Why Her Complexion Was So Controversial

Gymnast on uneven bars
Leslie Taylor-Grover
July 2, 2021

Luci Collins was definitely the best. It was apparent early on that she had an amazing career in gymnastics ahead of her. As she grew in the sport, she dominated her white peers. 

So it was no surprise that, after the 1980 Olympic Trials, she made the Olympic Gymnastics team! But what happened AFTER she made the team WAS.

At the press conference following the Trials, reporters overlooked Collins. What? Her entire community was watching and rooting for her. She was a source of inspiration and pride! Why didn’t the reporters give her props?

They thought she was white! No Black girl had ever made an Olympic gymnastics team, and it never occurred to the white reporters that such an achievement was even possible. Even when Collins made it known she was Black, some STILL tried to dispute the fact. So what happened to Collins?

She continued to excel! Though the gymnastics team didn’t go to the 1980 Olympics due to international turmoil between the U.S. and Russia that year, Collins’ achievement opened countless doors for more Black women to compete in gymnastics and excel, like she did.

Collin’s experiences show exactly how stubborn discrimination can be – and we must realize challenges to our Blackness have nothing to do with our talents. We just have to keep being AMAZING!

We have a quick favor to ask:

PushBlack is a nonprofit dedicated to raising up Black voices. We are a small team but we have an outsized impact:

  • We reach tens of millions of people with our BLACK NEWS & HISTORY STORIES every year.
  • We fight for CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM to protect our community.
  • We run VOTING CAMPAIGNS that reach over 10 million African-Americans across the country.

And as a nonprofit, we rely on small donations from subscribers like you.

With as little as $5 a month, you can help PushBlack raise up Black voices. It only takes a minute, so will you please ?

Share This Article: