Brock Turner release, Ryan Lochte incident shows white privilege

This summer should have been a reminder about how great sports are, with the world wide spectacle that is the Olympic games. Instead, this summer has served as a reminder that white privilege is still a persistent theme in America today.

It started when Ryan Lochte and three teammates lied about being held at gunpoint in Rio during what they alleged to be a robbery. The real story was that the swimmers were intoxicated and decided to vandalize a gas station bathroom.

They were then detained by security guards who pulled their weapons, as is their right in Brazil, and then released after giving them what amounted to 50 dollars. They then returned to Olympic Village, where they then told family members that they were robbed.

The story then gained worldwide headlines, as yet another alleged example of a dangerous Rio de Janeiro.

However, as an investigation was conducted by local authorities, it was revealed that the event that the swimmers had described had never occurred. Lochte fled the country and two of his teammates were detained as they tried to leave Brazil.

This entire story then culminated with a complete non-apology by Lochte, who said in a statement, “It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country- with a language barrier- and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave.”

Even though he made up a robbery to cover up his own shameful behavior, the only consequences for Lochte was sponsorship money. Instead of severe media backlash or even a temporary U.S. swimming ban, he will instead be appearing on Dancing with the Stars.

However this is not even the biggest white privilege story of the summer.

Brock Turner was found guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault.

However, the ruling judge, Aaron Persky, only sentenced him to six months in prison, citing “significant collateral consequences that have to be considered.”

Turner has since been released from prison after three months, for good behavior and returned to Ohio where he registered as a sex offender.

Cory Batey, a collegiate athlete, was convicted of the same crime as Turner and receive 15-25 years in prison. The only difference between the two: Batey was black.

While many do not want to talk about it there is still an underlying idea of white privilege in America. If a black athlete got drunk and destroyed a gas station bathroom, and then lied about it, his career would be in shambles.

How can two people who committed the same crime get completely different punishments, and not say that one of them had privilege?