Time Magazine is being ridiculed over a recent article claiming the workout’s origins are racially rooted – leading fitness influencers and social media users alike to denounce the publication.
The polarizing piece, titled “The White Supremacist Origins of Exercise,” preaches that the activity as a pastime was started in the early 1900s by white Americans trying to protect their race amid rapidly increasing immigration rates and the recent abolition of slavery strengthen.
These statements were made by progressive private school teacher Natalia Petrzela, who was interviewed by the publication after delving into an in-depth study of the origins of calorie burning in the United States.
The Columbia graduate, a self-confessed “fitness scientist,” works as a history teacher at a famously progressive Manhattan prep school and supports movements like Defund the Police and Black Lives Matter. She has authored books expressing her ideals, preaching the use of terms like “cisgender” and “white privilege.”
The article published on Thursday drew heavy mockery on Twitter, with dozens taking to the platform to insist stories like this are tarnishing the publication’s reputation.
The polarizing piece was provided by self-confessed fitness historian Natalia Petrzela, a school teacher and staunch supporter of Defund the Police and Black Lives Matter
The article, titled “The White Supremacist Origins of Exercise,” preaches that the activity as a pastime was started in the early 1900s by white Americans trying to strengthen their race amid rapidly increasing immigration rates and the recent abolition of slavery
“This headline is so ridiculous but it is meant to encourage division and hate is encouraged by Time,” wrote TV host Jillian Anderson, criticizing the play’s strident title.
AI expert Dr. Eli David sarcastically added to the implications seemingly attached to the article, “If you play sports, you’re a white supremacist.”
British rapper Zuby, who is black, remarked: “Honestly I want them to keep putting out articles like this to gut any remaining vestige of their credibility and perceived legitimacy.
“It doesn’t annoy me at all. It’s so stupid I think it’s satire.
Retired African-American heavyweight boxer Ed Latimore expressed similar sentiments and pointed to similar claims by other guard bodies — including the Seattle Public School System’s 2019 report that claimed its schools had the experiences of communities of color on the word problems the student does not adequately prioritize and curricula.
The article published on Thursday drew heavy mockery on Twitter, with dozens taking to the platform to insist stories like this are tarnishing the publication’s reputation
“At first, mathematics was a tool of white supremacy. Now it’s practice,” noted the 36-year-old fighter. “Pretty soon, food will be a tool to continue the systemic repression of racism.”
Musician Christian Thompson added, “I love that you’re all destroying your credibility with such absolute dogs… Keep going!”
dr Gad Saad, a marketing professor at Canada’s Concordia University, further ridiculed the famous publication and gave others this tongue-in-cheek advice: “The only way to fight the roots of white supremacy in training is to live a sedentary life.
“Say no to exercise as a way to be an ally for people of color,” the academic wrote.
Hundreds of other users have expressed similar frustration with the magazine, which is itself celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
One user wrote how low he thinks the release has fallen in that span of time.
‘Wow. Nothing in your company reminds me of serious news. Running is definitely racist,” they wrote.
Another expressed similar disbelief, simply writing, “This must be a joke,” while others insisted that such a story must be satirical.
“I thought that was the onion again. then I see it’s about time,” wrote one stunned user. “I’m so old that I actually remember time being respected. Those times are over. That’s embarrassing.’
Another user contrasted the strident article with a recent Scientific American Journal report, which insists that increased obesity rates among black women are a result of structural and institutionalized racism
The user, who shared a tweet from the publication promoting the academic report, wrote. “So yesterday was a @TIME article explaining the “white supremacist roots of training.”
‘Now @sciam [Scientific American Journal] suggests that obesity concerns among black women are inherently racist. What’s next? Proper nutrition is a KKK plot? The National Socialist roots of concern about hand washing?’
The pronounced reaction would continue into Thursday, with many directly tweeting and tagging Time.
Meanwhile, in the story in question, Petrzela makes statements such as “How have US exercise trends gone from strengthening white supremacy to celebrating Richard Simmons?”. and this exercise in the US is “fully part of a white supremacy project.”
Petrzela, a history teacher at posh Manhattan private school The New School, also points to the fact that “up until the 1920s or so . . . what would now be considered fat or larger was actually desirable and actually signified wealth.”
However, the progressive writes that as food became more accessible to the masses and “more people engaged in sedentary office work and had access to cars and leisure time,” someone who could resist those foods while exercising and maintaining a lean body became “more desirable ” viewed.
A tweet from Time sharing her article received hundreds of comments – mostly with disapproval – with comparatively few likes. The outspoken reaction would continue into Thursday, with many directly tweeting and tagging the 99-year-old magazine
Petrzela, who works at a notoriously progressive school that charges students $44,000 a year in tuition, told Time of her look at the origins of exercise in the US: “It was super interesting, the reflections of fitness enthusiasts in the early 20th century to read.”
She explained: “They said we should do away with corsets, corsets are an assault on women’s shape and women should lift weights and gain strength. At first you feel so progressive.
“Then read on, and they say white women should start building their strength because we need more white babies.
In the story in question, Petrzela, a teacher at the posh Manhattan private school The New School, makes statements such as “How did US exercise trends go from promoting white supremacy to celebrating Richard Simmons?” and this exercise is “part of a white supremacy project”
“You write during an incredible amount of immigration, just after enslaved people were emancipated.
“This is absolutely part of a white supremacy project. So that was a real “holy shit” moment as a historian, where thorough archival research really reveals the contradictions of that moment.
Petrzela has since written other books that say something similar, including the recent Fit Nation: The Pains & Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession.
A tweet from Time sharing her article received hundreds of comments – mostly with disapproval – with comparatively few likes.
The teacher, who has a BA from Columbia and a masters and PhD from Stanford, has yet to comment on the backlash her statements have sparked.
The publication recently came under fire for an article that compared comic book superheroes to racist cops during the height of the Defund the Police movement in 2020, equating superheroes like Batman and Spider-Man with confident, hero-complex white cops who were only pretend to protect minorities.
This story is just one example of prominent media publications promoting the awakening, and in many cases they bizarrely absorb the social and cultural climate and history of the US from publications like CNN and the Washington Post
This story is just one example of prominent media publications promoting the awakening, and in many cases they bizarrely absorb the social and cultural climate and history of the US from publications like CNN and the Washington Post.
These claims include that Daylight Saving Time and the lottery are inherently racist constructs, and that this year’s Shark Week on the Discover Channel overrepresented white men — as well as too many men with the name “Mike.”
There is still time to address the controversy.