NEWS: Spanish B-ball Team: Unfunny Racists or Just Unfunny?

CULTURE: Spanish B-ball Team: Unfunny Racists or Just Unfunny?

Ahh Olympic fever... The thrill of competition... The glory of sportsmanship... Racism!

Could offend? Ha. Yes, that may be taken the wrong way. In spite of all the dozens of right ways to take that gesture, I’m sure someone will find some negative angle to obnoxiously distorting your face to resemble the mug of someone different than you, in the manner of an eight-year-old. Yes, that's sarcasm.

Yes, that's it, the damn pesky British press again. Not a racist picture of 20 unfunny jocks...

The fact that they failed to see a possible negative to this stunt is less baffling to me than the fact that they all, somehow, seemed to think this would be funny. I mean, yeah, take a chance, make a borderline offensive joke. Funny is funny, regardless of all else. And even a spectacular risky failure is to be commended, in my book. As an Asian, I'd allow that. As a comedian, I would allow that. But this is just lazy. Please, all that I ask is you MAKE IT FUNNY. Making a slanty-eyed gesture?? I honestly expect more, even from jocks. Maybe a karate gag? Something about the Chinese guy who "played joke." Not gems at all but at least it's a start.

I look forward to whatever group reps funny Spaniards also coming forward to condemn this. Whenever they get done hat-dancing, harassing women, and bullfighting, that is.

Here's another account:

Wait, what? How does an entire field like "Spanish sports" get a rep for racial insensitivity? That's quite the accomplishment. Not, like, one guy or a particular team, the ENTIRE REALM OF PEOPLE WHO PLAY SPORTS IN SPAIN, from baseball to a game of jacks on the corner, kinda racist...

That's right, not malicious, as we've covered, just the result of a super unfunny group of dumb-asses.

Here's the Spanish paper's defense, featuring quite possibly the greatest headline I've ever laid a slanty eye on:

The first one.

Interpreted, hahaha, nice. What's another way to interpret this, again?

Ahh I'm confused... I got ya. Totally clear now. Like that time I thought I witnessed a murder, but then the thuggish murderer guy punched his fist into his palm and menacingly declared that I didn't see what I saw (this may not have actually happened to me), it's like that.

Eastern eyes??? This was your attempt to smooth things over? Kind of awesome, buddy. Trotting out a phrase that would make a skinhead cringe.

WOW. The ole classic "I have tons of black/asian/jewish friends" route. People actually still try that maneuver. It's like a dusty antique from an old episode of "Archie Bunker."

I'm passing up the chance to make a "gold medal in douche-i-ness" joke. I haven't been watching the Olympics, nor will I, but I hope they are faring poorly.





TheCoolerKing is headed to the glorious untamed mountains of New York State

It is funnier to kill 50 persons a day in Irak becouse they hide weapons of mass destruction. Or have people kidnaped in Guantanamo with no rigths at all.

Yeah nice try, but that's totally not relevant in any remote way. Are you trying to defend the Spanish basketball team by pointing out that there are other bad people other places including the U.S.? If so, that is a devastatingly poor and ineffective defense.

Just pretend that I'm the place holder for that "OH SNAP" .gif.

The culture in Spain is one of assimilation and melding of cultures from the Romans to the Gypsies to the Sephardi to the Moors, but there are very strong regional ethnic cultures and thus there is a fear of outsiders. Spaniard culture is an inherently racist culture. I am not surprised that the press in Spain sees this as only a joke. It reminds me of the sort of thing you see in the American deep south. Of course, this is made worse by the jock factor and the nationalistic feelings that the Olympics elicit.

Last time I was in Spain I saw these sweets on sale:



nuff said...

That's probably the worst of it. And by worst, I mean the only reason it's news-worthy. The Olympics are one of the few, if only, examples of the entire world congregating in one spot, where everybody's got their eyes on everybody else. If there were ever a situation to exercise every last shred of restraint, diplomacy, and consideration for the feelings of others, this would be it.

You and your coworker may have rude in-jokes about others in the office; a board meeting probably isn't the best time to start busting them out.

i'm siding with the spanish on this one. how can britain and the usa confidently present themselves as the racism police? "oh the whole of spain is so racist". the spanish press are pissed off with their british and american conterparts for the stunningly patronising double standards. sure it could be construed as racist, but what makes us think we can write off a whole country as racist?
the meat of the story is that the spanish do not want to be forced into an apology by anyone, especially not the british press who were the first, as always, to jump on the spain bashing bandwagon. for years now, the press in my country have been trumpeting on about why spain is so racist for jeering our black soccer players and lewis hamilton (black racing driver), and why they need to be like us.
we conveniently forget that hamilton was the main rival to their national hero, and only 20 years ago we were throwing bananas at our OWN black soccer players.
i imagine spain is racist to some degree, but why should they take lectures from countries with such bad track records???

So because everyone does it they should not be taken to task?

The Guardian journalist who first reported the story talks a little about how he's become a bit of a target, despite not actually accusing anyone of racism.

But, accusers' history notwithstanding, is the gesture in question culturally insensitive or not? If a junkie tells you that smoking crack is bad, does that magically make smoking crack less bad?

If the UK and the US are so racist (which I'm not denying they have their moments), then here's a chance for Spain to appear even more culturally enlightened than those who condemn them for being so ignorant, and instead of acting like a nation of grownups, they drop the ball. Twice. Once for the original move, and a second time for acting like bratty children when being called on their behaviour.

It probably wasn't the best joke, but the criteria for political correctness is not the same throughout the world. The fact that this is unacceptable in some countries doesn't mean that it should be everywhere else, I can see why it could be construed as racist, in some places, whereas others would view it as a funny (or lame, depending on the viewer's sense of humour) joke and nothing more.

sickboyedd said:
Last time I was in Spain I saw these sweets on sale:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

nuff said...

Here's a good take on those candy. And this is the result of the company changing their logo, which didn't go all that well with consumers, who felt attached to a character that had been around for over 40 years:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Juan Tudela Férez, the author of the mascot for the product, designed him based on the fact that they're peanuts covered in chocolate. Here's an interview in spanish where he explains the creative process and how he admits he wouldn't have made it like that if he had been commisioned to do it today. 40 years ago there weren't as many african immigrants in Spain, and what is considered blatant racism wasn't necessarily back then.

Many black soccer players have complained about racist chants and other abuse while playing in Spain. About 5 years ago Spain's national soccer team's coach got called out by the press and a lot of (non-Spanish) players for trying to motivate Jose Antonio Reyes to show he's better than ex-club teammate Thierry Henry by telling Reyes to show "that black piece of shit" (i.e. Henry) how it's done. Aragones paid a small fine but refused to apologise. His players and the federation apparently agreed with him. He just won the euros with Spain a few weeks ago.

So yeah, calling all of Spanish sports racist is a bit over-reaching, but the idea is grounded in reality.

That's understood, and in some cases I believe that other countries should mind their own goddamn business when it comes to what happens within a region of the world. That candy mascot is a good example, as was the Dutch PSP ads from a little while ago with the white vs. black woman imagery that I'm too lazy to hunt down a link for right now.

But when you're on the world stage as you are in the Olympics, and are being looked at by the entire world, you should consider adopting an attitude that is more considerate towards others in the world. That's part of being an Olympic athlete. You are a global ambassador for your country. If you're not cool with that, withdraw from the Games, and come back when you grow up.

this is offensive to red herrings everywhere.

Care to explain how it could possibly be construed as not racist?

Nice straw man...

He's not helping the Spanish cause any, is he?

Nor his own...

Seriously, racial slurs no matter how "funny" you think they are should not be used.

/flag

the spanish are weird...

Not to be outdone, the Spanish tennis team got in on the slanty-eyed-picture-taking action too.