Apparently this picture was for a good luck advertisement for the basketball team in a Spanish newspaper. Which I get but did they have to do the slanty eye thing, I think I remember doing that when I was four years old and it really wasn't funny then. I'm not a particularly politically correct guy, but I find the pic a little strange. They were probably told to do it by someone else but still.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Spain's Basketball Federation has published a good luck advert for their men's team, the world champions, in which they stand pulling at the sides of their eyes in a slit-eyed gesture. There is no obvious intention to upset their Olympic hosts in Beijing, but the irresponsible picture is likely to cause controversy and could be interpreted so as to lead to accusations of racism. Spanish sport has been mired in rows over racism in the last few years. In November 2004 black English footballers were subjected to relentless racial barracking from home supporters in a match in Spain. Before the World Cup there were calls for Luis Aragones, then Spain's football coach, to be sacked after he called Thierry Henry a "black shit". And last year Lewis Hamilton suffered racist abuse during testing for the Spanish grand prix near Barcelona. Spain play their first match in the Olympic basketball competition against Greece at 7.30am BST today.</div> <div align="center">Source: The Guardian</div>
Yeah this reminds me of that rhyme people used to say as kids: "Me Chinese, me play joke, me put pee-pee in your Coke."
If it turns out to be racist in any way.. Calderon is going to have a tough time playing in Toronto. Huge Asian population, and a lot of Asian supporters.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Aug 11 2008, 07:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think this is hilarious. I really hope people aren't offended by this.</div> Yeah same here, this was funny. I wouldn't suspect any real hostility, and I hope I'm right.
It's funny how the Spanish team had problems beating the Chinese today, maybe the Chinese saw the picture and it motivated them.
Spain has a reputation in football for being hard on black players especially, but I get the sense that this picture was something meant to be harmless. Just poor taste on their part.
I don't think Jose is racist at all. It's kinda funny, and I don't think any of them meant to be racist.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (King Shake @ Aug 12 2008, 05:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think Jose is racist at all. It's kinda funny, and I don't think any of them meant to be racist.</div> You know what? You're racist.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lavalamp @ Aug 12 2008, 10:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well, it clearly is racist.</div> You know what, I'm racist. Wait. Fail. ha, in all seriousness...I mean...they do have narrower eyes. It's just the biology of their gene pool. I think people might get on edge when others make fun of that, but in all fairness this is just as offensive: STOP MAKING FUN OF MY ROUND EYES
Calling this racist dilutes the meaning and impact of the word. Apart from being completely unhelpful.
Calderon's take on the picture- The Spanish guard José Calderon said that it was his understanding that the intention of the picture was for the sponsor to reach out to Asians. He became annoyed with questions about the photo, especially because news media reports mixed in with other recent moments of sporting insensitivity in Spain. Those low moments have included racial taunts at soccer matches, an a coach who used an offensive word to describe the soccer star Thierry Henry and racial taunts aimed at the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton earlier this year in Barcelona. “I think it’s too much,” Calderon said. “I think some people want to mix that with things that have happened in Spain before. Spain is one of the most multicultural countries in the world.” New York Times NY Times Article
