showdown on the olympic playground

by Paige Cram

Published: April 24, 2008

“A new day for Cuba will come… until that day comes, the United States will continue to shine a bright and revealing light on Cuba’s abuses. We will continue to tell the stories of Cuba’s people, even when a lot of the world doesn’t want to hear them. And we will carry this refrain in our hearts: Viva Cuba Libre” - President George W. Bush, March 7, 2008

As the summer Olympics in Beijing approach, the tension and violence surrounding the controversial host country continue to increase. With protests breaking out around the world, the question everyone seems to be asking is to boycott, or not to boycott? There have been heated debates about whether the Olympics is an appropriate place for political statements and what the most effective way to bring about change in China is, and yet no one seems to have a solid answer to that nagging moral question.

Maybe that’s because it’s the wrong question. What others will be asking of us, and we should be asking of ourselves, is why we can’t seem to justify boycotting a simple ceremony as part of a single event taking place in a country that has a well-known history of human and civil rights abuse, when we’ve had a forty-eight year embargo against another country for the exact same reasons.

When it comes to global causes like human rights, we are all supposed to be in this together. But let’s face it, we have our own self-serving purpose. While we love to pretend we do things for the greater good, we’re really just trying to get ahead.

The petty politics of it all reminds me a little of the fifth grade, everyone trying desperately to claim a place on the social ladder. In 1960, when the United States condemned Cuba as a nemesis of freedom and restricted all interaction America would have with the small island, we established a moral high-ground for ourselves, simultaneously turning Cuba into the outcast of the political playground. Nearly half a century has passed with Cuba sitting on the sidelines, paying the price for its oppressive policies. Despite its rich culture of music, food and, of course, cigars, it’s treated as the smelly kid in class with whom no one wants to be caught playing for fear of embarrassment.

But if Cuba is the smelly kid, then China is the bully of the world stage. It pushes people around, abuses them, deprives them of rights, but ultimately, gets away with it. Why? Because it’s big, powerful and a lucrative business partner. No one, not even the all mighty U.S., wants to mess with a force of that nature. The economic repercussions would be too great, and if there’s anything we love more than freedom, it’s money. So China is allowed free reign because when it comes down to it, the bully seems to like us. As long as it’s only picking fights with others, we’re content to look the other way and bask in our own glory.

But who does that make us in the scheme of things? How can we possibly sit comfortably on this pedestal of rights and freedom when the rest of the world knows us as the kid who won’t rat you out to the teacher as long as you slip him a fiver? It doesn’t seem to be difficult for President Bush who is quite familiar with contradiction, but for the rest of us, that’s a hard truth to reconcile. If we’re really going to brag about how we are bringers of freedom to places less fortunate, maybe it’s time we stood up and put our money where our collective mouth is. After all, if the opening ceremony was in Havanna, it wouldn’t even be up for discussion.

The Olympics are the greatest athletic tradition we have, an international recess on a grand scale. And this summer, Beijing will be the focus of the world’s attention. What better time and place is there to challenge a bully than out on the playground when all eyes are watching?

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