Former Tide Gymnast alleges racial mistreatment with the Alabama program

It began with another tone-deaf Dabo speech, another allegation of racist statements and behavior at Clemson, and then culminated in Dan Wolken trawling for dirt on allegations of disparate treatment in college athletics.

While most of what Dan finds is probably being saved up for a separate USA Today story, one person who spoke very publicly and clearly was former Alabama Gymnast Tia Kiaku.

She started off by blasting off a series of tweets, decrying what she felt was the hypocrisy of the program, of coach Dana Duckworth, and of UA Athletic Director Greg Byrne.

Tia then followed that up with an in-depth Instagram post that detailed the encounter:

According to Kiaku, she did lodge a Title IX complaint with the school, and Alabama’s internal investigation called it “a bad joke,” with ultimately no action being handed down.

But, in subsequent statements, it appears as though Tia was not alone in feeling she was the target of racist actions and statements within the program.

—

We’re not going to name the alleged coach involved here: it’s pretty easy to search around and find out who coaches Vault. Nor are we going to try anyone in the jury of public opinion. But, Dana Duckworth and Greg Byrne will have to address Kiaku’s allegations immediately, ideally releasing a summary of findings of her Title IX complaint — if one even occurred. And, for everyone’s sake, it better have.

But, even if this one instance had little substance in a standalone complaint, from the rest of the story, it does not seem that Kiaku is alone in thinking there is a problem with the program.

—

You can’t outrun ghosts, folks. And given Alabama’s lofty perch and its troubled past, that is more true here than it is at most schools — not only does the justice of it all matter; at Alabama the optics will always matter.