Greek Triple Jumper Paraskevi Papachristou AKA Voula Papachristou Expelled From Olympics For Racist Tweet
Paraskevi Papachristou (or Voula Papachristou) learned just how dangerous Twitter can be. The Greek triple jumper was sent home from the 2012 Summer Olympics after sending a tweet that a lot of people can see as being racist. As for that, you be the judge about how racist it is.
“With so many Africans in Greece… the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!” she had posted on her Twitter account.
Yep, that’s racist. That is insanely insensitive and sending her home might be extreme, but it is a good way to send a message. That is just taking something so far. She may have been attempting a joke, but that joke was extremely awful.
Paraskevi Papachristou will hopefully learn a lesson from this. The first lesson is don’t be racist. That is a lesson everyone should learn and use these days. The second lesson involves the dangers of social media. People are always watching. If you send something out online, people will notice and it can not be taken away. It can be deleted but screenshots are always ready to capture bad moments.
The Greek contingent for the Olympics should be applauded for this. They took quick action and sent a message. They will not tolerate racists and it reflects poorly on the country. This is a great example to set for almost any other country in the world. Do not tolerate racism, especially if one of the people being racists happens to represent your entire country.
Riley Schmitt is a writer for Rant Sports.
