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We catch up with some members of the Public in London and ask them what they think of Cultural Challenges in Black Communities. Presenters: Nia Rae, Naomi Yazmin, Rosanne Jade Miller

Brazilian gymnast Angelo Assumpcao still wonders how far he could have gone if not for the decision he says derailed his career: speaking out against the racism he was subjected to by his white teammates.

Could he have made the Olympics? Won a medal? At 24 years old, he may never get the chance to find out.

"Some people think racism doesn't exist. I wonder where my career would be without it," he told AFP in an interview.

Assumpcao's career was as short as it was promising.

A muscular dynamo with an exuberant afro, he grew up on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic capital, where he developed a love for gymnastics that soon landed him at the revered Pinheiros Sporting Club.

Located in the upscale neighborhood from which it takes its name, Pinheiros is a veritable institution in Brazilian sport.

Founded in 1899 -- just 10 years after Brazil became the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery -- it has trained some of the country's best athletes, including 12 Olympic medalists.

Assumpcao came of age in its elite training academy, a lone black boy learning backflips and dismounts surrounded by white gymnasts.

- 'New sensation' -

He got his big break in 2015, when he took the place of injured teammate Arthur Nory on the vault at the Gymnastics World Cup stage event in his hometown, Sao Paulo.

Assumpcao won gold, upsetting Brazil's leading gymnast at the time, veteran Diego Hypolito, who won bronze.

Globo Sports, part of Brazil's biggest media house, proclaimed Assumpcao "the new sensation" of Brazilian gymnastics.

Days later, though, his celebration was cut short.

Nory put a video on social media in which he and two other young white gymnasts cracked racist jokes with a visibly uncomfortable Assumpcao.

"When your cell phone's working, the screen is white. When it breaks, what color is it?" a snickering Nory asks in the video.

"Black!" comes the answer.

"The plastic bags at the supermarket are white. What color are garbage bags?"

The video went viral online, triggering outrage in Brazil, a country of 212 million people where 54 percent of the population is black or mixed race.

The Brazilian Gymnastics Federation suspended the three white gymnasts for a month. They later apologized.

But Assumpcao says it was not an isolated incident.

He was regularly mocked for his skin color, hair and Afro-Brazilian heritage, he says.

He pinpoints his decision to speak out against such behavior as the moment his career started to unravel.

He was not selected for the 2016 Olympics, held in Brazil's second city, Rio de Janeiro. Hypolito and Nory were, taking home medals -- silver and bronze, respectively, in the floor competition.

Assumpcao says he sank into depression because of the discrimination he faced.

At first, he kept his complaints behind closed doors, going to Pinheiros directors in private because he feared reprisals, he said.

When he felt the club failed to listen, he went public about the "structural racism" he says prevails there.

- Training at home -

In November 2019, Pinheiros rescinded his contract, saying he was under-performing.

Assumpcao says it was punishment for condemning racism in the gymnastics world.

"You pay a very heavy price when you're a victim of racism in Brazil, or anywhere in the world," he said.

"But the oppressors pay a much cheaper price. Look at Arthur Nory. He got to go on with his life."

Last year, Pinheiros carried out an internal review that confirmed incidents of "racial abuse" and "harassment" at the club, according to a report by Globo Sports.

However, in a statement to AFP, the club denied racism in the decision to cut ties with Assumpcao.

His bitter experiences rushed back recently when another Brazilian, Neymar, accused a defender of using racist insults against him during Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 loss to Marseille Sunday.

"That just goes to show that you can be the best athlete in the world, rich and famous, but they still judge you by the color of your skin," said Assumpcao.

Today, the gymnast trains by himself at home, getting by with the help of donations from friends and family and hoping to get the chance to compete again.

The celebrity news website and its wildly popular Instagram page (currently at over 20 million followers and counting) have, since its founding by Nigerian American entrepreneur Angelica Nwandu in 2014, become an institution in the world of Black gossip. It is a part of the Black lexicon and the Black zeitgeist, mentioned in rap songs and TV shows. With a hodgepodge of posts including celebrity news, memes, politics, and inspirational messages, The Shade Room has cemented itself as a constantly evolving archive of Black pop culture.  

That’s what makes The Shade Room so intensely intriguing and addictive. It is relentless with content generation, adept at locking onto stories as they develop (a running joke is that The Shade Room seems to repost celebrity Instagram posts before the celebrities have even posted them). And it is powerful enough to not only follow the gossip but also to become the catalyst for it. On any given day, you’ll see Black celebrities, influencers, and reality television stars like Teyana Taylor, B. Simone, and Nene Leakes “step into The Shade Room” to refute, clap back or cut up in the comments with thousands of other followers. These comments from celebs usually get screencapped and made into their own posts, forming a never-ending, self-referential loop of tea. 

In a March 2019 profile for Marie Claire, Nwandu contended that she doesn’t think of The Shade Room as purely a gossip site but more of a cultural archive. “I think our site is about the culture,” she said, “All the things that make black culture beautiful.” To some extent, Nwandu is correct in that The Shade Room does provide a kind of snapshot of Blackness that, while not definitive, is most definitely key. But with the beauty, obviously, comes some of the ugliness.  

When rapper Tory Lanez released a 17-song album with several songs largely refuting accusations around him shooting Megan Thee Stallion this summer, The Shade Room made dozens of posts platforming and breaking down each song, line for line. In the comments on these posts, there were those who came to Megan’s defense, but there were also those who eagerly took the opportunity to bash her, question her and praise Lanez for sharing his “side of the story.”

There have, apparently, been efforts made to mitigate and challenge some of the rhetoric in the comments section in response to these kinds of stories, with Nwandu telling Marie Claire that around 2015 she and her team decided to create a more balanced, positive atmosphere on the site and on Instagram. “There was a time when I would go on the Shade Room and I would just feel, like, ugh. I remember thinking, If I feel like this, what am I putting out to the people who are reading this? They may be feeling like this too if they come on here every day and consume what we’re giving.”

So, it seems as if there is an awareness. But what else is being done? What else should be done when it comes to this kind of content? The potential for breeding toxicity is not isolated to The Shade Room, of course. It is a problem that comes up constantly in the world of gossip, especially internet gossip, on sites and Instagram pages like Baller Alert, Bossip, and World Star Hip Hop. And it’s definitely not just a Black gossip thing either.