Curl this Way

The first all-black curling team took to the ice. The committee had forbidden the audience to launch into jeers or throw items on the ice. They disobeyed. They called every slur and hurled every racial epithet they could imagine.

Nonetheless, the team kept winning. They pushed the stone and moved along the ice and they swept with such vigor and attention that they surprised the crowd. They began to cheer. Even as the team lost, they received cheers because they had withstood the hate. Every moment felt like victory but they accepted no consolation or participation awards or prizes. None.