sometimes comes after the sweet. She rose to international stardom, and she was humble. She fell to embarrassing defeat, and she was gracious. In Belize, the old people taught us this ? ?every disappointment da fu di betta.? The English version says, ?Behind every cloud there is a silver lining.? Marion Jones is a young lady. Most of her life is still ahead of her, yet she has already lived a lifetime. From little, insignificant Belize, our best and sincere wishes are with her. Girl, you made us proud. You made us somebody. Much thanks.

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